Veteran actor Manoj Kumar, who passed away today in Mumbai at the age of 97, was not only a legendary figure in Indian cinema but also a staunch advocate for the film industry. He was never one to shy away from standing up for his peers, even in the face of political challenges.
In 1975, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency rule across India, several Bollywood icons, including Dev Anand and Kishore Kumar, faced restrictions. Manoj Kumar, too, found himself in conflict with the government. In a 2015 interview with us, he recalled being approached by the authorities to make a film in support of the Emergency.
“It (Emergency) was all right at the start, but it turned more intense with time,” he had said. The actor revealed that he was in discussions with Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi for a film titled Naya Bharat. Initially, they approved the script, and Indira Gandhi even agreed to make a special appearance. However, months later, she offered only her voice instead, prompting script changes that Manoj Kumar was unwilling to accept. “I was not okay with that. So I cancelled everything, and the film was eventually shelved,” he recalled.
Manoj also shared how he became the only filmmaker to win a case against laws imposed during the Emergency. “During Emergency, there was a law that said a film could be telecast on TV two weeks after its release. So one of my films, Shor (1972), was the first to be aired on Doordarshan. We re-released it in theatres two weeks later, but since people had already watched it on TV, no one went to cinemas. I had to pay the theatres from my own pocket to recover the losses. A similar thing happened to Dus Nambari, and that’s when we decided to take the matter to court. Eventually, I won the case,” he had said.
Beyond his own struggles, Manoj Kumar also played a crucial role in securing a censor certificate for the 1975 classic Sholay. “I got a call from Vidya Charan Shukla, the Information and Broadcasting Minister at the time, who said, ‘We can’t pass Sholay because there is too much violence in it.’ I proved that their perspective was wrong, and they passed the film,” he had revealed.
His courage in standing up against censorship and government policies during a turbulent era remains a testament to his unwavering principles and dedication to the film industry.
