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Sanjeev Kumar (born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala; 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) was an Indian actor. He is well remembered for his versatility and genuine portrayal of his characters. He acted in genres ranging from romantic dramas to thrillers, and was voted the seventh greatest actor of Indian cinema of all time in a poll conducted by Rediff.com. His double role in the film Angoor was listed among the 25 best acting performances of Indian cinema by Forbes India on the occasion of celebrating 100 years of Indian Cinema.

He won several major awards, including two National Film Awards for Best Actor for his performances in the movies Dastak (1970) and Koshish (1972). Kumar did not mind playing roles that were non-glamorous, such as characters well beyond his age. Movies such as iconic character Thakur in Sholay (1975) Arjun Pandit (1976) and Trishul (1978), along with the remakes of Tamil films into Hindi such as Khilona (1970), Naya Din Nai Raat (1974), Yehi Hai Zindagi (1977), Devata (1978) and Ram Tere Kitne Naam (1985) exemplify his versatility. He also did suspense-thriller films such as Shikar (1968), Uljhan (1975) and Trishna (1978) and Qatl (1986), Kumar also proved himself to do comedy in films such as Manchali (1973), Pati Patni Aur Woh (1978), Biwi-O-Biwi (1981) Angoor (1982) and Hero (1983).

Early Life and Background :

Sanjeev Kumar was born as Harihar Jethalal Jariwala (also referred to as Haribhai) on 9 July 1938 in Surat to a Gujarati family, he came to Mumbai when he was very young. A stunt in a film school led him to Bollywood, where he eventually became an accomplished actor. He is widely acclaimed by the critics and general public alike to be one of the all-time greatest actors that Indian Cinema has ever produced. Kumar had two younger brothers and one sister. He spoke Gujarati, Hindi and English fluently.