Rajendra Kumar was born on July 20, 1927, in a Punjabi Khatri family in Sialkot. While his father had a textile business in Karachi, his grandfather served as a military contractor. Despite having no connections or roots in the film business, Rajendra Kumar tried his luck in acting when he shifted to Bombay (now Mumbai) with his parents after the partition. Not everyone is aware of the lesser-known fact that Rajendra Kumar never wanted to become an actor initially. When he entered into the film business, he assisted ace director, H.S. Rawail for almost five years. While assisting H.S. Rawail in his films, Rajendra Kumar also played a small role in the director's film, Patanga (1949).
After working in front of the camera in Patanga, Rajendra Kumar started feeling connected to the technicalities of an actor's work. In 1950, he received an offer for a small role in Kidar Sharma's film, Jogan, in which he worked opposite Dilip Kumar and Nargis. Rajendra Kumar's small role in Jogan caught the attention of famous producer, Devendra Goel, who gave him the chance to play lead in Vachan opposite Geeta Bali.
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Vachan turned out to be a hit and gave Indian cinema its first and only 'Jubilee star'. For the uninitiated, Rajendra Kumar was paid Rs. 1500 for working as a lead in Vachan back in 1950. Rajendra's acting skills and screen presence created a stir in the film industry, and most of the publications labelled his debut as 'A star is born'. In the following years, Rajendra appeared in a series of hit films, including Mother India, Goonj Uthi Shehnai, Dhool Ka Phool, Kanoon, Gharana, Zindagi, Arzoo, Suraj, Dil Ek Mandir, Sasural, Aas Ka Panchhi, Sangam, Ayee Milan Ki Bela, and many more that cemented his status in Indian cinema, as 'Jubilee Star'.
Talking about Rajendra Kumar's personal life, he was married to Shukla Devi Kumar, who belonged to the famous Behl family of Indian cinema. For the unversed, Rajendra Kumar's wife, Shukla was the sister of iconic film producer, Ramesh Behl and Shyam Behl. Shukla and Rajendra were blessed with three children, Kumar Gaurav, Dimple Patel, and Manorama Ralhan.
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There's no denying the fact that Rajendra Kumar was one of the finest actors of his generation and ruled the box office for decades. However, there's an interesting anecdote from his personal life that is not known even to some of his die-hard fans. We are talking about Rajendra Kumar's relationship with the iconic actress, Nutan. Before falling in love with Shukla Devi and tying the knot with her, Rajendra was madly in love with Nutan. Not only this, Rajendra and Nutan were about to get married, but for some reason, it couldn't materialise. Thus, today, we are going to take a deeper look at Rajendra Kumar and Nutan's relationship.
According to a report in Dainik Bhaskar, Nutan and Rajendra Kumar were once madly in love with each other. The duo had worked together in a series of films, including Saajan Bina Suhagan, Film Hi Film, Main Tere Leye, and Saajan Ki Saheli. While working together on the sets of their films, Nutan and Rajendra Kumar became friends and slowly started developing feelings for each other. The couple took it slow, and once they were convinced of spending the rest of their lives together, they informed their respective families about the same.
When Nutan informed her mother, Sobhana Samarth, about her relationship with Rajendra Kumar, the doting mother was utterly disappointed. Still, Rajendra went to Nutan's home and asked for Nutan's hand in marriage from her mother, Shobhana. According to a report in Dainik Bhaskar, Shobhana clearly said 'No' to Rajendra's marriage proposal for her daughter and even disrespected him with harsh words.
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It was a heartbreaking moment for Nutan and Rajendra Kumar, as they wanted to get married and become life partners. However, after some years of their breakup, they worked together in the film, Saajan Bina Suhagan. Interestingly, in the film, Rajendra and Nutan played 'husband-wife', and their onscreen chemistry was absolutely on point, which was quite understandable. While Nutan got married to Rajnish Bahl, her ex-lover, Rajendra Kumar tied the knot with Shukla Kumar and welcomed three kids, Kumar Gaurav, Dimple Patel, and Manorama Ralhan.
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After Rajendra Kumar's chapter was closed in Nutan's life, she moved on and gave love another chance with iconic superstar, Shammi Kapoor. While Nutan was quite graceful and shy, Shammi was flamboyant and renowned for his energetic character, it was a treat to watch them together both in reel and real life. Nutan and Shammi worked together in three films, Laila Majnu, Laat Saheb, and Basant.
For the uninitiated, Nutan and Shammi Kapoor knew each other right from their childhood days and were friends. However, when they started working together in films and spent a lot of time in each other's company, love blossomed between them. Unlike Rajendra Kumar's case, Nutan's mother, Shobhana Samarth was in favour of her daughter's relationship with Shammi Kapoor. She agreed to their decision to get married and just wanted to confirm it with her family advisor and good friend, Motilal.
Shobhana Samarth was confident that her close friend, Motilal would also agree to her daughter, Nutan's marriage to the Kapoor clan's Shammi Kapoor, but things took an absurd turn. Motilal didn't agree to the prospect of Nutan getting married to Shammi Kapoor and advised Shobhana not to take this forward. It was a tough call to take for Shobhana, but she sent Nutan to Switzerland and told her to cut all ties with Shammi Kapoor. It was an unfortunate end to Nutan and Shammi's love story.
What are your thoughts on Rajendra KUmar's relationship with Nutan and his eventual marriage to Shukla Devi Kumar? Let us know.
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