Ratan Kumar (19 March 1941 – 12 December 2016) was the screen name of the Indian born child artist who later migrated to Pakistan. He acted in Indian and

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

movies. He was born as Syed Nazir Ali Rizvi. He is best known for his work in films '' Boot Polish'' (1954), '' Do Bigha Zamin'' (1953) and ''

Jagriti ''Jagriti'' () is a 1954 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Satyen Bose. A remake of Bose's 1949 Bengali film ''Paribartan'', the film stars Rajkumar Gupta, Abhi Bhattacharya, and Ratan Kumar in the lead roles. The film won the Filmfare ...

'' (1954).

Early life and career

Ratan Kumar was born as Syed Nazir Ali in 1941 in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. He became the most-sought-after child-actor in India in the 1950s after his initial success in 1952. After making the popular

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n movie ''Jagriti'' (1954), Ratan Kumar migrated to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in 1956, with his family, and remade the movie into '' Bedari'' (1957) (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

translation of Jagriti or awareness) and used the same old tune for a film song in Pakistan, aimed at igniting a similar emotion and patriotic zeal, among the listeners. ''Aao bachcho tumhe dikhayen jhaanki Hindustan ki...'' (come children let us show you glimpses of India), is a popular Hindi film song of the 1950s. ''Aao bachcho sair karayen tumko Pakistan ki...'' (children, let us take you on a tour of Pakistan) is an equally hit song of the same period in Pakistan. He played a young boy's role in many Pakistani films later. ''Nagin'' (1959) was the first Pakistani film he played a lead actor opposite Neelo as the lead actress. Ratan Kumar's success, as a lead actor, could not last long because his later films did not do well at the box-office and he eventually faded away. In 1977, his 4 years old daughter died in an accident in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, Pakistan. He was so emotionally upset after that accident that he decided to quit the Pakistani film industry. In 1979, Ratan Kumar left Pakistan never to return again. In the late 1960s, Ratan Kumar also got into the business of selling oriental carpets and had started travelling back and forth from Pakistan to Europe for this business. Eventually he ended up settling down permanently in the United States after 1979.

Death

Ratan Kumar was living in California, in his old age, and was admitted to the hospital for

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

10 days before his death on 12 December 2016. He had a long history of illness, though. In 1996, his lungs had collapsed twice in the same year. When they collapsed the third time in 2000, he was left paralyzed and went into a coma for eight days. Then he recovered in four to five months and became somewhat normal again. His survivors include 2 sons, a daughter and seven grandchildren.

Filmography

In India

* '' Baiju Bawra'' (1952)- Ratan Kumar played the role of the child, 'Chote Baiju' * '' Do Bigha Zamin'' (1953) * '' Boot Polish'' (1954)- A film on street kids of Bombay. Ratan Kumar played the role of child * '' Angarey'' (1954) * ''

'' (1954) * ''

Bahut Din Huwe ''Bahut Din Huwe'' () is a 1954 Indian Hindi-language film directed by S. S. Vasan, produced by Gemini Studios and starring Madhubala. It is a remake of the Telugu film '' Bala Nagamma'' (1942). ''Bahut Din Huwe'' received lukewarm reviews fr ...

'' (1954) - Madhubala, Ratan Kumar, Agha * '' Sargam '' (1950) - Raj Kapoor, Rehana, Ratan Kumar, Baby Tabassum * '' Afsana '' (1951) - Ashok Kumar, Veena, Pran. Ratan Kumar, Baby Tabassum

In Pakistan

* ''Masoom'' (1957) - Ratan Kumar's first released film in Pakistan * '' Bedari'' (1957) * ''Wah Re Zamaney'' (1958) * '' Nagin'' (1959)- as a lead actor for the first time. A successful

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali language, ...

film at the box-office * ''

Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

'' (1960) * ''Aladdin Ka Beta'' (1960) * ''Do Ustaad'' (1960) * ''Sher-e-Islam'' (1961) * ''Taj Aur Talwar'' (1961) * ''Aasra'' (1969) * ''Dastaan'' (1969)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Ratan 1941 births 2016 deaths Muhajir people Indian male film actors Pakistani male film actors Indian male child actors Pakistani emigrants to the United States Indian emigrants to Pakistan People from Ajmer Pakistani people of Rajasthani descent