Kumar Gaurav

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Kumar Gaurav wanted to continue his father’s legacy in Bollywood In the 70’s Raj Kapoor started the trend of introducing his children into films. All his three sons Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor were introduced by him in Bollywood. Watching him other star decided to continue the legacy like Dev Anand (Suniel Anand), Dharmendra (Sunny Deol), Sunil Dutt (Sanjay Dutt) hence Rajendra Kumar decided to introduce his handsome and good looking son Kumar Gaurav in his home production Love Story. Readers may note Rajendra Kumar was into film production from the mid 60’s and had made many hit films like Phool Aur Patthar (1966), Talash (1969), Ganwaar (1970), The Train (1970). But in all these films he was co-producer. But with Love Story he turned full fletched producer. Hence no sooner Kumar Gaurav completed his education from Simla’s Bishop Cotton School; his father had made all preparation for his launch in Bollywood.

Kumar Gaurav married Namrata Dutt Rajendra Kumar shared a strong bond with actor Raj Kapoor. Hence initially Kumar Gaurav was to get married to Raj Kapoor’s daughter Rima but during the filming of Love story Kumar Gaurav fell in love with its heroine Vijata. Hence the marriage had to be cancelled but when Kumar Gaurav’s film career went downside Vijata’s family declined the marriage. Later Kumar Gaurav married Sunil Dutt’s daughter Namrata in 1984.

Rajendra Kumar had showdown with Rahul Rawail Rajendra Kumar was known to have acumen about a hit film. Hence all the films he co-produced were hits. Also his career was studded with many hits hence he knew the pulse of the audience. Being a taskmaster Rajendra Kumar toiled hard to make his son’s debut film Love Story a success. He hired celebrated characters actors like Amjad Khan and Danny. He also played Kumar Gaurav's father role. He keenly monitored the making of the film from its script to music. But it’s believed due to Rajendra Kumar’s extreme commitment towards the film created differences between its director Rahul Rawail, hence after completing almost 90% film he quit the film as director. Rajendra Kumar himself gave the final touches to the film and released the film on low note, to be on safer side. The film was released in matinee show (12 a.m.) at Metro cinema in Mumbai but slowly picked up. The songs were a rage and the films content too was good. The film was a major box office success and made Kumar Gaurav a national star overnight. Kumar Gaurav’s career takes a beating Indian-born and England-based music composer Biddu, who created sensation in Bollywood with his super-duper, hit song Aap Jaisa Koi… in Feroz Khan’s film Qurbani decided to bank on the popularity of Kumar Gaurav and produced his first film in Bollywood called Star (1982). The film was Kumar Gaurav’s third release and was a hugely publicized. The film was made on huge scale with two leading Bollywood actresses Rati Agnihotri and Padmini Kolhapure opposite Kumar Gaurav. The film had a hugely successful song Boom…boom…. But despite all elements of masala the film was a major debacle at box office! The failure of Star had not much impact on Kumar Gaurav’s career as his papa Rajendra Kumar was ready with another film Lovers (1983). The film was a re-make of Tamil hit film Alaigal Oivathillai and was directed by same Tamil filmmaker P. Bharathiraja. But the film bombed at box-office. After two successive failures, Kumar Gaurav’s career began to decline and he gave a string of flop films. From 1983 to 1986 his career was almost ruined as he gave not a single hit. The list of flop films include All Rounder, Hum Hain Lajawab, Divorce, Ek Se Bhale Do, Begaana etc Rajendra Kumar tried his best to review Kumar Gaurav’s career After a long stint of three years and over 10 films flopping had virtually ceased Kumar Gaurav’s career. He was declared a jinx actor and no filmmaker was ready to cast him. Incidentally, Kumar Gaurav, who had married Sanjay Dutt’s sister, was also going through a similar rough patch. Hence to boost the career of both the flop stars, Rajendra Kumar decided to make another movie with competent director and skilled writer. Thus he signed Mahesh Bhatt and Salim Khan ( of Saliv Javed fame), both illustrious film director and writer. The result was Naam (1986). The film was an instant hit and its ghazal Chithi Aayi Hai… by Pankaj Udhas made the film super hit. Surprisingly the film became a boon to Sanjay Dutt’s career and he became a top star while Kumar Gaurav, despite a good performance, could not make much out of it. Mahesh Bhatt gave another chance to Kumar Gaurav and took him as a lead hero in his emotional Tele Film Janam (1985). The film won wide acclaim and Kumar Gaurav’s performance was appreciated. Later once again, Kumar Gaurav signed wrong films and paid the price. Yet again papa Rajendra Kumar came to his rescue and made Jurrat (1991). In this film Rajendra Kumar tried to change Kumar Gaurav’s lover boy image and made an action film but the film failed. Two years later papa Rajendra Kumar again tried to give a hit to Kumar Gaurav’s career by making Phool (1993) opposite Madhuri Dixit. In this film Rajendra Kumar and Sunil Dutt both acted to added more glitter but all attempts failed to save his career.