Bollywood

BOLLYWOOD: BEING MANOJ KUMAR WAS NO LAUGHING MATTER

by Sharad Raj April 6 2025, 12:00 am Estimated Reading Time: 5 mins, 6 secs

Manoj Kumar, iconic filmmaker and patriotic storyteller, left an indelible mark on Indian cinema with socially-rooted narratives, deep symbolism, and unforgettable songs before passing away on April 4, 2025. Sharad Raj writes…

Manoj Kumar, born on July 24, 1937, and passed away on April 4, 2025, was not just a Bollywood actor but a visionary Indian filmmaker known for his deeply patriotic and socially conscious cinema. He directed and starred in landmark Hindi films like Upkaar, Roti Kapda Aur Makaan, and Shor, which explored themes of nationalism, rural identity, and the struggles of the working class. Often referred to as “Bharat” due to his screen persona, Manoj Kumar's filmography remains a cornerstone of classic Indian cinema. His legacy is defined by powerful storytelling, iconic songs, and characters rooted in Indian values and everyday struggles. Kumar’s influence continues to shape how Indian filmmakers approach social realism, national identity, and meaningful entertainment.

Well, one has to begin with the fact that he was not a very good actor. In his effort to emulate Dilip Kumar, he made things even more difficult for himself. As much as Manoj Kumar getting upset with Farah Khan was an overreaction, the joke cracked on him by Shah Rukh Khan and Farah in Om Shanti Om (2007) was in very poor taste. People like Shah Rukh and Farah are entertainers, who revel in paparazzi and social media reels, but filmmakers like Manoj Kumar were way beyond just being entertainers. That is why it pained me a lot when he was simply referred to as an actor and an entertainer who gave many hits when he passed away on April 4, 2025.

Filmmaker, Not Just Actor
He may have started his film career as an actor in the 1960s, but ultimately Manoj Kumar was a filmmaker with a distinct style of his own, a great sense of music, narrative, and a wonderful craftsman who never shied away from new technology. He used it for cinematic purposes and went way beyond just being an entertainer. His films had depth and reflected larger social realities, and most importantly were rooted in pan-Indian sensibility. We know how makers are struggling to get audiences today into the cinemas, for their approach and sensibilities are narrow, fragmented, and transient. Manoj Kumar’s films were rooted in a context that was universally identifiable. Some of his best films were rooted in “roti,” “kapda,” and “makaan.”

The Origins of ‘Bharat’
Lal Bahadur Shastri approached Manoj Kumar to make a film on his slogan of “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” and therefore Manoj Kumar made Upkaar (1967), set in the backdrop of village life and the virtues of being a farmer, as opposed to city life that begets greed and moral corruption. As a predominantly agrarian society back in those days, villages were considered havens of virtuous life over the corrupting influences of the city. Pran got his first positive character role in Upkaar and never looked back. Who can forget the memorable Manna Dey number picturized on him: “Kasme Vaade Pyaar Wafa, Sab Baatein Hain Baton Ka Kya…”

And then in 1974, inspired by Indira Gandhi’s slogan of “Roti, Kapda Aur Makaan,” Manoj Kumar made a film with the same title where “Bharat,” also his screen name, was reeling under unemployment, strikes, and price rise—ironically under the leadership of Indira Gandhi. It was one of the earliest films to focus on crony capitalism and its connection to the life of the common man. Three men who provide food, shelter, and clothes in the basti where she lives, rape Moushumi Chatterjee’s character. Bharat and maata are both attacked. He went to basic necessities like food and water to explore his narrative within the paradigm of mainstream melodramas.

‘Shor’ and the Working-Class Hero
Shor (1972) deals with a factory worker’s struggle to get funds for his mute son’s treatment. Manoj Kumar largely played a working-class protagonist or a farmer, freedom fighter, amongst others. There are two things that stand out in Shor for me. One is a non-stop 8-day cycling sequence—back in the day, this was a common event held in colonies from time to time. Manoj Kumar used it as a scene to collect money for his son’s surgery in the film, with a song which in turn is a rhetorical life lesson: “Jeevan Chalne Ka Naam, Chalte Raho Subah Shaam…” fabulously composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and sung by Mahendra Kapoor, Lata Mangeshkar, and Manna Dey. This is in sharp contrast to modern times, where films and OTT shows are all about protecting your family even if it is at the cost of turning into a criminal. Kumar’s Bharat never refrained from hard work.

Shor has a sequence of workers’ strikes, with workers sitting on a hunger strike. And in this sequence, he places a song, a real gem: “Pani Re Pani Tera Rang Kaisa…” The song gives a varied use of water and what it means differently to different people. From the romance that it adds to life, the song settles on it dripping from the leaking roofs of the poor and compares it to people’s hunger and thirst: “Paani Re Paani Tera Rang Kaisa, Bhooke Ki Bhook Aur Pyaas Jaisa…”

Manoj Kumar’s song picturizations were special, with elaborate use of multiple images and star filters adding a certain style to them.
The Rise and Fall of ‘Bharat’

Soon after, Manoj Kumar got carried away with his screen name and image of “Bharat,” with virtues of the East as opposed to the West, a la Purab Aur Paschim (1970), and took it too seriously, starting to descend as a maker with films like Kranti (1981)—a blockbuster but not even close to his earlier gems.

A filmmaker who started with acting as the left leaning freedom fighter Bhagat Singh in his biopic Shaheed (1965), in his last years, took a turn to the extreme right.