Following a prolonged illness, Bollywood’s legendary star, Manoj Kumar, breathed his last on Friday. Through his work and his humble nature, he touched millions of lives. Today, when he isn’t among us, everyone is fondly reminiscing all the memories associated with the veteran star. He wore several hats during his career – actor, director, producer. When we asked one of his co-stars, Bollywood’s ‘Dream Girl’ Hema Malini, to reveal if he was more fun as director or actor, she replied, “Definitely director.”
Hema Malini remembers Manoj Kumar
“As an actor, he kept himself a little in the background, he never used to force himself into the foreground. There were so many big actors in ‘Kranti’ including Dilip Kumar. Everybody had equal importance,” she shared.
“And one more thing about him, he would never touch the heroine in the romantic scenes. Very sweet and lovely person, very nice and inspiring,” revealed Hema Malini while fondly recalling her co-star.
Hema Malini on working with Manoj Kumar
Further, narrating her experience of working with the late star, Hema Malini shared, “It was lovely to work with him in two of his biggest hits – ‘Sanyasi’ and ‘Dus Numbri.’ We also did another beautiful film together called ‘Santosh,’ which did not get a proper release but had beautiful songs. He also directed me in one of our biggest hits, ‘Kranti,’ and the way he used to picturise songs was superb. Nobody can film songs the way he did. He used to be so passionate as a filmmaker.”
Talking about ‘Sanyasi,’ there were rumours saying that Manoj Kumar requested Hema Malini to be a part of the film because he was not going through a very successful patch at that time. Refuting the same, Hema Malini shared, “That is not true. He never wanted to work in outside films. Even with me and without me, he made such good pictures, he had his own high standards. He never went through any bad face or anything, nothing like that. The producer of ‘Sanyasi’ (Sohanlal Kanwar) went to him, so naturally he wanted to work with me that time. I was on top, so he wanted me, and then I very much suited the role in ‘Sanyasi.’”
In addition to ‘Sanyasi,’ as aforementioned, Manoj Kumar and Hema Malini worked together on ‘Dus Numbri,’ and recalling those days, the actress told us, “That, too, was a lot of fun. I played a Catholic girl called Rosy and I was after him throughout the film. Then he signed me for his own production ‘Kranti’…. kitna achha song na ‘Zindagi Ki Na Toote Lari.’ I remember how tough it was shooting that song in the rain.”
Hema Malini also shared that she was in touch with Manoj Kumar for a very long time. However, with his declining health, it was becoming more and more diffiucut for him to talk.
Though he is gone, his legacy lives on, and anecdotes like these will make his memories breath in millions of hearts for generations to come.
