In every era of the film industry, some faces enter the hearts of the audience not with glamour but with their simplicity. Talking about the 1960s, at that time, big stars were struggling for films, but an innocent face came on screen, which left a deep impression without any noise. That face was of Sushil Kumar. His journey from a chawl in Mumbai to the silver screen is quite inspiring. His films like 'Dhool Ka Phool', 'Kala Bazaar' and especially 'Dosti' are still loved. The golden turn in his career came when he was offered a three-year contract from Rajshri Productions, which used to be the dream of every emerging artist in those times.
Early life
Sushil Kumar's life is no less interesting than a film script. He was born on July 4, 1945 in a Sindhi family in Karachi. His family came to India at the time of the partition of the country; at that time, he was two and a half years old. His family first started living in Navsari city of Gujarat, but the business here did not work out well, after which in 1953, they moved to the Mahim area of Mumbai. Here, his grandfather suffered a huge loss in business and he went bankrupt. The whole family started living in a chawl in Mumbai. During this time, both his father and grandfather died, and Sushil Kumar's mother took him and his two siblings to his aunt's house in the Chembur area. Here he continued his studies.
Sushil Kumar started off as a child artist
Due to financial constraints, his mother used to send him to work in films. Sushil Kumar worked in many films as a child artist, which include films like 'Phir Subah Hogi', 'Kala Bazaar', 'Dhool Ka Phool', 'Maine Jeena Seekh Liya', 'Shriman Satyawadi', 'Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere', 'Sanjog', 'Ek Ladki Saat Ladke', 'Phool Bane Angare' and 'Saheli'.
During this time, Tarachand Barjatya, the owner of Rajshri Productions, was thinking of making a Hindi remake of a Bengali film 'Lalu-Bhulu'. The film was named 'Dosti', and he wanted two young boys in it. At that time, his daughter Rajshri suggested the name of Sushil Kumar to her father. She had seen Sushil's work in 'Phool Bane Angare' and was very impressed with his acting. On the daughter's request, Tarachand Barjatya sent one of his team members directly to Sushil's house with the offer of the film. In those days, getting a contract from a production house was considered a great success.
Rajshri signed a three-year contract with them and that too at a salary of Rs 300 per month. This amount may seem very small according to today's time, but at that time it was considered a big amount. Sushil started getting a fixed income. Working in films, where earlier it was earlier a compulsion for him, gradually became an opportunity. When the film 'Dosti' released, it became a hit at the box office. This film gave him a new identity. The audience accepted that Sushil made a place in the industry and in people's hearts based on his acting without any fanfare. Rajshri Productions gave him work in more films.
During this time, he became friends with actor Sudhir Kumar. People appreciated their pairing a lot, but when Sudhir Kumar got an offer from MVM Productions in Madras for the film 'Laadla', for which he broke the contract with Rajshri. This also affected Sushil Kumar's career. Rajshri Productions then stopped working with him. When all this was happening, Sushil had gone to Moscow to participate in the International Children's Film Festival for the film 'Dosti'. The respect he received there strengthened his confidence even more. However, it was a matter of regret that his next film was stopped due to Sudhir's departure.
Left films for another passion
After this, Sushil slowly said goodbye to films and started focusing on his studies. He did his BA from Jai Hind College and after some time, he got a job as a flight purser in Air India. From 1971 to 2003, he worked with them and travelled to many countries. In 1973, he appeared as an air hostess in a scene in Dev Anand's film 'Heera Panna'
After this, he got lost in the world of anonymity. In 2014, a question was asked about Sushil Kumar in the radio program 'Suhana Safar with Annu Kapoor'. Shishir Krishna Sharma, who did research for this show, met him and talked to him for hours. During this, Sushil Kumar said that his character in 'Dosti' matched his real life to a great extent. Like his character Ramnath, he too experienced extreme poverty and misery in his childhood.
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