Rajendra Kumar was born on 20 July 1929 and was an Indian movie actor, who acted in umpteen numbers of successful Hindi movies. He was one of the most successful actors during the period of 1960s and 1970s. He also produced several films in the 1980s, where his son Kumar Gaurav appeared as the lead.

Rajendra Kumar was born in Sialkot, in the West Punjab province of British India, which is presently in Pakistan. He married Shukla and had a son Kumar Gaurav and two daughters. Kumar Gaurav married Namrata Dutt, the daughter of actors Sunil Dutt and Nargis and sister of Sanjay Dutt. Rajendra had acted in the blockbuster film Mother India (1957) with Sanjay`s father and mother Sunil Dutt and Nargis where both Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar played natural son`s of Nargis.

Rajendra Kumar started his film career in the 1950 film Jogan. In this film, he starred opposite Dilip Kumar and Nargis. He into limelight with the success of the blockbuster hit Mother India in 1957 in which he played the character of Nargis`s son. His first chief success as a romantic protagonist was in Vijay Bhatt`s musical super hit Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959), opposite Ameeta.

The 1960s Rajendra Kumar had risen to a point, where hardly any star of that era could rise, except the first Superstar Rajesh Khanna. It was noticed and often mentioned by the media that every film starring him was a silver jubilee hit. There were several weeks when he was starring in six or seven films running in their silver jubilee weeks at the same time. The success of this actor was incredible and eventually, Rajendra Kumar was titled as "Jubilee Kumar".

Rajendra Kumar had many successful box office hits including films like Dhool Ka Phool (1959), Sangam (1964), Mere Mehboob (1963), Suraj (1966), Arzoo (1965) and Ganwaar (1970). He received Filmfare Nominations as Best Actor for Ayee Milan Ki Bela (1964), Dil Ek Mandir (1963), Arzoo (1965), and as Best Supporting Actor for the film Sangam (1964). He was thought to be a golden boy for the movie producers because; it was believed that he was the actor who could recover the producers` money just within few weeks.

However, the mid-1970s did not turn out to be profitable for Rajendra Kumar. Several of his films flopped at the box office, and he was not getting the offers as earlier. It was the darkest point in his career as he mentioned in an interview. However, after a while, he was offered an interesting role in the film Saajan Bina Suhaagan, co starring Nutan. The film was a huge hit of 1978. Rajendra Kumar again got back his `Midas Touch`. He then switched from leading roles and started to play character roles in the late 1970s and 1980s.

In 1981 Rajendra introduced his son handsome Kumar Gaurav in the film Love Story. He himself is the producer, director of this film and also acted in it. The film was a blockbuster hit of 1981. Rajendra produced many more films starring his son, which did not do well. In 1986 he produced `Naam`, casting his son and his son`s brother-in-law Sanjay Dutt in leading roles. This film was a box office success, however his last attempt to revive his son`s career was with the 1993 film Phool, where he once again acted with his son, unfortunately this film too was a box office failure. Rajendra appeared in few films after this and his last film appearance was a minor role in Deepa Mehta`s film Earth in 1998. He died of cancer on July 12, 1999; only 8 days before his 70th birthday.

In 1969, Rajendra Kumar was honored with the Padma Shri Award. He was also offered with the Justice of Peace honour and served as Honorary Magistrate. The National Honour by late Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru simultaneously for "Kanoon" (Hindi) and "Mehandi Rang Lagyo" (Gujarati) were awarded to Rajendra Kumar. He received a special Shastri National Award that was associated with several charity shows.

Filmography of Rajendra Kumar

Rajendra Kumar as an Actor

Film	Year	Film	Year
Jogan	1950	Gehra Daag	1963
Toofan Aur Deeya	1956	Dil Ek Mandir	1963
Aawaz	1956	Dharti	1969
Ek Jhalak	1957	Amar Rahe Yeh Pyaar	1963
Mother India	1957	Akeli Mat Jaiyo	1963
Talaaq	1958	Sangam	1964
Khazanchi	1958	Ayee Milan Ki Bela	1964
Ghar Sansar	1958	Zindagi	1964
Devar Bhabhi	1958	Arzoo	1965
Santan	1959	Aman	1966
Goonj Uthi Shehnai	1959	Aap Aye Bahaar Ayee	1973
Do Behnen	1959	Jhuk Gaya Aasman	1968
Dhool Ka Phool	1959	Saathi	1968
Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan	1959	Anjaana	1969
Patang	1960	Geet	1970
Mehndi Rang Lagyo	1960	Ganwaar	1970
Maa Baap	1960	Mera Naam Joker	1970
Kanoon	1960	Gora Aur Kala	1972
Zindagi Aur Khwab	1961	Do Jasoos	1975
Sasural	1961	Saajan Bina Suhagan	1978
Pyaar Ka Saagar	1961	Love Story	1981
Gharana	1961	Clerk	1989
Aas Ka Panchhi	1961	Phool	1993
Mere Mehboob	1963	Earth	1998
Hamrahi	1963

Rajendra Kumar As a Producer

Film	Year
Love Story	1981
Naam	1986
Phool	1993
The Jungle Book(Executive producer)	1994

Rajendra Kumar As a Director

Film	Year
Love Story	1981