Jeetendra

Jeetendra (born Ravi Kapoor ; 7 April 1942) is an Indian actor who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Hindi cinema. He is noted for his acting, style and dance. He has worked in more than 200 films in a career spanning over six decades.

Jeetendra began his acting career with '' Geet Gaya Patharon Ne'' (1964). He shot to stardom in 1967 with '' Farz'', and achieved greater success in later years, being dubbed India's "Jumping Jack" for several of his on-screen roles in Hindi films. He consistently starred in several top–grossing Indian films from the late-1960s to the 1980s, such as '' Jeene Ki Raah'', '' Khilona'', '' Caravan'', '' Bidaai'', '' Udhar Ka Sindur'', '' Dharam Veer'', '' Swarg Narak'', '' Jaani Dushman'', '' Aasha'', '' Meri Aawaz Suno'', '' Farz Aur Kanoon'', '' Himmatwala'', '' Tohfa'', '' Maqsad'', '' Swarag Se Sunder'', ''Khudgarz'' and ''Thanedaar'', as well as some of his acclaimed performances, include '' Boond Jo Ban Gayee Moti'', '' Mere Huzoor'', '' Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke'', '' Humjoli'', '' Parichay'', '' Khushboo'', '' Kinara'', '' Priyatama'', '' Lok Parlok'', '' Takkar'', '' Jyoti'', '' Pyaasa Sawan'' and '' Sanjog''. In the early-2000s, he founded Balaji Motion Pictures, which emerged as one of the leading production houses in Hindi cinema.

Early life

Jeetendra was born in a Punjabi family as Ravi Kapoor in Amritsar, Punjab, to Amarnath and Krishna Kapoor, whose business dealt with imitation jewellery, supplied to film industry. He attended St. Sebastian's Goan High School in Mumbai with his friend Rajesh Khanna and then studied at Siddharth College in Mumbai. While supplying jewellery to V. Shantaram, he was cast as Sandhya's character's double in the 1964 movie '' Geet Gaya Patharon Ne'' after which his career never turned back.

Career

1964–1971: Debut and breakthrough

Jeetendra began his career in 1964 playing the lead in V. Shantaram's '' Geet Gaya Patharon Ne'' alongside Rajshree. Despite heavy promotions and positive reviews, the film proved to be an unsuccessful venture domestically. After a brief period of absence from films, he established himself with Ravikant Nagaich's spy thriller '' Farz'' in 1967. A remake of Telugu film '' Gudachari 116'' (1966), it emerged a blockbuster at the box office and made Jeetendra a star. The music of ''Farz'' was one of the best-selling Hindi film albums of the 1960s. Majority of its songs like – "Mast Baharon Ka Main Aashiq", "Baar Baar Din Ye Aaye – Happy Birthday To You", both solos by Mohammed Rafi and "Hum To Tere Aashiq Hain", a duet by Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar remain popular till date. In 1968, he had three releases – '' Suhaag Raat'', '' Aulad'' and '' Mere Huzoor''. While, ''Suhaag Raat'' and ''Aulad'' were critical and commercial failures, the lattermost co-starring Raaj Kumar and Mala Sinha received positive response from reviewers and did decent business at the box office.

In 1969, Jeetendra had three major commercial successes with L. V. Prasad's '' Jeene Ki Raah'', T. R. Ramanna's '' Waris'' and Ravikant Nagaich's '' Jigri Dost''. He began the 1970s with Chander Vohra's '' Khilona'' which also had Sanjeev Kumar and Mumtaz in the lead. The film emerged a huge hit with all the three leads receiving praise for their respective performances. He delivered another superhit that year with T. R. Ramanna's '' Humjoli'' which was a remake of blockbuster Tamil film '' Panakkara Kudumbam'' (1964). In 1971, Jeetendra starred alongside Asha Parekh in Nasir Hussain's crime thriller '' Caravan''. The film proved to be a superhit domestically and an ''All Time Blockbuster'' in overseas markets, especially China where it went on to become the highest-grossing foreign film, surpassing Raj Kapoor's '' Awaara'' (1951). The soundtrack of ''Caravan'' composed by R. D. Burman was a huge chartbuster and one of the best-selling Hindi film albums of the 1970s.

1972–1979: Career slump and return to prominence

Despite kicking off the new decade on a successful note, Jeetendra saw a bad phase from 1972 to 1973 as majority of his films, such as '' Ek Hasina Do Diwane'' (1972), '' Shaadi Ke Baad'' (1972), '' Yaar Mera'' (1972), '' Roop Tera Mastana'' (1972), '' Anokhi Ada'' (1973) and '' Gehri Chaal'' (1973), all bombed at the box office. During this phase, he saw moderate successes in '' Bhai Ho To Aisa'' (1972) and '' Jaise Ko Taisa'' (1973) and received praise for his portrayal of a kind-hearted tuition teacher in Gulzar's light-hearted drama '' Parichay'' (1972). The song "Musafir Hoon Yaroon" from ''Parichay'' was listed at #25 in the Binaca Geetmala annual list 1973 and is considered to be one of the most loved ''filmi'' songs of all time.

In 1974, Jeetendra played the lead in L. V. Prasad's '' Bidaai'' co-starring Leena Chandavarkar and Durga Khote. The film proved to be a blockbuster at the box office thus ending his dry run and also emerging one of the top five highest-grossing films of that year. In 1975, he reunited with Gulzar for the romantic drama '' Khushboo''. Based on Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's Bengali novel ''Panditmashai'', it was well received by the masses as well as the critics. The following year, he delivered three more commercial successes with '' Suntan'', '' Udhar Ka Sindur'' and '' Nagin'' (in which he played a small role).

1977 proved to be a big one for Jeetendra with many successes. He had an ''All Time Blockbuster'' in Manmohan Desai's magnum opus '' Dharam Veer'', also starring Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman and Neetu Singh. In United Kingdom, the film had 23 shows in 5 cities. Driven by the success of Rafi's songs, the film took a record initial of £50,000 in the UK, equivalent to . In addition, the film sold 32 million tickets in the Soviet Union. The huge success of ''Dharam Veer'' was followed by a superhit in J. Om Prakash's third directional venture '' Apnapan''. That same year, his final collaboration with Gulzar took place for another romance film '' Kinara'' opposite Hema Malini. The film is widely remembered for its heartwarming premise and the song "Naam Gum Jayega" sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Bhupinder Singh. Jeetendra's good run continued in 1978 with a superhit in Dasari Narayana Rao's family drama film '' Swarg Narak'' which was a remake of director's own Telugu film '' Swargam Narakam''. He also had hits in Ram Maheshwari's '' Karmayogi'' alongside Raaj Kumar and K. Bapayya's '' Dil Aur Deewaar'' co-starring Ashok Kumar. He concluded the decade on a high with one more blockbuster in Rajkumar Kohli's ensemble horror thriller '' Jaani Dushman'' and a hit in Anil Ganguly's drama film '' Khandaan''. He also appeared in T. Rama Rao's fantasy comedy '' Lok Parlok'' which ended up as an average fare.

With continuous flow of hits from 1974 to 1979, Jeetendra solidified his star-status.

1980–1990: Widespread success

Jeetendra reached his peak in the early-1980s and enjoyed a strong innings throughout the decade. His first release of 1980 was J. Om Prakash's drama film '' Aasha'' which went on to become a massive blockbuster and remains his biggest solo hit till date. Its soundtrack composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal dominated the musical charts and was one of the best selling Hindi film albums of the decade. His next release was Ravi Chopra's big-budget action thriller '' The Burning Train'' in which he co-starred alongside Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Hema Malini, Parveen Babi and Neetu Singh. The film did average business at the time of release, but received praise for its well-choreographed action sequences as well as performances of the cast and attained cult status in later years. After having fair runners in the form of '' Takkar'' and '' Nishana'', he concluded the year with three back-to-back huge hits in ''Jyoti Bane Jwala'', '' Judaai'' and '' Maang Bharo Sajana''. In 1981, Jeetendra starred in S. V. Rajendra Singh Babu's action crime film '' Meri Aawaz Suno''. A remake of mega hit Kannada film '' Antha'', it ran into controversies due to its bold subject, but opened to excellent audience response and proved to be a huge blockbuster at the box office. The same year, he had a superhit in '' Ek Hi Bhool'' and couple of successes with films, such as '' Waqt Ki Deewar'', '' Sharda'', '' Jyoti'', '' Shakka'' and '' Pyaasa Sawan''. With his last few films doing extremely well at ticket counters, Jeetendra decided to produce and star in H. S. Rawail's romantic drama '' Deedar-E-Yaar'' (1982) under his home banner Tirupati Films. The film which also had Rekha, Rishi Kapoor and Tina Munim in the lead, failed to live up to the expectations and proved to be a major box office flop with minimal recovery of the investment. After this unexpected debacle, Jeetendra made a solemn vow never to return into filmmaking again. Despite the disastrous response to ''Deedar-E-Yaar'', his other releases that year performed well commercially. He delivered two superhits in '' Farz Aur Kanoon'' and '' Jeeo Aur Jeene Do'', a hit film '' Samraat'', followed by five more successful films, '' Chorni'', '' Badle Ki Aag'', '' Insaan'', '' Apna Bana Lo'' and '' Dharam Kanta'' to go with the major grossers. 1983 proved to be one of the best years of Jeetendra's career with many successes. He first starred in K. Raghavendra Rao's action comedy film '' Himmatwala''. A remake of the Telugu film '' Ooruki Monagadu'', it emerged a blockbuster with two songs, "Nainon Mein Sapna" and "Taki O Taki" topping the musical charts. The huge success of ''Himmatwala'' made Sridevi a big star and she formed a hit pair with Jeetendra. His other notable releases of the year were – '' Arpan'', '' Nishaan'', '' Jaani Dost'', '' Justice Chaudhury'' and '' Mawaali''. While the latter two were hits, ''Arpan'', ''Nishaan'' and ''Jaani Dost'' ended up as moderate commercial successes.

In 1984, Jeetendra appeared in '' Tohfa'' which was a remake of Sobhan Babu starrer Telugu superhit '' Devatha''. ''Tohfa'' like the original opened to excellent response and emerged a blockbuster as well as the highest earner of 1984. This was followed by hits in '' Maqsad'' and '' Qaidi'', the same year. 1985 also proved to be a big one for Jeetendra with four of his films emerging commercial successes, these were - '' Haqeeqat'', '' Balidaan'', '' Pataal Bhairavi'' and '' Sanjog''. The following year, he added one more blockbuster in his kitty with K. Bapayya's family drama '' Swarag Se Sunder'' co-starring Mithun Chakraborty, Jaya Prada and Padmini Kolhapure. He also worked with Dilip Kumar in K. Raghavendra Rao's actioner '' Dharm Adhikari''. Despite the presence of some of the biggest stars of the time, the film failed to live up to the expectations and ended up as an average fare. After the underperformance of ''Dharm Adhikari'', he reunited with T. Rama Rao for '' Dosti Dushmani'' alongside Rajinikanth and Rishi Kapoor, which emerged a box office hit. He also appeared in the successful films '' Ghar Sansar'', '' Sadaa Suhagan'' and '' Locket'' and did a guest appearance in the superhit '' Jaal'', the same year.

In 1987, Jeetendra played the lead in Rakesh Roshan's directional debut ''Khudgarz''. The film proved to be a superhit and established Roshan's career as a director. The same year, he delivered two more commercial successes with ''Sindoor'' (in which he had a small role) and '' Insaaf Ki Pukar''. Following a string of critical and commercial failures for the next two years, in 1990, Jeetendra starred in Raj N. Sippy's actioner ''Thanedaar'' alongside Jaya Prada, Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit. The film backed up with chartbuster music went on to become a superhit venture at the box office. Apart from ''Thanedaar'', his other commercially successful films that year, included '' Souten Ki Beti'', '' Mera Pati Sirf Mera Hai'', '' Sheshnaag'', '' Agneekaal'' and '' Amiri Garibi''.

1991–present: Later career

In the early-1990s, Jeetendra's star power began to wane as his subsequent releases like '' Begunaah'' (1991), '' Ranbhoomi'' (1991), '' Sapnon Ka Mandir'' (1991), '' Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi'' (1992), '' Rishta Ho To Aisa'' (1992) and '' Insaaf Ki Devi'' (1992) failed to do well commercially. In 1993, he starred alongside Amrita Singh and Divya Bharti in Talat Jani's '' Rang'', which proved to be a box office hit and also his last major success as an actor.

From 1994 to 2003, Jeetendra played supporting roles in many films, but only '' Judge Mujrim'' (1997) did well commercially while rest of them sank without a trace. At the 48th Filmfare Awards, he received Lifetime Achievement Award. His last full-fledged Hindi film appearance was in Basit Khan's romantic drama ''Ho Jaata Hai Pyar'' (2005). It received negative response from reviewers and flopped at the box office. Jeetendra then did a guest appearance in the song "Deewangi Deewangi" from Farah Khan's reincarnation drama ''Om Shanti Om'' (2007).

In 2020, he made his digital debut with the romantic web series '' Baarish'' which had Sharman Joshi and Asha Negi in the lead.

Personal life

Jeetendra had met his wife, Shobha, when she was only 14. She completed school, went to college, and was employed as an Air Hostess with British Airways. When Jeetendra was struggling between 1960–1966 to establish himself as an actor, he was in a relationship with Shobha. It was not until the release of ''Bidaai'' on 18 October 1974, that Jeetendra and Shobha decided to get married, which they did in a simple ceremony at Janki Kutir with only a few family members and friends present. In her authorised biography, Hema Malini claimed that they almost got married, but she backed out.

Jeetendra and Shobha have two children from their marriage. Elder of them, daughter Ekta Kapoor, runs Balaji Telefilms while their son Tusshar Kapoor is also an actor. During an episode of ''The Kapil Sharma Show'', when Jeetendra and Ekta Kapoor were the guests, he related an incident from 1976 where he was supposed to go to Madras (now Chennai) by flight on Karva Chauth. His flight got delayed and he went back home so that Shobha could perform the necessary rituals. Shobha refused to let him go back to the airport. So Jeetendra called his make-up man and told him to come back home, and that they would leave the next day. Around nighttime he looked outside from his flat and saw a fireball hurtling toward the airport. Later, after a couple of hours, his phone rang incessantly with people calling to find out what happened. The flight that he was supposed to have taken had crashed and was Indian Airlines Flight 171.

Filmography

Awards and honours

* 1998 – Guest of Honour Award at the 18th Ujala Cinema Express Awards
* 2002 – Lifetime Achievement Award at the Zee Gold Bollywood Movie Awards in New York.
* 2003 – Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
* 2004 – "Legend of Indian Cinema" Award at Atlantic City (United States).
* 2005 – Screen Lifetime Achievement Award
* 2008 – Sansui Television Lifetime Achievement Award
* 2012 – Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievement
* 2012 – Lions Gold Awards: Most Evergreen Romantic Hero

Legacy

One of the most successful actors of the 1970s and 1980s, Jeetendra appeared in ''Box Office India''s "Top Actors" list seven times from 1980 to 1986.

Owing to his energetic dancing style in '' Farz'', Jeetendra earned the sobriquet of "Jumping Jack".

In 2022, he was placed in ''Outlook India''s "75 Best Bollywood Actors" list.

References

External links

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Indian male film actors
1942 births
Living people
Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Film producers from Punjab, India
Male actors in Hindi cinema
Male actors from Amritsar
Punjabi film producers
20th-century Indian male actors
21st-century Indian male actors
Male actors from Mumbai
Siddharth College of Arts, Science and Commerce alumni