Dheeraj Kumar (Kochar)-veteran Punjabi-Hindi film actor and producer passed away in a Mumbai hospital on Tuesday morning.He was on ventilator support system after suffering from pneumonia that also resulted in organ failure.
Dheeraj Kumar was among the finalists of a talent contest where the likes of Rajesh Khanna and, Subhash Ghai were the participants. He got several acting and modelling assignments after his stint in the contest. While his debut Raton Ka Raja was a reasonable success, it were supporting roles in biggies like Roti Kapda Aur Makaan and Heera Panna which gave him footing in the industry.
He had taken Punjabi film Daaj’s offer casually as it was a leading role.It was debut film for Daljit Kaur,who had got the offer while she was still a student at FTII,Pune.
Daaj(1976-77) turned out to be super hit which even gave tough competition to Hindi blockbusters like Dharam Veer and Amar Akbar Anthony in north belt. The success of Daaj was such that the makers dubbed it in Hindi too which also found takers in the Hindi belt.
While Hindi films typecasted him in negative roles with Sargam,Kranti,Swami etc, he became one of the regular leading heroes of Punjabi films along with Veerendra and Satish Kaul.
Sehti Murad,Jugni,Fauji Chacha,Gori Dian Jhanjhran,Choran Nu Mor,Sher Puttar etc have been his Punjabi films.Soon he shifted his loyalty towards TV Production and made over 25 TV Productions in last 40 years including Sansaar(1993),in which he had also acted in after a break. Though it might not be acknowledged, his good friend Jeetendra’s daughter Ekta Kapoor ventured into the TV world after getting inspiration from Dheeraj Kumar.In 2012 He was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award by private Punjabi TV Channel’s Film Awards.He is survived by his wife and a son.
