“Only Sanjeev Kumar could have done this role” When Dilip Kumar became a fan of his acting, the story of two giants

Bollywood Nostalgia: We consider Dilip Kumar as the acting emperor and an expert in method acting. The impression of his personality and performance has been visible on actors of every generation, Sanjeev Kumar was one of them. But very few people would realize that Dilip Kumar himself was also a fan of Sanjeev Kumar’s talent. There are such stories from not just one but many films, after watching which Dilip Kumar had said that only Sanjeev Kumar could have done this role. There are some films which were first offered to Dilip Kumar but Dilip Kumar himself suggested Sanjeev Kumar’s name for it. And those were called classic films of Sanjeev Kumar’s career.

Sanjeev Kumar There were such actors who have a record of playing diverse roles in a very short period of time. Leave aside Guru Dutt, even Dilip Kumar does not have such diversity at such a young age. We give credit to Anupam Kher for playing an elderly character in his youth, who played a memorable role of a retired senior citizen in the world at the age of just twenty-eight, but Sanjeev Kumar had played not just one but many such roles in his youth. Understand this with an example. Dharmendra was the romantic hero in Sholay but in front of him Sanjeev Kumar was an elderly Thakur. While Dharmendra was forty years old at the time of Sholay’s release, Sanjeev Kumar was thirty-seven years old.

When I came with Dilip Kumar for the first time

Actually Sanjeev Kumar was an experienced theater actor. On stage, he had played roles of all ages in front of the public, most of them were elderly roles. In those days, AK Hangal was also associated with Mumbai IPTA. He got a lot of support from AK Hangal. This was in the last years of the sixties. Of course, this was the era of artists like Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor and Guru Dutt. Sanjeev Kumar, like many young artists of that time, was a big fan of Dilip Kumar. He got roles in some films but his first work with his idol Dilip Kumar was in 1968’s Sangharsh. This was a big opportunity for him. Interestingly, this was a negative role, which Rajkumar had refused to do.

In front of Dilip Kumar for the first time Sanjeev Kumar’s acting Was going to produce a magical effect. This proved to be a film of two greats who are called natural actors. In the very first film, Dilip Kumar could not live without being influenced by his co-star Sanjeev Kumar. Whenever Dilip Kumar got a chance, he suggested Sanjeev Kumar’s name to the directors for a particular role. This was the influence of Sanjeev Kumar’s excellent acting in Sangharsh and other films.

Not Sanjeev Kumar, first named Sanjay Kumar

Let us tell you that initially his name was not Sanjeev Kumar. He was known by the name Haribhai Jethalal Jariwala. But wanted to change his name according to the film trends of that time. There was a special intention to keep the initial letter of the name ‘S’, because he wanted to include the first letter of his mother’s name Shantaben in his name. In this regard, he first named himself ‘Sanjay Kumar’. But then because there was another actor Sanjay Khan, he changed his name to ‘Sanjeev Kumar’. ‘Sanjeev’ may have been his own name but the word ‘Kumar’ was influenced by the names of Ashok Kumar and Dilip Kumar.

Gulzar enhanced the talent of Sanjeev Kumar

By 1970, Sanjeev Kumar was recognized as an influential actor. The popularity of the toy brought him national fame. When Gulzar saw this film, he found Sanjeev Kumar to be the most suitable actor for his upcoming films. Therefore, many classic films of Sanjeev Kumar came with Gulzar – such as Parichay, Trysh, Aandhi, and Mausam. Dilip Kumar was stunned by his talent after watching the film Trysh.

In this film, Sanjeev Kumar played the role of a person who could not speak or hear. Actress Jaya Bachchan (then Bhaduri) was with him in this. When Dilip Kumar saw this film, he said that only Sanjeev Kumar could have done such a complex character. There is a gossip in the film history that Dilip Kumar’s name was first considered for the role of Sanjeev Kumar in this attempt. But then Dilip Kumar said that an artist should have that kind of talent to do such a challenging role. Only after this could Sanjeev Kumar’s name be finalized. And when Dilip Kumar saw this film, he praised Sanjeev Kumar for his acting. Sanjeev Kumar received the National Award for Best Actor for his brilliant performance in Prayas.

When Dilip Kumar suggested the name of Sanjeev Kumar

Similarly, there is another film of 1974 – Naya Din, Nayi Raat. This film is also known for extremely challenging roles. In this film, Sanjeev Kumar played not one or two but nine types of roles. This record remained in his name for a long time. However, when Kamal Haasan’s film Dashavataram released in 2008, he broke that record by playing ten types of characters in it. But the way Sanjeev Kumar skillfully portrayed the nine tastes of life in Naya Din, Nayi Raat is an example in Indian cinema.

Let us tell you that Dilip Kumar was first approached for the role played by Sanjeev Kumar in Naya Din Nayi Raat but due to some reasons he refused to do that film and suggested Sanjeev Kumar as the most eligible actor for this role. The film’s director Bhim Singh accepted his suggestion and the role played by Sanjeev Kumar in that film was called Kalayji.

After a long struggle, both of them collided in Vidhaata.

Interestingly, at that time it is also said that people who were close to Dilip Kumar did not want any other artist to challenge him. But these examples refute those things. Well, this fact is true that after a long time of 1968 struggle, Dilip Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar were seen together in 1982 – the film was – Subhash Ghai directed Vidhaata, which is considered an important film of Sanjay Dutt.

Sanjeev Kumar, born on July 9, 1938, left the world on November 6, 1985 at the age of just 47, otherwise many more classic characters would definitely have been recorded in his name. But even after his death, Sanjeev Kumar managed to set another record in his name. After his death, about ten such films were released in which he played small and big roles. This is the most unique story of a veteran actor. ‘

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