Jeetendra | |
|---|---|
 Jeetendra in February 2020 | |
| Born | Ravi Kapoor (1942-04-07)7 April 1942 (age 82) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Other names |
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| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1959–Present |
| Works | Full list |
| Spouse | |
| Children | |
| Relatives | Abhishek Kapoor (nephew) |
Jeetendra (bornRavi Kapoor/rævi/RAV-ee; 7 April 1942) is an Indian actor who is known for his work inHindi cinema. Considered among the greatest actors of Indian cinema,[1] Jeetendra has worked in more than200 films in a career spanning over six decades.[2]
Jeetendra began his acting career withGeet Gaya Patharon Ne (1964).[3] He shot to stardom in 1967 withFarz, and achieved greater success in later years, being dubbed India's "Jumping Jack" for several of his on-screen roles in Hindi films.[4] He consistently starred in several top–grossing Indian films from the late-1960s to the 1980s, such asJeene Ki Raah,Khilona,Caravan,Bidaai,Udhar Ka Sindur,Dharam Veer,Swarg Narak,Jaani Dushman,Aasha,Meri Aawaz Suno,Farz Aur Kanoon,Himmatwala,Tohfa,Maqsad,Swarag Se Sunder,Khudgarz andThanedaar,[5][6] as well as some of his acclaimed performances, includeBoond Jo Ban Gayee Moti,Mere Huzoor,Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke,Humjoli,Parichay,Khushboo,Kinara,Priyatama,Lok Parlok,Takkar,Jyoti,Pyaasa Sawan andSanjog.[7] In the early-2000s, he foundedBalaji Motion Pictures, which emerged as one of the leading production houses inHindi cinema.[8]
Jeetendra was born in aPunjabi family as Ravi Kapoor inAmritsar, Punjab, to Amarnath and Krishna Kapoor, whose business dealt with imitation jewellery, supplied to film industry.[9] He attended St. Sebastian's Goan High School inMumbai[10] with his friendRajesh Khanna and then studied atSiddharth College in Mumbai. While supplying jewellery toV. Shantaram, he was cast asSandhya's character's double in the 1964 movieGeet Gaya Patharon Ne after which his career never turned back.[11]
Jeetendra began his career in 1964 playing the lead inV. Shantaram'sGeet Gaya Patharon Ne alongsideRajshree.[12] Despite heavy promotions and positive reviews, the film proved to be an unsuccessful venture domestically.[13] After a brief period of absence from films, he established himself withRavikant Nagaich'sspy thrillerFarz in 1967.[14] A remake ofTelugu filmGudachari 116 (1966), it emerged a blockbuster at the box office and made Jeetendra a star.[15][16] The music ofFarz was one of the best-selling Hindi film albums of the 1960s.[17] Majority of its songs like – "Mast Baharon Ka Main Aashiq", "Baar Baar Din Ye Aaye – Happy Birthday To You", both solos byMohammed Rafi and "Hum To Tere Aashiq Hain", a duet byMukesh andLata Mangeshkar remain popular till date.[18] In 1968, he had three releases –Suhaag Raat,Aulad andMere Huzoor. While,Suhaag Raat andAulad were critical and commercial failures, the lattermost co-starringRaaj Kumar andMala Sinha received positive response from reviewers and did decent business at the box office.[19]
In 1969, Jeetendra had three major commercial successes withL. V. Prasad'sJeene Ki Raah,T. R. Ramanna'sWaris and Ravikant Nagaich'sJigri Dost.[20] He began the 1970s with Chander Vohra'sKhilona which also hadSanjeev Kumar andMumtaz in the lead.[21] The film emerged a huge hit with all the three leads receiving praise for their respective performances.[22][23] He delivered another superhit that year withT. R. Ramanna'sHumjoli which was a remake of blockbusterTamil filmPanakkara Kudumbam (1964).[24] In 1971, Jeetendra starred alongsideAsha Parekh inNasir Hussain'scrime thrillerCaravan.[25] The film proved to be a superhit domestically and anAll Time Blockbuster in overseas markets, especiallyChina where it went on to become thehighest-grossing foreign film, surpassingRaj Kapoor'sAwaara (1951).[26] The soundtrack ofCaravan composed byR. D. Burman was a huge chartbuster and one of the best-selling Hindi film albums of the 1970s.[27]
Despite kicking off the new decade on a successful note, Jeetendra saw a bad phase from 1972 to 1973 as majority of his films, such asEk Hasina Do Diwane (1972),Shaadi Ke Baad (1972),Yaar Mera (1972),Roop Tera Mastana (1972),Anokhi Ada (1973) andGehri Chaal (1973), all flopped commercially.[28] During this phase, he saw moderate successes inBhai Ho To Aisa (1972) andJaise Ko Taisa (1973) and received praise for his portrayal of a kind-hearted tuition teacher inGulzar's light-hearted dramaParichay (1972).[29] The song "Musafir Hoon Yaroon" fromParichay was listed at #25 in theBinaca Geetmala annual list 1973 and is considered to be one of the most lovedfilmi songs of all time.[30]
In 1974, Jeetendra played the lead inL. V. Prasad'sBidaai co-starringLeena Chandavarkar andDurga Khote.[31] The film proved to be a blockbuster at the box office thus ending his dry run and also emerging one of thetop 5 highest-grossing films of that year.[5] In 1975, he reunited with Gulzar for theromantic dramaKhushboo.[32] Based onSarat Chandra Chatterjee'sBengali novelPanditmashai, it was well received by the masses as well as the critics.[33] The following year, he delivered three more commercial successes withSuntan,Udhar Ka Sindur andNagin (in which he played a small role).[34]
1977 proved to be a big one for Jeetendra with many successes. He had a massive blockbuster inManmohan Desai's magnum opusDharam Veer, also starringDharmendra,Zeenat Aman andNeetu Singh.[35] In United Kingdom, the film had 23 shows in 5 cities. Driven by the success of Rafi's songs, the film took a record initial of £50,000 in the UK, equivalent to₹438,140 (US$50,001.71).[36] In addition, the film sold 32 million tickets in theSoviet Union.[37] The huge success ofDharam Veer was followed by a superhit inJ. Om Prakash's third directional ventureApnapan.[38] That same year, his final collaboration with Gulzar took place for another romance filmKinara oppositeHema Malini.[39] The film is widely remembered for its heartwarming premise and the song "Naam Gum Jayega" sung by Lata Mangeshkar andBhupinder Singh.[40] Jeetendra's good run continued in 1978 with a superhit inDasari Narayana Rao's family drama filmSwarg Narak which was a remake of director's own Telugu filmSwargam Narakam.[38][41] He also had hits in Ram Maheshwari'sKarmayogi alongside Raaj Kumar andK. Bapayya'sDil Aur Deewaar co-starringAshok Kumar.[38] He concluded the decade on a high with one more blockbuster inRajkumar Kohli's ensemblehorror thrillerJaani Dushman and a hit inAnil Ganguly'sdrama filmKhandaan.[5] He also appeared inT. Rama Rao'sfantasy comedyLok Parlok which ended up as an average fare.[42]
With continuous flow of hits from 1974 to 1979, Jeetendra solidified his star-status.[43]
Jeetendra reached his peak in the early-1980s and enjoyed a strong innings throughout the decade.[6] His first release of 1980 was J. Om Prakash's drama filmAasha which went on to become a massive blockbuster and remains his biggest solo hit till date.[5] Its soundtrack composed byLaxmikant–Pyarelal dominated the musical charts and was one of the best selling Hindi film albums of the decade.[44][45] His next release wasRavi Chopra's big-budgetaction thrillerThe Burning Train in which he co-starred alongside Dharmendra,Vinod Khanna,Hema Malini,Parveen Babi and Neetu Singh.[46] The film did average business at the time of release, but received praise for its well-choreographed action sequences as well as performances of the cast and attained cult status in later years.[47] After having fair runners in the form ofTakkar andNishana, he concluded the year with three back-to-back hits inJyoti Bane Jwala,Judaai andMaang Bharo Sajana.[48] In 1981, Jeetendra starred inS. V. Rajendra Singh Babu'saction crime filmMeri Aawaz Suno.[49] A remake of mega hitKannada filmAntha, it ran into controversies due to its bold subject, but opened to excellent audience response and proved to be a huge blockbuster at the box office.[50][51] The same year, he had a superhit inEk Hi Bhool and couple of successes with films, such asWaqt Ki Deewar,Sharda,Jyoti,Shakka andPyaasa Sawan.[52] With his last few films doing extremely well at ticket counters, Jeetendra decided to produce and star inH. S. Rawail'sromantic dramaDeedar-E-Yaar (1982) under his home banner Tirupati Films. The film which also hadRekha,Rishi Kapoor andTina Munim in the lead, failed to live up to the expectations and proved to be a major box office flop with minimal recovery of the investment. After this unexpected debacle, Jeetendra made a solemn vow never to return into filmmaking again.[53] Despite the disastrous response toDeedar-E-Yaar, his other releases that year performed well commercially.[15] He delivered two superhits inFarz Aur Kanoon andJeeo Aur Jeene Do, a hit filmSamraat, followed by five more successful films,Chorni,Badle Ki Aag,Insaan,Apna Bana Lo andDharam Kanta to go with the major grossers.[54][55] 1983 proved to be one of the best years of Jeetendra's career with many successes. He first starred inK. Raghavendra Rao'saction comedy filmHimmatwala.[56] A remake of the Telugu filmOoruki Monagadu, it emerged a blockbuster with two songs, "Nainon Mein Sapna" and "Taki O Taki" topping the musical charts.[57][58] The huge success ofHimmatwala madeSridevi a big star and she formed a hit pair with Jeetendra.[59][60] His other notable releases of the year were –Arpan,Nishaan,Jaani Dost,Justice Chaudhury andMawaali. While the latter two were hits,Arpan,Nishaan andJaani Dost ended up as moderate commercial successes.[22][61]
In 1984, Jeetendra appeared inTohfa which was a remake ofSobhan Babu starrerTelugu superhitDevatha.[62]Tohfa like the original opened to excellent response and emerged a blockbuster as well as the highest earner of 1984.[5] This was followed by hits inMaqsad andQaidi, the same year.[22] 1985 also proved to be a big one for Jeetendra with four of his films emerging commercial successes, these were -Haqeeqat,Balidaan,Pataal Bhairavi andSanjog.[63] The following year, he added one more blockbuster in his kitty withK. Bapayya'sfamily dramaSwarag Se Sunder co-starringMithun Chakraborty, Jaya Prada andPadmini Kolhapure.[5] He also worked withDilip Kumar inK. Raghavendra Rao's actionerDharm Adhikari.[64] Despite the presence of some of the biggest stars of the time, the film failed to live up to the expectations and ended up as an average fare.[65] After the underperformance ofDharm Adhikari, he reunited with T. Rama Rao forDosti Dushmani alongsideRajinikanth andRishi Kapoor, which emerged a box office hit.[66] He also appeared in the successful filmsGhar Sansar,Sadaa Suhagan andLocket and did a guest appearance in the superhitJaal, the same year.[67]
In 1987, Jeetendra played the lead inRakesh Roshan's directional debutKhudgarz.[68] The film proved to be a superhit and established Roshan's career as a director.[69] The same year, he delivered two more commercial successes withSindoor (in which he had a small role) andInsaaf Ki Pukar.[70] Following a string of critical and commercial failures for the next two years, in 1990, Jeetendra starred inRaj N. Sippy's actionerThanedaar alongsideJaya Prada,Sanjay Dutt andMadhuri Dixit.[71] The film backed up with chartbuster music went on to become a superhit venture at the box office.[72] Apart fromThanedaar, his other commercially successful films that year, includedSouten Ki Beti,Mera Pati Sirf Mera Hai,Sheshnaag,Agneekaal andAmiri Garibi.[72]
Post-1990, Jeetendra kapoor star power began to wane as his subsequent releases likeBegunaah (1991),Ranbhoomi (1991),Sapnon Ka Mandir (1991),Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi (1992),Rishta Ho To Aisa (1992) andInsaaf Ki Devi (1992) failed to do well commercially.[73]
His last full-fledgedHindi film appearance was in Basit Khan'sromantic dramaHo Jaata Hai Pyar (2005).[74] It received negative response from reviewers and flopped at the box office.[75] He then made a guest appearance in the song "Deewangi Deewangi" fromFarah Khan'sreincarnation dramaOm Shanti Om (2007).[76]
In 2020, Jeetendra made his digital debut with the romantic web seriesBaarish which hadSharman Joshi andAsha Negi in the lead.[77][78]
Jeetendra had met his wife,Shobha, when she was only 14. She completed school, went to college, and was employed as an Air Hostess withBritish Airways. When Jeetendra was struggling between 1960–66 to establish himself as an actor, he was in a relationship with Shobha and she was his girlfriend until 1972. It was not until the release ofBidaai on 18 October 1974, that Jeetendra and Shobha decided to get married, which they did in a simple ceremony at Janki Kutir with only a few family members and friends present.[11] In her authorised biography, Hema Malini claimed that they almost got married, but she backed out.[79]
Jeetendra and Shobha have two children from their marriage.[80] Elder of them, daughterEkta Kapoor, runsBalaji Telefilms while their sonTusshar Kapoor is also an actor.[81] During an episode ofThe Kapil Sharma Show, when Jeetendra and Ekta Kapoor were the guests, he related an incident from 1976 where he was supposed to go toMadras (nowChennai) by flight onKarva Chauth. His flight got delayed and he went back home so that Shobha could perform the necessary rituals. Shobha refused to let him go back to the airport. So Jeetendra called his make-up man and told him to come back home, and that they would leave the next day. Around nighttime he looked outside from his flat and saw a fireball hurtling toward the airport. Later, after a couple of hours, his phone rang incessantly with people calling to find out what happened. The flight that he was supposed to have taken had crashed and wasIndian Airlines Flight 171.[82]
Jeetendra is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema.[1] He is noted for his acting, style and dance.[89][90][91] Owing to his energetic dancing style inFarz, he earned the sobriquet of "Jumping Jack".[92]
One of the most successful actors of the 1970s and 1980s, Jeetendra appeared inBox Office India's "Top Actors" list seven times from 1980 to 1986.[15]
In 2022, he was placed inOutlook India's "75 Best Bollywood Actors" list.[93]
With the success of the Telugu film, I remade the same into Hindi with Jitendra, Jayaprada, and Amjad Khan in the lead roles, as Lok-Parlok, marking Tatineni Ramarao's directorial debut in Hindi, but the Hindi version was only an average fare. It was banned first, though the ban was lifted later.
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