Suneel Dharshan remembers Manoj Kumar: “For me, he was an uncle, guru, and well-wisher all rolled into one” – Exclusive |

In a heartfelt reflection, filmmaker Suneel Darshan pays tribute to the legendary actor and filmmaker Manoj Kumar, recalling their deep personal connection that spans over six decades.
“My memories of Manoj Uncle go back to 65 years ago. He was my parents’ neighbour and raakhi-brother to my mother,” says filmmaker Suneel Darshan, recalling the beloved star Manoj Kumar.
“He held me in his arms as a one-year-old on my first birthday,” he continued.
Since Suneel Darshan, his family, and Manoj Kumar shared a long-standing bond, he saw the late star growing and evolving. “He succeeded as an actor in the 1960s and achieved superstardom as a filmmaker thereafter. Our proximity continued as my dad (Darshan Sabharwal) distributed all his movies in Central India. I am one of the closest witnesses of Manoj Uncle’s journey — from the meteoric rise, zenithing to 1981 when he was positioned beyond the doyens, Raj Kapoor and V. Shantaram,” he shared with us exclusively.
In the conversation, he discussed the unparalleled success of Bharat Kumar and even shared about the not-so-good times. He told us, “The phenomenal appeal of his movies — ‘Shaheed’ (1965), ‘Upkar’, ‘Purab Aur Pachhim’, ‘Shor’, ‘Roti Kapada Aur Makaan’, and ‘Kranti’ (1981) — besides his acting assignments in ‘Woh Kaun Thi’, ‘Hariyali Aur Raasta’, ‘Himalay Ki Gode Mein’, ‘Gumnam’, ‘Do Badan’, ‘Pehchan’, ‘Beimaan’, ‘Sanyasi’, and ‘Dus Numbri’ also drew huge patronage for his genre of cinema.”
“To imagine that his creative phenomena occurred between the ages of 25 and 44 establishes his brilliance. Unfortunately, this seat of supremacy was short-lived as the stress became unmanageable, and the downfall through the decade thereafter took its immense toll. The downfall in the 1980s and thereafter was in a retirement zone,” he added.
Last but not least, pouring his heart out, Suneel Darshan shared the sweetest words for Manoj Kumar. “For me, he was an uncle, guru, and well-wisher all rolled into one. He has breathed his last, but his ‘shiksha’ is deeply entrenched in my heart, whilst his movies and songs remain my textbooks of learning and inspiration,” he concluded.