A Tribute To Manoj Kumar On Republic Day

Ali Peter John

• When the handsome, tall and strapping Harikishen Goswami first landed in Bombay, he could have hardly imagined that he would one day be known not only as a star,or a leading filmmaker and he could certainly not have imagined that he would be known as Mr.Bharat and Presidents, Prime Ministers and religious leaders would seek his advice, besides the masses who would accept him as the face of the genuine Indian or Bharat Vaasi, but all that he could not have imagined came true with the passing of time and how!

• Harikishen had to struggle with other strugglers like Dharmendra and Shashi Kapoor and had spent days and nights on the stone benches of Studios in the hope of being recognised and finding some work even if it was as a junior artist. It was Harikishen who instilled confidence in Shashi and Dharmendra besides many other struggling actors.If it was not for Harikishen, Dharmendra would have given up hope and returned home to the stone quarries of Saniahal in Punjab...

• Harikishen found favour with the Bhatt brothers, Shankarbhai Bhatt and Vijay Bhatt (Uncles of Mahesh Bhatt). They gave him leading roles in their films,‘Hariyali Aur Raasta' and ‘Himalay Ki Godmein' after which he never had to look back. He also got his film name, Manoj Kumar during the making of these two films.

• He came into his own when he worked with Raj Khosla in ‘Woh Kaun Thi'. It was Raj Khosla who discovered the writting talent in him and asked him to help him in the writting of his film and also the songs which are now immortal.

• His name a dependable actor and a gifted writer was recognised by other filmmakers and he had an important part to play as a writer and an associate of all the directors he worked with.

• He came into his own when he together with his friends Keval P. Kashyap and S.Ram Sharma decided to make a film on the life of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and the film in black and white and with some very good dialogues written by Manoj Kumar and good music awakened Indian and international audiences to the greatness of Bhagat Singh and his fellow martyrs, Rajguru and others who were hanged to death by the British for breaking the laws of the British Empire. ‘Shaheed' became a cult film. The name of his friend,S. Ram Sharma went as the director, but everyone who knew anything about films knew that the film was made by Manoj Kumar who with just one film came to be known as Mr. Bharat.

• He met the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri after the PM had seen ‘Shaheed' and the PM was so carried away by the film that he asked Manoj if he could make a film on his slogan, ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kissan'. Manoj took up the challenge and made ‘Upkaar' which made him one of the leading directors, accepted even by the greatest of filmmakers rulling the industry those days.

• Manoj had started a new trend of making patriotic films and made one big and successful films like ‘Purab Aur Pashim' , ‘Roti Kapda Aur Makaan' and ‘Kranti' he made other films like ‘Shor', ‘Sai Baba' and the biggest film of his career, “Kranti". He made other films like ‘Clerk' and ‘Jai Hind-The Pride', but the Manoj Kumar magic was missing in these films and as expected, they failed at the box office, after which Padmashri Manoj Kumar has not made any film mainly because of his severe spine problems. But he has several ideas to suit the times today.

• Manoj had his own ways of telling his stories and if there was one thing he avoided was vulgarity of any kind. Even if he had some sexy scenes, he showed them more in a suggestive way. Manoj will perhaps go down in the history of Indian cinema as the only hero who rarely touched his heroines and holding them in his arms or even trying to kiss them was just out of his way of making films and even shooting the most romantic scenes.
• Manoj had very close contacts with leaders of every political party whether it was Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Morarji Desai (who otherwise kept away from film people and films), Murali Manohar Joshi,L.K Advani and many others smaller leaders. He was both political and medical advisor. He was a full fledged homeopath who treated the greatest to the smallest without charging any fee.

• He had some to be an actor after being inspired by the films of  Dilip Kumar and was thrilled when he got his first chance to work with the thespian in a film called ‘Aadmi' in which he also had the privilege of reading out scenes and dialogues to his idol who had predicted a great future for him. He fulfilled  his greatest dream when Dilip Kumar agreed to head the cast of ‘Kranti'. There were times when they had creative clashes but Manoj knew how to tackle them. He either took him to the terrace of his house and flew kites with him or treated him to a delicious dinner because he knew the thespian's love for food and discussed cricket with him which was a passion they shared.

• Manoj had the unique idea of making a feature film on the life of the Saibaba of Shirdi. The film gave Saibaba the kind of popularity the saint of Shirdi the fame he had never received.

• Manoj had a strong association with Pakistan even though many criticized him for it. He once posted a grand party at his house in honour of the Pakistan's cricket team to which he had also invited the entire Indian team. It was a party to remember and Manoj who even otherwise didn't have parties in his house or even at five-star hotels decided never to have a party again after that one big party. He also showed his affection for Pakistan when he signed the well-known actors, Mohammad Ali and Zeba to play lead roles in ‘Clerk'. He was also a close friend of the gazal kings of Pakistan, Mehdi Hasaan and Ghulam Ali and the qawwals, the Sabri Brothers. He has always wanted India and Pakistan to grow closer and has tried his best, but if there is one thing that makes him sad during the last fifty years, it is the endless conflicts between the two countries and the two wars it has fought.

• Manoj has not been keeping very good health during the last ten years and spends most of his time at home or sometimes in hospitals. But his mind is as sharp as ever and he can remember what costume he had worn in a particular film and what dialogue he had spoken in most of his films.

• Manoj has never behaved like a star at home or in public. His wife, Shashi Goswami who was his writer or co-writer now lives a peaceful life with Shashi in a large apartment in Goswami Chambers which was built after his bungalow was sold as it was too big to maintain.

• Manoj is still relevant today as he has several young filmmakers visiting him for advice on stories, screenplays and dialogues and even how a particular song could be picturerised. To think of it, even the great showman Raj Kapoor had sought his advice on writing the first part of ‘Mera Naam Joker' and the other showman Subhash Ghai has admitted that he has learnt his best lessons in directing a film from Mr Bharat Kumar.

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