Dil Ek Mandir

Director: Shreedhar
Starring: Meena Kumari, Mehmood, Raj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar
Music Director: Shankar-Jaikishan

Rajendra crystallised his martyr image with Dil Ek Mandir [1963], where he played a doctor who stakes his life to save the husband (Raaj Kumar) of her ex-love (Meena Kumari). His lucky streak in the mid-1960s saw him embroiled in triangular romantic films with endless entanglements and starred either two heroes or two heroines. Case in point: Mere Mehboob (Sadhana, Ameeta), Ayee Milan Ki Bela (Saira, Dharmendra), Zindagi (Vyjayanthimala, Raaj Kumar), Arzoo (Sadhana, Feroz Khan) and of course the granddaddy of them all -- Sangam (Vyjayanthimala, Raj Kapoor). Dilip Kumar was Raj Kapoor's first choice for Sangam [1964], but Rajendra made the role his own and eventually walked away with a major chunk of the sympathy. He complemented the flamboyant Raj Kapoor's extroverted emotionalism with surprising restraint and the right dose of anguish. But just when he was at his zenith after Suraj, the sun began to slowly set on Rajendra's career. Whether it was Aman and Palki [1967], Jhuk Gaya Aasmaan and Saathi [1968] or Shatranj [1969], his films were disappointments. He enjoyed a short-lived reprieve with the middle-level succeses of Anjana [in late 1969], and Talash, Geet and Ganwaar [all 1970]. But a new romantic icon Rajesh Khanna had arrived and stolen most heroes' female fans, Rajendra's included (ironically Rajendra Kumar had sold Rajesh Khanna his bungalow, Dimple). The early 1970s saw the 40-plus Rajendra squandering his talents in indifferent films (save for Gora Aur Kala opposite his fan, Hema Malini). Rajendra wisely switched to character roles, predominantly for Sawan Kumar Tak (Saajan Bina Suhagan, O Bewafa and Saajan Ki Saheli). In the early 1980s, he successfully launched his son, Gaurav, in Love Story. However, even when Gaurav's career ran aground, Rajendra continued making films with him even when he lost a small fortune on films like Lovers and Phool. On July 12, 1999, Rajendra Kumar, an ace at playing a doctor grappling with life-threatening diseases (Dil Ek Mandir, Saathi), finally succumbed to cancer.

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