On Independence Day and Republic Day, neatly dressed in school uniforms, we would stand in attention, with bustling excitement. As soon as the Indian Tricolour fluttered gracefully in the gentle breeze against a clear blue sky and we sang the National Anthem, I waited for the loudspeakers to echo “Mere Desh Ki Dharti.” I didn’t know who sang the song or who featured in this patriotic number but it gave me goosebumps everytime I heard it, twice a year to be precise. Sure, as a child, I danced to the peppy track, “Suno Gaur Se Duniya Waalon” as much as I loved AR Rahman’s “Vande Mataram,” but there something about “Mere Desh Ki Dharti” which connected me to my roots. Maybe because I come from a family of farmers.
It was the year 2007, Om Shanti Om had just been released. We laughed about the over-the-top “Ek Chutki Sindoor” dialogue during lunch breaks in the school playground, but what actually amused us was the news of Shah Rukh Khan being in legal trouble for imitating a ‘veteran’ actor called Manoj Kumar, who found SRK’s impression of him was “offensive.” I immediately started to look him up on the internet. Yes, the actor hid his face with his palm during scenes while emoting pain. Gen Zs could call him the inventor of the face palm emoji, but he was more than just that. I finally had a face and came to know of the actor who featured in “Mere Desh Ki Dharti” (Upkar).
Former actor, director and screenwriter, Manoj Kumar earned himself the title of Bharat Kumar, and introduced a new genre of films in Bollywood — patriotic cinema, peppered with nationalism and social issues. One may argue that Akshay Kumar, who featured in films like Baby, Kesari, Airlift, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Mission Mangal, Padman, and a horde of other patriotic and socially-relevant themes, is the poster boy for pop patriotism in Hindi cinema, but decades before Khiladi transitioned to the role of a crusader, Manoj was the real ‘Bharat Kumar’.
Manoj was born as Harikrishna Giri Goswami, in Lahore’s Abbottabad in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, before the country got its independence. Post-Partition, he grew up in a refugee camp in Delhi with his family. An admirer of films and actors, he landed up in Mumbai in 1956 and his first film, Fashion, released in 1957, where he played a 90-year-old beggar. A string of forgettable films followed, with Manoj tasting success with Vijay Bhatt’s Hariyali Aur Rasta in 1962. Woh Kaun Thi, Gumnaam, Do Batan and Himalaya Ki God Mein were among the many hits he delivered but Manoj went on to deliver his most memorable performance as Bhagat Singh in the timeless Shahid (1965). Manoj later accepted that he practically directed the film. “Kya karna hai? Interest yahi tha ki film complete ho. I have always been involved in my films and that is how I gathered the confidence to make more films,” he had said in an interview to us in 2014. Memorably, Bhagat Singh’s mother Vidyawati attended the National Award event when the film won multiple honours where the then PM Indira Gandhi touched her feet and the audience gave a 15-minute standing ovation to her.
Manoj Kumar’s directorial debut was Upkar, which had the song “Mere Desh ki Dharti”. Interestingly, Kumar made the film at the request of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and his call of ‘Jai Jawaan Jai Kisaan’. Upkar was highly acclaimed and winning Filmfare Awards awards for best film, best director, best story, best dialogue, and best lyrics. He didn’t make patriotic films for sake of making them, he lived and breathed them even if it meant selling his own land and properties.
“Patriotism is in my blood. I have inherited the spirit of patriotism and love for literature from my father and the right religious and moral values from my mother Krishna Kumari Goswami,” he once told The Times of India.
The actor-director believed the moniker of ‘Bharat Kumar’ came with a responsibility, He recently told Lehren TV, “Bharat ka to taaj yeh jo bharatwashiyon ne mujhe pehnanya hai woh filmon aur vyaktigat jeewan mein nibhana bahot bada bhoj aur zimmedari hai. Yeh bada upkar hai unka mujpar. Main kitna safal aur asafal hua, woh mere deshwashi jante hai. Main ek sadharan sa nagrik hoon (I’m honoured by what my fellow countrymen have entrusted me with today, both in films and personal life. It’s a significant responsibility. It’s a great favour they’ve done for me. How successful I’ve been is known to my fellow citizens. I’m just an ordinary person.),” said a humble Manoj, who has retired from acting and filmmaking.
According to a report published in DNA, Manoj helmed the ambitious project Kranti, featuring Dilip Kumar, the actor who inspired him to foray into films, Shashi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Hema Malini, and Parveen Babi. Kranti is an epic historical drama set against the backdrop of 19th century British India. Chronicling the fervent struggle for independence between 1825 and 1875, the film focuses on a quartet of revolutionary leaders. Released in the year 1981, Kranti was envisioned on a colossal scale with a budget estimated at a staggering Rs 3 crore. However, the production faced a major setback when financiers and producers pulled out, leaving Manoj with no choice but to shoulder the entire financial burden himself.
In a desperate bid to salvage his dream project, he was forced to sell his Delhi bungalow. When funds still fell short, he parted with his plot in Mumbai’s affluent Juhu neighbourhood. Reportedly, he had planned to open a movie theater post-retirement, a dream he willingly sacrificed for Kranti. The critically-acclaimed film did not witnessed massive success at the box office. The film also marked the return of Dilip Kumar after a four-year hiatus.
While Manoj did transition from the quiet idealism of Upkar in Roti Kapda Aur Makaan and Kranti, he didn’t stop looking at films as a medium of spreading the right message or highlighting the pertinent issues in the society.
His films resonated the sentiments of the youth and common man in the 70s and spoke of corruption, inflation and unemployment as shown in Roti Kapda Aur Makaan and Dus Numbri. But Manoj was a true patriot in real-life, too. He refused to budge before the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who asked him to make a film on the Emergency. Unlike many actors and filmmakers of today, including Akshay, who would be willing to make or act in movies that please the current government, Manoj was vocal about his thoughts against the Emergency, in his words, action and films.
Manoj, who shared a cordial relationship with Indira Gandhi, became a vocal critic of the authoritarian regime, Kumar found himself in direct opposition to the government. The Emergency era was marked by a crackdown on dissent, including a ban on films featuring actors who opposed the government’s actions. Manoj Kumar’s films, Dus Numbri and Shor, were not spared. The latter, directed and produced by Manoj himself, faced further setbacks when it was prematurely aired on Doordarshan, significantly impacting its theatrical release and leading to substantial financial losses. According to a report published in India TV News, he challenged these government actions in court. After a protracted legal battle, he emerged victorious, becoming the only filmmaker to successfully litigate against the Indian government. Despite this landmark win and a subsequent offer to make a film on the Emergency itself, with Amrita Pritam penning the script, Kumar declined the opportunity and even discouraged her from pursuing it.
The actor, who has ghost written for many films and often received criticism for it, recently told Times Now that he did so to improve the film and not to take credit away from the writers. The actor, now 87, still has the passion for films, but sadly, due to his back issues, have been away from film sets. He told journalist Subhash K Jha, ” Akshay Kumar respects me. In his film with Katrina Kaif Namaste London he said, ‘If you want to know what India is all about take a look at a DVD of Purab Aur Paschim, and you’ll know. In fact, Purab Aur Paschim is the mother of many subsequent films.”
Manoj, who had a traumatic childhood — he lost his brother owing to doctors’ strike — and also struggled financially, moved to Mumbai (then Bombay) to try his luck at acting and earn Rs 3 lack to support his parents and sibling. He was deeply inspired by Dilip Kumar, therefore, changed his name from Harikrishna Giri Goswami to Manoj Kumar when he landed a small role in his debut film, Fashion. Little did he know that he will go on to inspire actors like Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan and John Abraham in the decades to come.
