1957-1964: Debut and rise to prominence

After making a little-noticed début in Fashion (1957), followed by forgettable roles in films like Sahara (1958), Chand (1959) and Honeymoon (1960), he landed his first leading role in Kaanch Ki Gudiya (1961). Piya Milan Ki Aas (1961), Suhag Sindoor (1961), Reshmi Roomal (1961) followed, but the majority of these sank without a trace. The first success came in 1962 with Vijay Bhatt's Hariyali Aur Rasta opposite Mala Sinha. The film was a critical and commercial hit.^[5] This was followed by - Shaadi (1962), Dr. Vidya (1962) and Grahasti (1963), all of which were moderately successful at the box office.^[6]

His breakthrough came with Raj Khosla's mystery thriller Woh Kaun Thi? in 1964.^[7] The film emerged a superhit, which was attributed to its watertight screenplay and melodious songs, such as "Lag Jaa Gale" and "Naina Barse Rimjhim", both solos by Lata Mangeshkar.^[8]

1965-1981: Stardom

1965 was a big year for Kumar, as it initiated his rise to stardom.^[9] His first release was patriotic drama Shaheed, based on the life of Bhagat Singh, the Independence revolutionary. It received highly positive responses from critics as well as the then-Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri, and it was a hit at the box office.^[10] This was followed by romantic drama Himalay Ki God Mein,^[11] a blockbuster which made him a bankable star.^[9] In the month of December, Kumar scored another major hit with the mystery thriller Gumnaam.^[12] The success streak continued in 1966, when he reunited with Khosla for Do Badan alongside Asha Parekh. This film was remembered for Khosla's direction, Kumar's performance, and songs written by the lyricist Shakeel Badayuni (including "Raha Gardishon Mein", sung by Mohammed Rafi, and "Lo Aa Gayi Unki Yaad", a solo by Lata Mangeshkar).^[13] He delivered another hit that year in Shakti Samanta's Sawan Ki Ghata, performing opposite Sharmila Tagore.^[14]

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").^[2][10] The result was his directorial debut, the 1967 patriotic drama Upkar.^[15] The film topped the box office chart that year, and emerged as an All Time Blockbuster.^[16] Upkar received critical acclaim and its music was also highly successful, especially "Mere Desh Ki Dharti," which is played during Republic Day and the Independence Day of India. Upkar won him the National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film as well as his first Filmfare Best Director Award.^[17][18] His next release, Patthar Ke Sanam again went on to become a major commercial success, but Anita opposite Sadhana flopped.^[19] In 1968, he co-starred alongside Raaj Kumar and Waheeda Rehman in Neel Kamal.^[20] The same year, he reunited with Rehman for Aadmi, which also had Dilip Kumar in the lead.^[21] Neel Kamal proved a superhit at the box office, becoming the third highest-grossing film of 1968.^[22] Aadmi also did reasonable business, and was declared a semi-hit by the end of its run.^[23] The year 1969 saw the rise of Rajesh Khanna, who stormed the nation with the historic blockbuster Aradhana.^[24] His rise led to a decline in the stardom of actors like Rajendra Kumar, Shammi Kapoor and Sunil Dutt.^[25] During this period, Dharmendra and Kumar were the only actors who remained unaffected by Rajesh Khanna Mania, and kept delivering huge hits. Kumar's only release of 1969 was Sajan co-starring Parekh.^[26] The film was a hit, and ranked tenth among the highest-grossing films of that year.^[27]

He returned to patriotic themes in 1970 with Purab Aur Paschim, which juxtaposed life in the East and West. It proved to be a mega blockbuster both in India and overseas.^[28] In the United Kingdom, the film was released in 1971 and ran for over 50 weeks in London. It grossed £285,000 in the UK, equivalent to ₹2.5 million (US$332,252.41). It broke the UK box office record of another huge blockbuster Do Raaste, which had released in the UK a year earlier. Purab Aur Paschim held the UK record for 23 years, until it was finally broken by Hum Aapke Hain Kaun in 1994.^[29] His other releases of 1970 were Yaadgaar, Pehchan and Mera Naam Joker.^[30][31] While Yaadgaar was a box office failure, Pehchan (opposite Babita) proved a commercial success, and Raj Kapoor's Mera Naam Joker (in which he had a supporting role) flopped at the time of release, but gained cult status with the passage of time and the growing visibility of Indian content in world cinema.^[32][33] After delivering a decent success with Balidaan in 1971, the following year, he starred in Sohanlal Kanwar's Be-Imaan and directed and starred in Shor.^[34][35] The latter, opposite Nanda, was not a huge box office success, but received critical acclaim. 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.^[36] Kumar won his first and only Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his performance in Be-Imaan, as well as a Filmfare Award for Best Editing for Shor.^[37]

Kumar's peak came in the mid-1970s, when he delivered three huge blockbusters in a row.^[38] This started with the social drama Roti Kapada Aur Makaan, which he also directed. In addition to Kumar, the film starred Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman and Moushmi Chatterjee.^[39] Released on 18 October 1974, it emerged as the biggest hit of the year and was given the verdict of All Time Blockbuster by the end of its run.^[40] In 1975, Kumar reunited with Sohanlal Kanwar for Sanyasi which opened to excellent audience response, eventually emerging a blockbuster and taking 3rd spot at the box office.^[41] For his portrayal of a religious minded young man in the film, Kumar received his fourth and final nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Actor category.^[42] With the action crime film Dus Numbri in 1976, he completed his hat-trick of blockbusters.^[43]

In 1977, he had two releases with Shirdi Ke Sai Baba and Amaanat. Neither film did well at the box office. After a year-long break, he starred in the hit Punjabi film Jat Punjabi. In 1981, Kumar directed and starred in historical drama Kranti alongside Dilip Kumar, Hema Malini, Shashi Kapoor, Parveen Babi and Shatrughan Sinha.^[44] Kranti went on to become the biggest patriotic hit of all time, topping the box office chart in 1981.^[45] It was the most successful film of the 1980s, and Kumar's third All Time Blockbuster after Upkar and Roti Kapada Aur Makaan.^[46] The craze of the film was such that in places like Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana there were shops selling Kranti T shirts, jackets, vests and even underwear. The year 1981 was a big one for the industry which saw some huge blockbusters like Naseeb, Laawaris, Ek Duje Ke Liye, Love Story and Meri Aawaz Suno and many other hits, but Kranti stood apart and top of the pile.^[47] It also proved to be the last notable successful Hindi film of Kumar's career.^[48]

1987-1999: Later career

After Kranti in 1981, Kumar's career began to decline, and films he starred in such as Kalyug Aur Ramayan (1987), Santosh (1989) and Clerk (1989) all flopped at the box office.^[49] He quit acting after his appearance in the 1995 film Maidan-E-Jung.^[50] He directed his son, Kunal Goswami, in the 1999 film Jai Hind, which had a patriotic theme. The film was a box office failure and the last film Kumar worked on.^[51]

He was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999, for a career spanning over 40 years.^[52] He consistently worked with the actors Prem Nath, Pran, Prem Chopra, Kamini Kaushal and Hema Malini in his career. His closest friends from the industry included Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Mukesh, Mahendra Kapoor, Dharmendra, Rajendra Kumar and Shashi Kapoor.^[53][54][55]

His trademark movement of a 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.^[56]

Politics

Like many other Bollywood stars, Kumar decided to enter politics following his retirement. Before the 2004 general election in India, he officially joined Bharatiya Janta Party.^[57]

Actor

Director

• Upkar (1967)
• Purab Aur Paschim (1970)
• Shor (1972)
• Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974)
• Kranti (1981)
• Clerk (1989)
• Jai Hind (1999)

Civilian Award

National Film Awards

State Honours

Filmfare Awards

BFJA Awards

Other awards

• 2007 – Sardar Patel Lifetime Achievement International Award^[68]
• 2008 – Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2010 – Lifetime Achievement Award at the 12th Mumbai Film Festival^[69]
• 2012 – Lifetime Achievement Award at the Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Award^[70]
• 2012 – Lifetime Achievement Award at the Nashik International Film Festival^[71]
• 2012 – Bharat Gaurav Award in New Jersey, United States^[72]
• 2013 – Lifetime Achievement Award at the Jagran Film Festival^[73][74]
• 2019 – Lifetime Achievement Award from Power Brands at BFJA (Bollywood Film Journalists Awards)^[75]
• 2020 - Kalaimamani^[76]

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.^[77]
• 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".^[78]