Actor-director Dheeraj Kumar passes away

Time of India

15-07-2025

Dheeraj Kumar
, who started out as a hero in Hindi cinema, found stardom in Punjabi films before becoming a hugely successful actor-director-producer of television shows such as 'Kahan Gaye Woh Log' (1985) and 'Om Namah Shivay' (1997), passed away in a Mumbai hospital on Tuesday.
He was 80.
"He was admitted to the hospital on Saturday as he had fever, cold and cough," Ajay Shukla, a close associate and family friend, told PTI.
The actor, an alumni of FTII, Pune, was a finalist in the Filmfare United Producers talent contest. "Three people emerged from that contest. Rajesh Khanna went on to become a superstar. Subhash Ghai became a super-director. The third was Purushottam, me," he said in a recent podcast with 'Shresth Bharat'.
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By the time he danced with unbridled energy in his debut film, Raton Ka Raja (1970), Purushottam Kocchar had become Dheeraj Kumar. The film flopped but Dheeraj was noticed as the duty-bound cop, the youngest of three brothers—Manoj Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan being the other two—in the blockbuster Roti, Kapda Aur Makaan (1974). He was, however, more appreciated as the neatly-dressed romantic bhadralok who lip-synched the unforgettable 'Ka karoon sajni aaye na balam' in Yesudas' voice in Basu Chatterji's 'Swami' (1977).
Dheeraj found the elusive stardom in Punjabi films with 'Daaj' (1976). "The film did as much business as 'Amar Akbar Anthony' (1977) in Punjab," he said in the podcast. He managed to rope in Sanjeev Kumar for the title role of 'Fauji Chacha' (1979) to conjure another box-office smash. He became a top hero before returning to Mumbai on benefactor Manoj Kumar's cajoling.
In 1984, when Doordarshan went commercial with its first soap opera, 'Hum Log', Dheeraj followed his elder brother's advice and became an early entrant.
Television turned out to be his true calling. Dheeraj set up his own production company, Creative Eye, and got Ganga Prasad Mathur, the writer of Vividh Bharati's iconic radio programme Hawa Mahal, to pen a series on forgotten martyrs, "Kahan Gaye Woh Log'. This was a time when film actors scoffed at the small screen.
But director Dheeraj also convinced a reluctant Hema Malini to act in the serial courtroom drama 'Adalat' (1993).
He made 'Apradh' (1994-95) for Zee TV, a crime show. Dheeraj directed a series of mythologicals, starting with 'Om Namah Shivay' (1997) which ran for 208 episodes. 'Shree Ganesh' (2000) enjoyed a longer stint: 397 episodes.