A symbol of patriotism on screen

Actor Manoj Kumar, who died in Mumbai at the age of 87 following a long ailment, had multiple names.

- Roshmila Bhattacharya

Actor Manoj Kumar, who died in Mumbai at the age of 87 following a long ailment, had multiple names. He was born at Abbottabad, Pakistan, and named Harkishan. The family however always called him Ghulu. When the young Ghulu moved with his family to Delhi after Partition, he decided to become a film actor after watching the film Shabnam in which the character played by Dilip Kumar is called Manoj. "While watching Shabnam in a theatre in Delhi, listening to Dilip saab being addressed by that name, I decided that when I became a film actor, I would call myself Manoj," he would later recount. But it was while headlining a slew of nationalistic films that he got his final moniker: Bharat Kumar.

In an era dominated by boisterous exuberance of Shammi Kapoor, and Dharmendra's brawn, Manoj Kumar charted a separate path for himself with films imbued with nationalist fervour but still managed to steer clear of in-your-face jingoism. Shaheed, Upkar, Purab Aur Paschim, which was India's first crossover hit, Roti, Kapda Aur Makaan and Kranti in which he also directed his idol Dilip Kumar, and Jai Hind that would be his last film, cemented his reputation as Mr Bharat. He was awarded the Padma Shree in 1992 and Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2015 for his contribution of four decades to cinema.