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'Jumping Jack' Springs To 68!
Actor Jeetendra may have won few awards in his long acting career and probably missed out on the major ones, but he most definitely succeeded in winning the hearts of millions with his inimitable style of dancing, which earned him the name of 'Jumping Jack.
Born Ravi Kapoor on April 7, 1942, Jeetendra was given his break his break in films by none other than V Shantaram. It may sound hard to believe, but he was chosen by the great director to play Sandhya's double in the film 'Navrang'!. His first proper break, however, came with Shantaram's 'Sehra' in 1963, following it up with 'Geet Gaya Patharon Ne' in 1964, opposite the director's daughter, Rajshree.
Jeetendra really came into his own with 'Farz' in 1967, where he first sported his famous white shoes in the 'mast baharon ka main aashiq' number and also first showcased his 'Jumping Jack' style of dancing. The films that followed included 'Jigri Dost', 'Mere Huzoor', 'Khilona', 'Humjoli', 'Caravan' and 'Banphool' among others.
Jeetendra gave his critics something to think about when donned a white 'kurta pyjama' and a pair of spectacles in filmmaker's Gulzar's 'Parichay', 'Khushboo' and 'Kinara'. The seventies saw him going strong with other films like 'Bidaai', 'Dharam Veer', 'Priyatama', 'Apnapan', 'Badaltey Rishtey', 'Aasha', 'Swarg Narak' and 'Jaani Dushman'.
The Eighties saw Jeetendra going down South and working in Tamil and Telugu remakes opposite Southern belles like Jayaprada and Sridevi in productions mainly directed by T. Rama Rao, K. Bapaiah and K. Raghavendra Rao. Films like 'Justice Chowdhury'., 'Meri Awaaz Suno', 'Mawaali','Ek Hi Bhool', 'Himmatwala' and 'Tohfa' which were churned from the South turned out to be big hits, thus giving his career a fresh lease of life.
From the Nineties onwards, he started easing off from acting, making only a rare appearance in films like 'Om Shanti Om' and 'Dil Aashana Hai', 'Kuch To Hai' etc. His daughter, Ekta and son Tusshar have also ventured into showbusiness.
While his daughter is the brains behind the television production house, Balaji Telefilms, his son Tushhar, is an actor in Bollywood. Shobha, his wife and childhood sweetheart, is also actively associated with Balaji.
The actor himself continues remains as fit as he was in the seventies and eighties. He made a recent appearance as a judge in a TV reality dance show.
During his heydays, Jeetendra managed to work with all the top heroines of his time, which included, Rajshree, Babita, Mala Sinha, Asha Parekh, Mumtaz, Leena Chandavarkar, Hema Malini, Moushumi Chatterjee, Jaya Bhaduri, Rekha, Neetu Singh, Reena Roy, Sridevi and Jayaprada, among others.
He was not exactly a favourite of the critics, but the masses really loved him and aped his style of dressing and dancing.
On his 68th b'day, here's wishing the actor many more years of abiding happiness and prosperity in his professional endeavours.
