Jeetendra was born as Ravi Kapoor in Amritsar in 1942 to a Punjabi business family that dealt with imitation jewellery. As he turns a year older we take a look at his filmy and personal journey so far.
Jeetendra was born Ravi Kapoor in Amritsar in 1942 to a Punjabi business family. As he turns 69, we take a look at his film and personal journey so far.
Jeetendra spent his childhood in Girgaum, Mumbai.
Every year during Ganesh Chaturthi he visits Girgaum and cherishes the memories of his childhood days.
According to his authorised biography, he and Hema Malini had almost got married, but the actress backed out at the last minute.
But life had something else in store for him. He tied the knot with his childhood love Shobha Kapoor.
Jeetendra has a son, who is also an actor, Tusshar Kapoor and a daughter, Ekta Kapoor, who runs Balaji Telefilms.
Coming back to his professional life, Jeetu started his career in the late 1950s when filmmaker V Shantaram gave him his first break in Navrang.
With his first small role, Jeetendra went ahead to make big in Bollywood.
Four years later he got a big break when Shantaram cast him as lead actor in Sehra in 1963 & then in Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne (1964).
He has done almost 200 films till date. It is said that his style of acting, to a great extent, is inspired by famous Pakistani actor Waheed Murad.
Ravikant Nagaich's Farz with Jeetendra in the lead was a golden jubilee success.
One of the songs of the movie Farz - Mast Baharon Ka Main Aashiq - became very popular and the t-shirt and white shoes that he sported in the song became his trademark in Bollywood.
His vigorous dancing in films like Farz and Banphool won him the epithet of Jumping Jack.
In the 1980s, Jeetendra was frequently paired up with Sridevi and Jaya Prada for remakes of South Indian potboilers.
During the '80s some of his movie like Justice Chaudhry (1982), Mawaali (1983), Himmatwala (1983), Jaani Dushman, and Tohfa (1984) went on to become huge hits despite low critical acclaim.
He also tried his hand in television when he judged one of the dance reality shows, Jhalak Dikhla Jaa.
He earned appreciation for his role of a teacher in Gulzar's Parichay (1972).
He was also paired opposite Reena Roy in many films like Nagin, Arpan, Jaise Ko Taisa to name a few.
He proved his acting skills in a few multi-starrers inlcuding Dharam Veer (1977).
Jeetendra made a brief appearance in Kucch To Hai (2002), a movie produced by his daughter Ekta Kapoor.
Under the aegis of their father, both Tusshar and Ekta run a production house called Balaji Telefilms. It has produced many popular serials in various languages. It has also ventured into making Bollywood films.
He made a special appearance in SRK's Om Shanti Om.
Even after being one of the prominent entertainers of the '80s, awards always remained elusive for Jeetendra. His contributions were recognized in 2002 when he received Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.
