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Music: Desi: Bollywood

Music documentaries, in-depth profiles and concerts featuring some of the biggest names

Music documentaries, in-depth profile pieces and concerts recordings featuring some of the biggest names from South Asia and the UK.

Tune into this treasure trove each week for the best in new music documentaries, exclusive interviews, in-depth profile pieces and concert recordings featuring some of the biggest names from South Asia and the UK.

Asian Network Presents: Living Legends

Asian Network Presents: Living Legends: Episode 4: Jeetendra

Jeetendra

Episode 4

Episode 4: Jeetendra

Living Legends

BBC Asian Network - Asian Network Presents, Living Legends, Jeetendra

Bollywood actor Jeetendra, known as 'Jumping Jack', shares memories of his career.

In the fourth programme of this series, hear from Bollywood actor Jeetendra, known as 'Jumping Jack' due to his dancing skills.

In this Living Legends Special, we hear from Jeetendra, the man who's often referred to as the 'Jumping Jack' of Bollywood because of his dancing skills.

He was born as Ravi Kapoor, the eldest of four children. He felt the pressure to provide for his younger siblings from an early age and thought the only path for him was a film career.

At the age of 17 he made his debut in Navrang (1959) and that's when he became Jeetendra.

He played a range of roles across most genres; action, romance and comedy. He even tried his hand at off-beat films that other actors weren't keen to do. His biggest hits include Farz (1967), Caravan (1971), Dharam Veer (1977) and Himmatwala (1983).

Jeetendra proved he was popular with the ladies and repeatedly co-starred with the biggest heroines of his time, including Rekha, Hema Malini, Sridevi and Jaya Prada. 

Now as the chairman of Balaji Telefilms, he is still very active in the industry, producing hit Indian TV Serials and blockbuster films like The Dirty Picture and Once Upon A Time In Mumbai.

In this special, Jeetendra talks about his early days in the industry, his friendship with actor Rajesh Khanna and his marriage to his childhood sweetheart Shobha Kapoor. He talks about his struggles and successes and takes us on a journey through his career by sharing music from his films.

Iconic Bollywood personalities talk about their careers.

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