This refers to your report “Phalke Award for Manoj Kumar (March 5). Veteran actor Manoj Kumar is truly recognized for Dadasaheb Phalke award for his immense contribution to Hindi cinema. Actor-director Manoj Kumar, who converted celluloid patriotism into a profitable box-office brand is now one of the most prominent actors of Indian cinema who has been a cult artist and an inspiration to many generations together. He personified the nationalist hero in popular Hindi cinema, often named ‘Bharat’. I am very fond of his each and every movie as in his movies, nationalism can be always be seen in a melange of shades. Even today, no song betters the image of the idealised nation more than ‘Mere desh ki dharti sona ugle’. Sometimes even critics scoffed at it but his fans didn’t mind. I still remember, in the Seventies, he excelled in action movies like Sanyasi (1975) and Dus Numbri (1976). The values which he engrained through his fantastic movies is still there in our heart.
Vinod C. Dixit
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
