Jeetender – The dynamic hero of bollywood.
Jeetender is one of the actors of the 60s and 70s who had been able to maintain his steady box office for over 30 years. He made his debue with the film Geet Gaya Pattharo Ne which was directed by V. Shantaram. He had specialization in dancing and used it in most of his earlier films which was well appreciated by film lovers.
He acted well in films like Farz where the songs composed by Laxmikant Pyarellal were equally successful. Jeetender provided good lips in songs like “baar baar din yeh aye”, “mast baharon ka mai aashiq”, etc. His following films like Banphool opposite Babita, and Humjoli were also successful. Jeetender not only acted well in these films, but also entertained the viewers with his choreographic skills. The notable songs include “o sapno ki rani”. Jeetender’s performance in the film Jigri Dost opposite Mumtaz is also worth mentioning.
In the 70s Jeetender acted in offbeat films made by Gulzar and exhibited his brilliance in these types of films. In Parichay, he acted as a teacher who came to know that the five children (grandchildren of Pran) became disobedient due to lack of love and affection. He tried to understand the family history and found that Sanjeev Kumar who was asked to leave the house as he specialized in music, died without proper treatment. Jeetender succeeded in convincing the children (including Jaya Bacchan who was the eldest of the daughters) that their grandfather loved them a lot. He transformed the children with his remote style of teaching and mixing the children in a friendly way.
His performance in Gulzar’s film Khushbu, in 1975, is also worth mentioning. The character portrayed by Bengali writer Sarat Chandra Chatterji was well understood by Jeetender and he showed his capability of providing realistic performance. In Gulzar’s Kinara, Dharmender died due to accident caused by Jeetender’s car. Jeetender was sympathetic towards his wife Hema Malini, who was a great dancer in the film and helped her to embrance dancing once more. The songs in the film were extraordinary, including “naam gum jayega”, “ek hi khwab kai baar”, “methe bol bole”. Jeetender transformed his dancing image into the image of soft understanding person. The make up given to him in the film also added to his soverness. In the 80s also Jeetender had provided powerful performance in films like Himmatwala.
As he was successful in maintaining his image for over 30 years, he had seen the transformation of films from the 60s to the 80s. Even in films where action heroes had shown their skills like Burning Train, Jeetender was required to give good lips for the qawalli composed in the film. Dharmender and Vinod Khanna had acted well in the film, and Jeetender complimented them with his lips in the song “pal do pal ka saath hamara”, sung by Rafi and Asha. Whenever he acted in character roles there also he had shown his acting skills. The new generation can learn a lot from the legendary actor of the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
He acted well in films like Farz where the songs composed by Laxmikant Pyarellal were equally successful. Jeetender provided good lips in songs like “baar baar din yeh aye”, “mast baharon ka mai aashiq”, etc. His following films like Banphool opposite Babita, and Humjoli were also successful. Jeetender not only acted well in these films, but also entertained the viewers with his choreographic skills. The notable songs include “o sapno ki rani”. Jeetender’s performance in the film Jigri Dost opposite Mumtaz is also worth mentioning.
In the 70s Jeetender acted in offbeat films made by Gulzar and exhibited his brilliance in these types of films. In Parichay, he acted as a teacher who came to know that the five children (grandchildren of Pran) became disobedient due to lack of love and affection. He tried to understand the family history and found that Sanjeev Kumar who was asked to leave the house as he specialized in music, died without proper treatment. Jeetender succeeded in convincing the children (including Jaya Bacchan who was the eldest of the daughters) that their grandfather loved them a lot. He transformed the children with his remote style of teaching and mixing the children in a friendly way.
His performance in Gulzar’s film Khushbu, in 1975, is also worth mentioning. The character portrayed by Bengali writer Sarat Chandra Chatterji was well understood by Jeetender and he showed his capability of providing realistic performance. In Gulzar’s Kinara, Dharmender died due to accident caused by Jeetender’s car. Jeetender was sympathetic towards his wife Hema Malini, who was a great dancer in the film and helped her to embrance dancing once more. The songs in the film were extraordinary, including “naam gum jayega”, “ek hi khwab kai baar”, “methe bol bole”. Jeetender transformed his dancing image into the image of soft understanding person. The make up given to him in the film also added to his soverness. In the 80s also Jeetender had provided powerful performance in films like Himmatwala.
As he was successful in maintaining his image for over 30 years, he had seen the transformation of films from the 60s to the 80s. Even in films where action heroes had shown their skills like Burning Train, Jeetender was required to give good lips for the qawalli composed in the film. Dharmender and Vinod Khanna had acted well in the film, and Jeetender complimented them with his lips in the song “pal do pal ka saath hamara”, sung by Rafi and Asha. Whenever he acted in character roles there also he had shown his acting skills. The new generation can learn a lot from the legendary actor of the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
Article By: Supriya Chatterji.
Kudos to the author - Supriya Chatterji - (I wonder if the entire family is into writing) on this article on Jitender - the jumping jack as he was fondly called. His other notable films are HUMJOLI, HIMMAT, KHILONA (Siderole), JEENE KI RAAH and Oh no, I forgot the name of the movie (take this song from it - KHUSHI KI WOH RAAT AA GAYI KOI GEET JAGNE DO- fantastic song and what acting by Jeetu). The Title song in Banphool by Kishore Kumar is also too terrific. Jigri Dost had all those fast paced numbers and one other song MERE DES MEIN PAWAN CHALE PURVAI. Memories of that period 1964 onwards are so pleasant and Jeetender was among the most noted 'Punjabi" heroes after the Kapoor clan, Manoj Kumar, Balraj Sahni, Rajender Kumar etc. His later films with Sridevi down south were not much of hits and they were dime a dozen. Hats Off for remembering him. And one request to Souvik, why not Mukesh so far ?? One article will not suffice, maybe.
ReplyDeleteJeetender complimented the performances of notable dancers of that age, including Mumtaz, Asha Parekh. His performance in the song "kitna pyara wada" from the film Karwa is worth mentioning.
ReplyDeleteSupriya Chatterji.
The make up given by Gulzar to Jeetender in films like Parichay, Khusbu and Kinara, had a great impact on the audience as it transformed his flamboyant image into a cultured image. He did rise up to the occassion in all these films.
ReplyDeleteChitta Ranjan Chatterji.
hello jitender sir how ru aim nitin sablok from meerutacntt and iam a biggest fan of yours and ihave herad that aap meerut me aaye ho aaj and iam interested to meet you in meeruta and iam also bellong to meerut acntta nd my home address is c5/1 lekha nager meerutacntt and my mobile number is 9410887527, and my email id is nitinsablok1988@gmail.com
ReplyDelete