Early life

Manoj Kumar was born in Abbottabad, a town in the North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Pakistan, then part of British India. His original name was Harikishan Giri Goswami. When he was 10, his family had to flee to Delhi due to the partition. His family lived as refugees in Vijay Nagar, Kingsway Camp and later moved to Old Rajendra Nagar area of New Delhi.

After graduating from Hindu College, University of Delhi, he decided to enter the film industry.

Career

As a youngster, he admired Dilip Kumar, Ashok Kumar and Kamini Kaushal and decided to name himself Manoj Kumar after Dilip's character in Shabnam (1949).

After making a little-noticed début in Fashion in 1957, Manoj landed his first leading role in Kaanch Ki Gudia (1960) opposite Saida Khan. Piya Milan Ki Aas and Reshmi Roomal followed, setting the stage for the Vijay Bhatt-directed Hariyali Aur Raasta (1962) opposite Mala Sinha. Kumar then appeared with Sadhana in Raj Khosla's Woh Kaun Thi (1964), and reunited with Vijay Bhatt and Mala Sinha in Himalaya Ki God Mein (1965). Manoj Kumar and Raj Khosla repeated their successful Actor-Director partnership with the film Do Badan, which was remembered for many reasons including Raj Khosla's direction, Manoj Kumar and the heroine Asha Parekh's excellent display of histrionics, an outstanding musical score by Ravi, immortal songs by the lyricist Shakeel Badayuni, among others.

In the 1960s his successful films included romantic films like Honeymoon, Apna Banake Dekho, Naqli Nawab, Paththar Ke Sanam, Sajan, Sawan Ki Ghata and social films like Shaadi, Grihasti, Apne Huwe Paraye, Pehchaan, Aadmi and thrillers like Gumnaam, Anita, Woh Kaun Thi.

The patriotic hero

Kumar's image as the patriotic hero started with the 1965 film Shaheed, based on the life of Bhagat Singh, the most influential Indian revolutionary. After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri asked him to create a film based on the popular slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kissan (hail the soldier, hail the farmer).

The result was Kumar's magnum opus and his directorial debut, Upkaar (1967). In it, he played both a soldier and a farmer. The film was also noted for the famous song Mere Desh Ki Dharti, written by Gulshan Bawra, composed by Kalyanji-Anandji and sung by Mahendra Kapoor. Upkaar was a hit and won Kumar his first Filmfare Best Director Award.

Manoj returned to patriotic themes in Purab Aur Paschim (1970), in which life in the East and West are juxtaposed. In 1972, he starred in Be-Imaan (for which he won the Filmfare Best Actor Award) and directed and starred in Shor (1972). The latter, opposite Nanda, was not a huge box office success on its release but has gained cult status over the years. It featured the memorable song Ek Pyar Ka Nagma Hai, a duet by Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh, which was composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal and written by Santosh Anand.

Later career

In the mid-1970s Kumar starred in three hit films: Roti Kapda Aur Makaan (1974) was a social commentary featuring an all-star cast including Zeenat Aman, Shashi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan that won him his second Filmfare Award for Best Director; Sanyasi (1975) had Kumar and Hema Malini in the lead roles of a religious-themed comedy; and Dus Numbri (1976) also gave Kumar and Hema top billing. In 1981, Kumar reached the peak of his career when he got the opportunity to direct his idol, Dilip Kumar, as well as star in Kranti, a story about the struggle for Indian independence in the 19th century. Kranti was the last notable successful film in his career. He also starred in the hit Punjabi film Jat Punjabi.

After Kranti, Kumar's career began to decline in the 1980s as all of his subsequent films failed at the box office. In 1989, he cast Pakistani actors Mohammad Ali and Zeba in his film Clerk. He quit acting after his appearance in the 1995 film Maidan-E-Jung. He directed his son, Kunal Goswami, in the 1999 film Jai Hind which had a patriotic theme. The film was a flop and was the last film Kumar worked on. That year he was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for a career spanning over 40 years.

His trademark hand-covering-the-face was very popular and continues to be the butt of jokes of latter day stand-up comedians. In 2007, the Shah Rukh Khan film Om Shanti Om featured the lead character pretending to be Manoj Kumar so as to sneak into a movie premiere, by holding his hand over his face. Kumar filed a lawsuit, which was settled out of court.

Politics

Like many other Bollywood stars, Kumar decided to enter politics following his retirement. Before the 2004 general election in India, it was announced that he had officially joined the ranks of the Shiv Sena.

Personal life

Kumar is married to Shashi Goswami (originally from Jodhkan, Sirsa district, Haryana). He has two sons, Vishal and Kunal. Vishal tried his luck as a singer and Kunal as an actor. His brother, Rajiv Goswami, also entered the film industry, but none were able to gain a footing in Bollywood.

Awards

Civilian award

• 1992 - Padma Shri by the Government of India

National Film Awards

• 1968 - National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film for Upkaar
• 2016 - Dadasaheb Phalke Award lifetime contribution to Indian cinema

State Awards

• 2008 - National Kishore Kumar Award by the Government of Madhya Pradesh.
• 2010 - National Raj Kapoor Award by the Government of Maharashtra.

Filmfare Awards

Winner

• 1968 - Filmfare Best Movie Award for Upkaar
• 1968 - Filmfare Best Director Award for Upkaar
• 1968 - Filmfare Best Story Award for Upkaar
• 1968 - Filmfare Best Dialogue Award for Upkaar
• 1972 - Filmfare Best Actor Award for Beimaan
• 1975 - Filmfare Best Director Award for Roti Kapda Aur Makaan
• 1999 - Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award

Nominated

• 1968 - Filmfare Best Actor Award for Upkaar
• 1969 - Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Aadmi
• 1973 - Filmfare Best Director Award for Shor
• 1975 - Filmfare Best Movie Award for Roti Kapda Aur Makaan
• 1975 - Filmfare Best Actor Award for Roti Kapda Aur Makaan
• 1976 - Filmfare Best Actor Award for Sanyasi

Other awards

• 1968 - BFJA Awards: Best Dialogue for Upkaar
• 2001 - Kalakar Awards for Lifetime Achievement
• 2008 - Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2009 - Phalke Ratna Award by the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy.
• 2010 - Lifetime Achievement Award at the 12th Mumbai Film Festival.
• 2012 - Lifetime Achievement Award at the Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Award.
• 2012 - Lifetime Achievement Award at the Nashik International Film Festival.
• 2012 - "Bharat Gaurav Award" in New Jersey, USA.
• 2013 - Lifetime Achievement Award at the Jagran Film Festival.

Other honours

• 2008 - To honour Manoj Kumar, the Government of Madhya Pradesh decided to institute a Rs 100,000 award in his name. The state government also recommended Kumar's name for Bharat Ratna to the central government.
• 2011 - In recognition of the devotion of Manoj Kumar towards Shri Sai Baba, the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust in Shirdi renamed "Pimpalwadi Road" in Shirdi as "Manojkumar Goswami Road".

Selected filmography

Year	Film	Role	Co - Stars	Notes
1957	Fashion
1958	Panchayat		Shyama
	Sahara		Meena Kumari
1959	Chand
1960	Honeymoon		Saida Khan
1961	Suhaag Sindoor
	Kaanch Ki Gudiya		Saida Khan
	Reshmi Rumal		Shakila
1962	Hariyali Aur Rasta	Shanker	Mala Sinha, Shashikala
	Dr. Vidya	Ratan Chowdhury	Vyjayanthimala
	Shaadi	Raja	Balraj Sahni, Saira Banu, Dharmendra
	Banarsi Thug	Shyam	Vijaya Chaudhari
	Maa Beta		Ameeta
	Piya Milan Ki Aas		Ameeta
	Naqli Nawab		Shakila
1963	Apna Bana Ke Dekho		Asha Parekh
	Ghar Basake Dekho		Rajshree
	Grahasti		Rajshree
1964	Apne Huye Paraye		Mala Sinha
	Woh Kaun Thi?	Dr Anand	Sadhana
	Phoolon Ki Sej		Vyjayanthimala
1965	Shaheed	Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh
	Bedaag	Rajesh	Nanda
	Himalaya Ki God Mein	Sunil Mehra	Mala Sinha
	Gumnaam	Anand	Nanda
	Poonam Ki Raat		Kumud Chhugani
1966	Do Badan	Vikas	Asha Parekh
	Sawan Ki Ghata		Sharmila Tagore
	Sajan		Asha Parekh
1967	Patthar Ke Sanam	Rajesh	Waheeda Rehman, Mumtaz
	Anita	Neeraj	Sadhana
	Upkaar	Bharat	Asha Parekh, Pran, Prem Chopra, Kamini Kaushal	Winner, Filmfare Best Movie Award
1968	Neel Kamal	Ram	Waheeda Rehman
	Aadmi	Dr Shekhar	Waheeda Rehman
1970	Purab Aur Paschim	Bharat	Saira Banu
	Yaadgaar	Banu	Nutan
	Pehchan	Gangaram	Babita
	Mera Naam Joker	David	Raj Kapoor
1971	Balidan	Raja	Saira Banu
1972	Shor	Shankar	Nanda, Jaya Bachchan
	Be-Imaan	Mohan	Raakhee	Winner, Filmfare Best Actor Award
1974	Roti Kapda Aur Makaan	Bharat	Zeenat Aman, Moushumi Chatterji	1975 - Filmfare Best Director Award for Roti Kapda Aur Makaan
1975	Sanyasi	Ram Rai	Hema Malini
1976	Dus Numbri	Arjun	Hema Malini
1977	Shirdi Ke Sai Baba	Doctor / Scientist	Rajendra Kumar, Hema Malini
	Amaanat	Deepak	Sadhna, Balraj Sahni, Mehmood, Aruna Irani, Asit Sen
1981	Kranti	Bharat / Kranti	Dilip Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Hema Malini, Parveen Babi, Nirupa Roy, Prem Chopra
1987	Kalyug Aur Ramayan	Pawan Putra (Shri Hanuman)	Madhavi
1989	Santosh	Santosh Singh	Nirupa Roy, Raakhee, Prem Chopra, Hema Malini
	Clerk	Bharat	Ashok Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Rekha, Mohammed Ali, Shashi Kapoor, Anita Raj, Zeba, Prem Chopra
1995	Maidan-E-Jung	Master Dinanath	Dharmendra, Akshay Kumar, Karishma Kapoor

[ Source: Wikipedia ]