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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 6: Manoj Kumar

Manoj Kumar

Episode 6

Episode 6: Manoj Kumar

Living Legends

BBC Asian Network - Asian Network Presents, Living Legends, Manoj Kumar

Bollywood's Mr Bharat, Manoj Kumar, takes you on a journey through his amazing career.

In the final programme of this series, Bollywood legend Manoj Kumar - nicknamed 'Mr Bharat' for his patriotic films - traces his professional journey and shares personal stories.

In the final programme of this series, iconic actor Manoj Kumar shares his journey through Hindi films.

He was born Harikrishna Giri Goswami on the 24th of July 1937. During Partition, he and his family were forced to move from Abbottabad (now in Pakistan) to Delhi.

As a youngster, he worshipped Bollywood superstar Dilip Kumar. He decided to name himself Manoj Kumar after Dilip's character in Shabnam. And that's when he entered the film industry.

His made his debut in the film Fashion in 1957 but it wasn't until Hariyali Aur Raasta (1962) opposite Mala Sinha, that people sat up and took notice of this new actor.

After appearances in films like Woh Kaun Thi (1964) and Himalaya Ki God Mein (1965), Manoj became a favourite with directors, co-stars and more importantly, audiences.

And that was when Manoj's career took a different path. He starred in the 1965 film Shaheed, which was based on the life of Bhagat Singh, a martyr in the struggle for India's freedom. 

After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, the Prime Minister of the time, asked him to create a film based on the popular slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kissan (hail the soldier, hail the farmer).

And so in 1967 Manoj wowed audiences with his directorial debut, Upkaar, in which he played both a soldier and a farmer. By now, he was known for his patriotic roles and he continued this with films like Purab Aur Paschim (1970) and Kranti (1981). He was given the label 'Mr Bharat'.

In 1992, he was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India.

In this special, he talks about a career, which includes hit films like Roti Kapda Aur Makaan (1974) and Dus Numbri (1976). 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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