New Delhi. Whenever there is talk of veteran actors of Hindi cinema, the name of Harikishan Giri Goswami is definitely taken. You might be wondering who is this Harikishan Giri Goswami? Don’t put too much stress on your mind, we will tell you who Harikishan Giri Goswami is. He is an actor who awakened the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of people. Actor Manoj Kumar, famous as ‘Bharat Kumar’, has a handsome and shy image. Manoj Kumar was born on 24 July 1937 in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Parents named him Harikishan Giri Goswami. But after coming into films he changed his name. Harikishan Giri Goswami’s Manoj Kumar. You tell interesting stories about becoming a ‘beggar’ at the age of 20 and being beaten by the police.
Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar has entertained the audience for years with his personality and acting. Today he is 87 years old. Manoj Kumar was born in Abbottabad, Pakistan and came to India with his family after Partition. On the birthday of Manoj Kumar, who has been awarded the National Award, Dadasaheb Phalke, Padmashree Award and 8 Filmfare Awards, let us know the things related to him, which people hardly know.
How Harikishan Giri Goswami became Manoj Kumar
Manoj Kumar was fond of cinema since childhood. He had seen a film in his childhood, whose name was ‘Shabnam’. Dilip Kumar and Kamini Kaushal were the lead actors in this film, released on 22 April 1949. Made under the direction of Bibhuti Mitra, this film had music by SD Burman. Dilip Sahab played the character ‘Manoj’ in this film based on Rangoon War. Harikishan Giri Goswami was so impressed by Dilip Kumar in this film that he changed his name to ‘Manoj Kumar’.
Manoj Kumar entered Bollywood with the 1957 film ‘Fashion’. Photo courtesy-@bharatkumarfunsclub/Instagram
Became a ‘beggar’ at the age of 20
Manoj Kumar, who showed his strong acting in many hit films including ‘Shaheed’, ‘Woh Kaun Thi’, ‘Roti Kapda Aur Makaan’, ‘Purab Aur Paschim’ and ‘Upkaar’, made his debut with Lekhraj Bhakri’s film ‘Fashion’ in the year 1957. Started my film journey. In this film he played the role of a 90 year old beggar. In the year 1960, he was seen as a lead actor for the first time in the film ‘Kaanch Ki Gudiya’. However, Manoj Kumar’s first hit film was ‘Hariyali Aur Raasta’, which was released in the year 1962.
Why called ‘Bharat Kumar’
‘Kranti’, directed by Manoj Kumar, had brought a revolution at the box office at that time. Although Manoj Kumar has worked in many films, but due to his serious acting in ‘Purab Aur Paschim’, he still remains in the hearts of the audience. The song ‘Bharat ka rahe wala hoon, Bharat ki baat sunata hoon’ from this film worked as much to inculcate the feeling of patriotism in people in that period as it does even today. Manoj Kumar played the lead role in the film ‘Shaheed’ released in 1965, for which he also met the mother of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. At that time Bhagat Singh’s mother was admitted in the hospital. It is said that Manoj Kumar cried bitterly after meeting Bhagat Singh’s mother. In most of the films made on patriotism, the name of Manoj Kumar’s character was ‘Bharat’. Because of this people started calling him ‘Bharat Kumar’.
When the police batons were lying there
Manoj Kumar has also faced police batons. Actually, this incident happened when he lived in the refugee camp after partition. At that time, he used to get angry very easily regarding the situation. According to media reports, once he vented his anger on the doctors and nurses of the refugee camp. When the matter escalated, he had to face police lathicharge.