Anju Mahendru misses ‘bro’ Sanjeev Kumar on his 88th birth anniversary

Mumbai, July 9 (IANS) Actress Anju Mahendru fondly remembered legendary actor Sanjeev Kumar on what would have been his 88th birth anniversary on July 9.

Taking to her X (formerly Twitter) account, Anju shared a vintage picture of Sanjeev Kumar dressed in a black suit with a patterned tie, holding a glass in one hand.

Her caption read, ‘Hari !! Miss you so much Bro Happy birthday…’

For the uninitiated , Anju Mahendru and Sanjeev Kumar appeared together in two Hindi film, ‘Dastak’ in 1970, Directed by Rajinder Singh Bedi, and ‘Mukti’ in 1977, Directed by Raj Tilak.

The two developed a close off-screen friendship over the years with Anju fondly addressing him as ‘Hari’, a short for his birth name, and often referred to him as her ‘bro’.

Bollywood star Jackie Shroff also had taken to his social media account on Thursday morning, to honour the late actor by sharing a collage of Sanjeev Kumar’s pictures from different phases of his career.

The collage carried the message, ‘Sanjeev Kumar ji Always in our hearts (9 July 1938 – 6 Nov 1985).’ Jackie accompanied the tribute with the timeless Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar classic ‘Tum Aa Gaye Ho Noor Aa Gaya Hai’ from the 1978 film ‘Aandhi’, a movie that is considered as one of Sanjeev Kumar’s most celebrated performances.

Talking about the legendary actor, Sanjeev Kumar was born as Harihar Jethalal Jariwala on July 9, 1938, and has been widely regarded as one of Hindi cinema’s most versatile actors.

Among his most memorable films are ‘Sholay’, where he immortalised the iconic role of ‘Thakur’ Baldev Singh, followed by other hits ‘Aandhi’, ‘Mausam’, ‘Angoor’, ‘Trishul’, ‘Khilona’, ‘Seeta Aur Geeta’, ‘Pati Patni Aur Woh’, ‘Manchali’, ‘Namkeen’ and ‘Hero’ amongst many others.

He was also critically acclaimed for ‘Koshish’, in which he played a deaf and mute husband opposite Jaya Bhaduri (now Jaya Bachchan).

Directed by Gulzar, the film won him the National Film Award for Best Actor.

His double role in Gulzar’s cult comedy ‘Angoor’ is still hailed as one of the greatest comic performances in Indian cinema.

Sanjeev Kumar’s personal life was as widely discussed as much as his professional journey.

It has long been reported that he deeply admired actress Hema Malini and even proposed marriage to her in the early 1970s. When the proposal was declined, the rejection reportedly left him heartbroken. Hema later married Dharmendra in 1980.

It was also said that playback singer-actress Sulakshana Pandit had also once openly expressed her love for Sanjeev Kumar and reportedly proposed marriage to him.

After he declined her proposal, she was believed to have remained unmarried until her passing in 2025.

Despite immense success, Sanjeev Kumar never married. The actor passed away following a massive heart attack on November 6, 1985, at the age of just 47.

–IANS

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