Here’s how Harihar Jethalal Jariwala became Bollywood’s Sanjeev Kumar

Are you aware why actor Sanjeev Kumar adopted his display identify? Whereas he himself thought his actual identify Harihar Jethalal Jariwala was not befitting for an aspiring actor, famend director Kamal Amrohi steered he ought to have a novel and a powerful display id.

Actor-playwright Hanif Zaveri and insolvency lawyer Sumant Batra have come out with an authorised biography of the two-time Nationwide Award-winning actor titled “An Actor’s Actor” during which they supply a number of such fascinating anecdotes about him.

Throughout his preliminary days, Jariwala would usually say his identify was “not befitting for an aspiring actor” and talk about along with his associates the varied doable names he might undertake.

“He determined that it ought to start with the letter ‘S’, as his mom’s identify started with an ‘S’ (Shantaben), and may finish with ‘Kumar’ as most actors’ names ended with ‘Kumar’. After a gruelling debate and dialogue, the identify ‘Sanjay Kumar’ obtained unanimous approval, and Hari was credited in each ‘Ramat Ramade Ram’ and ‘Aao Pyar Karen’ by this identify,” the e-book, revealed by Penguin Random Home, says.

Whereas Jariwala was capturing for “Nishan”, he met the versatile writer-producer-director Amrohi, who requested him to return over to Filmistan Studio Goregaon the next day to debate two new movies he was at the moment engaged on – “Aakhri Din Pehli Raat” and “Shankar Hussain” (1977).

“Shankar Hussain” was to be Jariwala’s subsequent mission.

“When Hari went to satisfy Amrohi he was instructed to do a display take a look at with just a few tough dialogues in Urdu. The ever-diligent Hari delivered the dialogues in 4 other ways. Totally impressed with Hari’s confidence, Amrohi steered that Hari work along with his assistant Baqar to fine-tune his Urdu,” the authors say.

The hiccup with Jariwala’s identify got here up once more with Amrohi.

The director instructed him that his identify was not spectacular sufficient for an actor and determined to vary Jariwala’s display identify to Gautam Rajvansh and Vidya Manjrekar’s (who initially performed the protagonist’s sister and later performed the lead) to Al-Saheba, the e-book says.

Each the actors accepted Amrohi’s suggestion, and Jariwala avoided telling him that he had already selected Sanjay Kumar as his display identify, it says.

“Sadly, a day earlier than the capturing was to start out, the lead actress withdrew from capturing. Extraordinarily caught up with ‘Pakeezah’ (1972), during which his spouse Meena Kumari was enjoying a pivotal position, Amrohi shelved ‘Shankar Hussain’ after just some photographs with Vidya as the brand new lead.”

Each “Badal” and “Nishan” have been on the ground when Sanjay Khan’s superhit movie “Dosti” (1964) launched and he immediately grew to become a family identify. Jariwala was in a dilemma but once more, since two Sanjays couldn’t rule the display on the identical time.

“Aspi Irani suggested him to change his identify as soon as once more. Hari was reluctant as a result of two of his movies had already been launched as Sanjay Kumar. Nevertheless, ‘Aao Pyar Karen’ centered on Pleasure Mukherjee, and ‘Ramat Ramade Ram’ was a regional movie. He determined to take his possibilities, and Sanjeev Kumar was born,” the authors write.

Now that his identify was fastened, the one different factor that wanted fixing was his look. Jariwala put away his trademark kurta pyjama and purchased a crimson T-shirt and a pair of white trousers for interviews with administrators and producers.

The authors additionally point out how Jariwala knew his future was irrevocably tied to Indian cinema, however many hurdles stood between him and his aim. “Overcoming most of them required divine intervention, however some, like his voice, he believed he might work on.”

Based on his information C H Intwala, Jariwala was fearful about his “weak voice”.

Jariwala labored exhausting on his dialogue supply, practising the identical strains in varied pitches and tones and modulating them with completely different hues of emotional depth. Intwala would supervise his dialogue-reading periods each night.

“On the time, Hari had no concept that the voice he was striving to change would at some point assist him carve a distinct segment for himself on the earth of cinema, and, later, would turn out to be a staple for mimicry artists, though they’d discover it close to inconceivable to breed the varied nuances that affected his tone,” the e-book says.

It additionally describes Kumar’s first position in “Hum Hindustani” (1960), starring Sunil Dutt and Asha Parekh.

“Upon being approached, Hari instantly accepted the provide of enjoying a police inspector for Rs 12 per shift. Hari’s position had no dialogues, however he gave it his hundred per cent; this was the primary time he was dealing with the digital camera in spite of everything,” the e-book says.

“Rs 12 per shift was a great sum of cash for Hari. He was pleased with what he had earned and was elated at handing over his hard-earned cash to his mom. Her approval mattered essentially the most to him. Delighted, Shantaben took Hari to Mumba Devi’s temple at Zaveri Bazaar and donated part of his earnings to the temple’s fund,” it says.

The e-book has a foreword by actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha.