Roshmila Bhattacharya shows us just why India has lost her Mr Bharat.
At 87, Manoj Kumar succumbed to the health issues that had been plaguing him for years.
The actor-filmmaker leaves behind a number of patriotic films, the first among them, Shaheed.
Rediff.com Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya shares some nuggets from this film that acquainted many across the country with the legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
On January 1, 1965, Shaheed opened in theatres, flagging off Manoj Kumar's desh bhakti journey.
The film, which went on to become one of the year's top grossers, had to struggle for buyers because it did not have a heroine opposite him.
However, for the actor, that was never a point of discussion or contention.
For him, Shaheed was a tribute to his childhood hero, and as shooting progressed, he began to not just look like him but also behave eerily like Bhagat Singh.
Reliving Bhagat Singh
In the course of our many conversations, Manoj Kumar had reminisced about how, when the martyr's younger brother, Kultar Singh, took him to meet his mother and commented on the striking resemblance between the two young men, one long gone, Chaiji had acknowledged it with a smile.
"As the film progressed, she grew very fond of me," he shared, admitting that he would frequently visit Vidyavatiji when shooting in Chandigarh.
Once, he had even flown from Mumbai when she was hospitalised, and much to the family's concern, was adamantly refusing to take medicines.
"I requested her with folded hands, dawayee kha leejiye (please take your medication), and she agreed," he recounted emotionally.
A tale of two Shaheeds
Shaheed was as much about Bhagat Singh's bravery and patriotism as it was about his mother's sacrifice and Kamini Kaushal played her in the film.
Interestingly, the actress had featured in another Shaheed, which released in 1948.
Directed by Ramesh Saigal and based on a story he had written, it had Dilip Kumar as a young freedom fighter, Ram, with Kamini as his childhood sweetheart, Sheela, who agrees to marry an unscrupulous police officer, Vinod, played by Ram Singh, to save his life.
But Ram, like Bhagat Singh, is found guilty and hanged.
Sheela succumbs to the shock and the lovers, separated in life, are reunited in death.
Manoj Kumar was around 11 when he cajoled his uncle to take him to watch the film in a theatre in Delhi.
Heart-broken by the tragic end, he had returned home sobbing.
Years later, he approached Kamini Kaushal for Shaheed. The actress had by then settled down to quiet domesticity and wasn't accepting any film offers.
At the end of the script narration, Kamini asked him curiously, 'You want me to play your mother?'
'I don't want you to play just anyone's mother, I want you to play Bhagat Singh's mother,' he retorted, and won her heart.
She accepted the film.
With this transition to character roles, Shaheed flagged off a successful, almost five decade long second innings for Kamini who went on to do several more films with Manoj Kumar, including his directorial debut Upkar, followed by Purab Aur Paschim, Sanyasi, Shor, Roti Kapda Aur Makaan, Dus Numbri and Santosh.
In many of these films, she played his mother and he later admitted that she had been the perfect choice to play Chaiji in Shaheed because when she called him 'beta', he actually felt like he was her son.
Once the film was complete, among the first to see it was Kultar Singh and his mother.
"We waited anxiously for Chaiji's reaction. I felt like I had won an award when she gave an approving nod," he remembered.
Shaheed won three National Awards.
On his request, Manoj Kumar's father Harbans Lal Goswami brought Chaiji down from Chandigarh for the award ceremony.
She was seated beside the actor, and when he went on stage, he entreated her to join him.
As the elderly lady in the white sari, pallu on her head, shyly stepped up to stand beside him, the whole auditorium rose as one to give them a standing ovation.
A photograph of Manoj Kumar with Bhagat Singh's mother taken in Delhi at the National Awards ceremony was among the late actor's treasured possessions.
A cuppa in gratitude
After the film's release, Manoj Kumar was in Goa to shoot a song for Shatrujit Paul's film Amanaat, which was in the making for eight years and released in 1977.
The sun suddenly went behind the clouds and as the unit waited for the light to return, the actor decided to get himself a cup of tea.
To his surprise, when he went to the counter to pay for it, he was told the bill had already been settled.
Surprised and curious, Manoj Kumar insisted on knowing who had bought him his tea.
Finally, a sweeper, who worked at the government tea house, came forward saying he had never heard of Bhagat Singh before and only learnt how he had sacrificed even his life for the country after seeing Shaheed.
'The least I can do is to offer you a cup of tea,' he muttered, moving an emotional Manoj Kumar to tears.
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