The Person Who Made Manoj Kumar Cry

Roshmila
Bhattacharya
shows
us
just
why
India
has
lost
her
Mr
Bharat.

At
87,
Manoj
Kumar
succumbed
to
the
health
issues
that
had
been
plaguing
him
for
years.

The
actor-filmmaker
leaves
behind
a
number
of
patriotic
films,
the
first
among
them,

Shaheed.

Rediff.com
Senior
Contributor

Roshmila
Bhattacharya
shares
some
nuggets
from
this
film
that
acquainted
many
across
the
country
with
the
legendary
freedom
fighter
Bhagat
Singh.

On
January
1,
1965,

Shaheed
opened
in
theatres,
flagging
off
Manoj
Kumar’s

desh
bhakti
journey.

The
film,
which
went
on
to
become
one
of
the
year’s
top
grossers,
had
to
struggle
for
buyers
because
it
did
not
have
a
heroine
opposite
him.

However,
for
the
actor,
that
was
never
a
point
of
discussion
or
contention.

For
him,

Shaheed
was
a
tribute
to
his
childhood
hero,
and
as
shooting
progressed,
he
began
to
not
just
look
like
him
but
also
behave
eerily
like
Bhagat
Singh.

Reliving
Bhagat
Singh

In
the
course
of
our
many
conversations,
Manoj
Kumar
had
reminisced
about
how,
when
the
martyr’s
younger
brother,
Kultar
Singh,
took
him
to
meet
his
mother
and
commented
on
the
striking
resemblance
between
the
two
young
men,
one
long
gone,
Chaiji
had
acknowledged
it
with
a
smile.

“As
the
film
progressed,
she
grew
very
fond
of
me,”
he
shared,
admitting
that
he
would
frequently
visit
Vidyavatiji
when
shooting
in
Chandigarh.

Once,
he
had
even
flown
from
Mumbai
when
she
was
hospitalised,
and
much
to
the
family’s
concern,
was
adamantly
refusing
to
take
medicines.

“I
requested
her
with
folded
hands,

dawayee
kha
leejiye
(please
take
your
medication),
and
she
agreed,”
he
recounted
emotionally.

A
tale
of
two

Shaheeds

Shaheed
was
as
much
about
Bhagat
Singh’s
bravery
and
patriotism
as
it
was
about
his
mother’s
sacrifice
and
Kamini
Kaushal
played
her
in
the
film.

Interestingly,
the
actress
had
featured
in
another

Shaheed,
which
released
in
1948.

Directed
by
Ramesh
Saigal
and
based
on
a
story
he
had
written,
it
had
Dilip
Kumar
as
a
young
freedom
fighter,
Ram,
with
Kamini
as
his
childhood
sweetheart,
Sheela,
who
agrees
to
marry
an
unscrupulous
police
officer,
Vinod,
played
by
Ram
Singh,
to
save
his
life.

But
Ram,
like
Bhagat
Singh,
is
found
guilty
and
hanged.

Sheela
succumbs
to
the
shock
and
the
lovers,
separated
in
life,
are
reunited
in
death.

Manoj
Kumar
was
around
11
when
he
cajoled
his
uncle
to
take
him
to
watch
the
film
in
a
theatre
in
Delhi.

Heart-broken
by
the
tragic
end,
he
had
returned
home
sobbing.

Years
later,
he
approached
Kamini
Kaushal
for

Shaheed.
The
actress
had
by
then
settled
down
to
quiet
domesticity
and
wasn’t
accepting
any
film
offers.

At
the
end
of
the
script
narration,
Kamini
asked
him
curiously,
‘You
want
me
to
play
your
mother?’

‘I
don’t
want
you
to
play
just
anyone’s
mother,
I
want
you
to
play
Bhagat
Singh’s
mother,’
he
retorted,
and
won
her
heart.

She
accepted
the
film.

With
this
transition
to
character
roles,

Shaheed
flagged
off
a
successful,
almost
five
decade
long
second
innings
for
Kamini
who
went
on
to
do
several
more
films
with
Manoj
Kumar,
including
his
directorial
debut

Upkar,
followed
by

Purab
Aur
Paschim,
Sanyasi,
Shor,
Roti
Kapda
Aur
Makaan,
Dus
Numbri
and

Santosh.

In
many
of
these
films,
she
played
his
mother
and
he
later
admitted
that
she
had
been
the
perfect
choice
to
play
Chaiji
in

Shaheed
because
when
she
called
him
‘beta’,
he
actually
felt
like
he
was
her
son.

Once
the
film
was
complete,
among
the
first
to
see
it
was
Kultar
Singh
and
his
mother.

“We
waited
anxiously
for
Chaiji’s
reaction.
I
felt
like
I
had
won
an
award
when
she
gave
an
approving
nod,”
he
remembered.

Shaheed
won
three
National
Awards.

On
his
request,
Manoj
Kumar’s
father
Harbans
Lal
Goswami
brought
Chaiji
down
from
Chandigarh
for
the
award
ceremony.

She
was
seated
beside
the
actor,
and
when
he
went
on
stage,
he
entreated
her
to
join
him.

As
the
elderly
lady
in
the
white
sari,

pallu
on
her
head,
shyly
stepped
up
to
stand
beside
him,
the
whole
auditorium
rose
as
one
to
give
them
a
standing
ovation.

A
photograph
of
Manoj
Kumar
with
Bhagat
Singh’s
mother
taken
in
Delhi
at
the
National
Awards
ceremony
was
among
the
late
actor’s
treasured
possessions.

A
cuppa
in
gratitude

After
the
film’s
release,
Manoj
Kumar
was
in
Goa
to
shoot
a
song
for
Shatrujit
Paul’s
film

Amanaat,
which
was
in
the
making
for
eight
years
and
released
in
1977.

The
sun
suddenly
went
behind
the
clouds
and
as
the
unit
waited
for
the
light
to
return,
the
actor
decided
to
get
himself
a
cup
of
tea.

To
his
surprise,
when
he
went
to
the
counter
to
pay
for
it,
he
was
told
the
bill
had
already
been
settled.

Surprised
and
curious,
Manoj
Kumar
insisted
on
knowing
who
had
bought
him
his
tea.

Finally,
a
sweeper,
who
worked
at
the
government
tea
house,
came
forward
saying
he
had
never
heard
of
Bhagat
Singh
before
and
only
learnt
how
he
had
sacrificed
even
his
life
for
the
country
after
seeing
Shaheed.

‘The
least
I
can
do
is
to
offer
you
a
cup
of
tea,’
he
muttered,
moving
an
emotional
Manoj
Kumar
to
tears.