"Aapke paon dekhe, bahut haseen hai, inhe zameen standard tangle utariyega, maile ho jayenge."
Who is not very much aware of this dialogue delivered by the veteran performing artist Raaj Kumar who ruled the Indian film industry as long as he was around? He was known for delivering dialogues prefixed with a "Jaani".
Credit: People & History/Youtube
On his 21st death anniversary, we should remember the veteran performer by knowing 10 lesser-known realities about him:
1. Raaj Kumar was born as Kulbhushan Nath Pandit.
2. Before he turned into an on-screen character, he was an IAS Sub-inspector in the Mumbai Police in the late 1940s.
3. He once went to watch a film at Metro silver screen. There, veteran movie producer Sohrab Modi saw him and offered him a film. He rejected the offer.
4. Raaj Kumar swung to acting with the 1952 film Rangeeli.
5. He showed up in the Oscar-named 1957 film Mother India and went onto star in more than 70 Hindi movies in a vocation that spread over more than four decades.
6. Raaj Kumar won a Filmfare Award in the Best Supporting performer class for his part as a cancer patient in the movie Dil Ek Mandir.
7. Raaj Kumar and Dilip Kumar shared screen space in the film Saudagar following 30 years. In any case, it is outstanding that amid the shooting of the film they never conversed with each other aside from their scenes.
8. He was not the main decision for the movie picture Pakeezah (1972). Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Dharmendra had been considered for the part before.
9. Known for his straightforward nature, he professedly denied Prakash Mehra's Zanjeer in light of the fact that he didn't care for 'the chief's face'.
10. He died of throat cancer at 69 years old on July 3, 1996.
Credit: Rajshri