Legendary actor Manoj Kumar, who earned the moniker ‘Bharat Kumar’ in the country, passed away in Mumbai on the wee hours of Friday (April 4), leaving the entire nation devastated and heartbroken. Several celebs and renowned personalities, including Akshay Kumar, Vivek Agnihotri, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, businessman Anand Mahindra, and others took to their social media to express their grief.
PM Modi shared an old and a very recent picture of himself with Kumar and wrote, “Deeply saddened by the passing of legendary actor and filmmaker Shri Manoj Kumar Ji. He was an icon of Indian cinema, who was particularly remembered for his patriotic zeal, which was also reflected in his films. Manoj Ji’s works ignited a spirit of national pride and will continue to inspire generations. My thoughts are with his family and admirers in this hour of grief. Om Shanti (sic).”
Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri hailed Kumar as India’s “first truly original and committed Indic filmmaker”. “A proud nationalist. A staunch Hindu at heart. A visionary director who gave Indian cinema a new grammar — of song picturisation, of meaningful lyrics, of cinema that didn’t just entertain but remembered to belong. He made patriotism cinematic, without noise. He made nationalism poetic, without apology… In a time of borrowed voices and secondhand aesthetics, he dared to be rooted. Patriots and artists like him never die. They simply transcend — into memory, into celluloid, into the nation’s heartbeat (sic),” he wrote on X.
Akshay Kumar paid tribute to Kumar and encouraged young actors to take on the duty of showing love and pride for the country through their work just like the late actor did. “I grew up learning from him that there’s no emotion like love and pride for our country. And if we actors won’t take the lead in showing this emotion, who will? Such a fine person, and one of the biggest assets of our fraternity. RIP Manoj Sir (sic),” he wrote.
Anand Mahindra penned a bittersweet note remembering Kumar and he shared how his family never missed the actor’s films in theatres while he was growing up, and that he had become a part of their family. “Manoj Kumar went from being an actor to a member of every family. Today I express my condolences on the passing of a family member (sic),” he wrote.
Manoj Kumar Death
Kumar breathed his last at the age of 87 at Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. He was admitted to the hospital on February 21 after his health deteriorated, and after over a month-long battle, he succumbed on Friday.
As per reports, Kumar died due to a massive heart attack. He had also been battling decompensated liver cirrhosis in recent months, which aggravated his poor health condition.
His last rites will reportedly be performed tomorrow morning in the presence of his family members and close friends.
