Actor Manoj Kumar died on Friday morning at Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai. He was 87 years old. He was especially known for his patriotic films. He was also known as Bharat Kumar. Upkaar, Purba-Paschim, Kranti, Roti-Kapda, and Makaan were his very successful films.
Manoj Kumar’s son Kunal Goswami told ANI, ‘He had health problems for a long time. It is God’s grace that he did not have much trouble at the last moment; he said goodbye to this world peacefully. His last rites will be performed tomorrow at 11 am at Pawanhans crematorium in Mumbai.’
Manoj Kumar has been suffering from liver cirrhosis for a long time. He was admitted to the hospital on 21 February 2025 after his condition deteriorated.
Manoj Kumar received 7 Filmfare Awards. The first Filmfare was received in 1968 for the film Upkar. Upkar won four Filmfares for Best Film, Best Director, Best Story, and Best Dialogue. In 1992, he was awarded the Padma Shri. In 2016, he was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
Modi wrote – Manoj ji raised national pride
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has paid tribute to Manoj Kumar. PM wrote on ‘X’: ‘Deeply saddened by the demise of great actor and filmmaker Shri Manoj Kumar ji. He was an icon of Indian cinema, especially remembered for his patriotic zeal, which was also reflected in his films. Manoj Ji’s works ignited a sense of national pride, and they will continue to inspire generations. My condolences are with his family and fans in this hour of grief. Om Shanti.’
When his mother did not get treatment, he beat up doctors at the age of 10
Manoj Kumar’s real name was Harikrishna Goswami. He was born on 24 July 1937 in Abbottabad, British India (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan). Abbottabad is the same place where America killed Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011. Manoj Kumar’s younger brother, Kuku, was born in 1947 when he was 10 years old. When his health deteriorated, his 2-month-old brother and mother were admitted to the hospital when the riots broke out. There was chaos everywhere, and the hospital staff started running to save their lives.
As soon as the siren sounded, the doctors and nurses who were left used to go underground. In such a situation, due to not getting proper treatment, Manoj Kumar’s 2-month-old brother died in the hospital. Mother’s condition was also serious at that time. She kept screaming in pain, but no doctor or nurse treated her. One day, seeing all this, Manoj got so angry that he picked up a stick, went underground, and started beating the doctors and nurses. Manoj was only 10 years old then, but he could not see his mother’s suffering. His father controlled him, and the family decided to leave Pakistan to save their lives.
His family fled from Jandiala Sher Khan and reached Delhi. Here, they spent 2 months in a refugee camp. Time passed, and the riots started to subside. The whole family somehow settled in Delhi, where Manoj could study. After school, he completed his graduation from Hindu College and started looking for a job.
He was made to stand in front of the camera for light testing, this is where he got the role. One day, Manoj Kumar was strolling in a film studio in search of work when he saw a man. Manoj told him that he was looking for work, so the man took him along. He got the job of carrying lights and other items used in film shooting. Gradually, being pleased with Manoj’s work, he started getting work as an assistant in films.
Big actors used to reach the sets of films just a few minutes before their shot started. In such a situation, Manoj Kumar was made to stand in place of the hero on the set to check the light falling on the hero.
One day, Manoj Kumar stood in place of the hero for light testing. When the light fell on his face, his face looked so attractive in the camera that a director gave him a small role in the 1957 film Fashion. The role was small, but Manoj managed to leave his mark in a few minutes of acting. Due to that role, Manoj Kumar was given the lead role in the film Kanch Ki Gudiya (1960). After making his first successful film, Manoj gave many back-to-back films like Rashmi Rumal, Chand, Banarasi Thug, Grihasthi, Apne Hue Paraye, and Woh Kaun Thi.
Named Manoj because of Dilip Kumar, Manoj Kumar was a big fan of Dilip Kumar since childhood. Manoj Kumar liked Dilip Sahab’s film Shabnam (1949) so much that he watched it many times. Dilip Kumar’s name in the film was Manoj. When Manoj Kumar came into films, he changed his name to Manoj Kumar after Dilip Kumar.
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Upkaar was made on the advice of Lal Bahadur Shastri. In 1965, Manoj Kumar appeared in the role of freedom fighter Shaheed Bhagat Singh in the patriotic film Shaheed. The film was a huge hit, and its songs ‘Ae Watan, Ae Watan Humko Teri Kasam’, ‘Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna’ and ‘Mera Rang De Basanti Chola’ were well liked.
Lal Bahadur Shastri liked this film very much. Shastri ji had given the slogan – Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan. Shastri ji advised Manoj to make a film on this slogan. On this, Manoj started making the film Upkaar (1967), although he had no experience in film writing or direction.
One day, Manoj Kumar bought a Rajdhani train ticket to go from Mumbai to Delhi and boarded the train. He wrote half the film while sitting on the train and half while returning. With this film, he started the second inning of his career as a director. Later, he made many films on patriotism like Purva Aur Paschim and Roti Kapda Aur Makaan.
The film gave Manoj Kumar the name Bharat Kumar. Upkaar was the biggest film of 1967. The song of the film Mere Desh Ki Dharti Sona Ugle… is still counted among the best patriotic songs. Manoj Kumar’s name in the film was Bharat. Seeing the popularity of the song, the media started calling Manoj Kumar Bharat, and then he started being called Bharat Kumar. Manoj Kumar directed Dilip Kumar in his directorial film Kranti (1981).
Lal Bahadur Shastri could not see Upkaar. Upkaar was made on the request of Lal Bahadur Shastri, but he could not see it. In 1966, Shastri Ji went on a tour to Tashkent (Uzbekistan). He would have seen the film Upkaar after returning, but he died on 11 January 1966, the day after signing the peace agreement in the Indo-Pakistan War in Tashkent itself. The film was released a year after his death on 11 August 1967. Manoj Kumar regretted all his life for not being able to show the film to Shastri ji.
Manoj changed the image of Pran, who used to be a villain
Manoj Kumar worked with Pran for the first time in the 1966 film Do Badan and both became friends. Pran used to get negative roles in films then. In such a situation, to change his image, Manoj Kumar gave him a positive role in his film Aah. This film flopped, and people disliked Pran.
Manoj Kumar did not give up. At the same time, Manoj was working on the film Upkaar. Manoj decided to give him the role of Malang Baba in this film. Both of them met in this connection.
Manoj Kumar said to Pran – Will you play the role of Malang Baba in my film? Pran said – Pandit ji, let me read the script. Pran used to call Manoj Pandit ji.
After reading the script, Pran said- Pandit, the script of the film and the character of Malang are both very beautiful, but think once, because my image is of a dreaded, drunkard, gambler and rapist. Will the audience accept me in the role of a sadhu?
Determined Manoj Kumar gave him that role and started shooting. Pran sahab was very punctual. One day when he reached the set, Manoj Kumar felt that he was ill. He went near him and asked- Are you well? The answer was- Yes, I am fit. That day, both of them shot action scenes. When the pack-up was done, Manoj noticed that Pran Sahab was not looking well. He immediately went to the makeup room and said- You are hiding something. You are not looking well to me today. If there is a problem, then tell me.
In response, Pran sahab said- No, nothing, actually yesterday evening my elder sister died suddenly. Because of that, I could not sleep the whole night. Manoj Kumar was shocked to hear that despite losing his elder sister, he had reached the set. Manoj then said- If there was something like this, why didn’t you call and tell me? I would have cancelled today’s shooting. Pran said- If I had told you, you would have cancelled the shooting, and there would have been a loss.
Manoj had told Raj Kapoor- The script of Mera Naam Joker was weak. Manoj Kumar and Raj Kapoor were good friends. Once, when Raj Kapoor called Manoj Kumar’s house, the servant picked up the phone and said that it was a wrong number. He was not at home at that time. Raj Kapoor got angry with this, but after some time both of them talked and cleared this misunderstanding.
When Manoj Kumar announced that he was going to step into direction with the film Upkaar, Raj Kapoor advised him in harsh words. Either do acting or direction, because not everyone is Raj Kapoor, who can do everything together.
When the film Upkaar was a huge hit, Raj Kapoor regretted his words and told Manoj Kumar, I thought that there was competition only with myself, but now you have come to compete with me.
Manoj Kumar worked in the film Mera Naam Joker (1970), directed by Raj Kapoor. This film flopped badly, so Manoj Kumar explained to Raj Kapoor that the writing of the film was very weak. If work had been done on the script, the film would have been a hit. Raj Kapoor also accepted this.