Why Sanjeev Kumar was India's Peter Sellers

July 24, happened to be Peter Sellers' death anniversary and July 9 was Sanjeev Kumar's birth anniversary and this turned out to be a perfect time to juxtapose the two icons who were similar in more ways than imaginable. It's interesting to see how two remarkably talented, extremely versatile actors, equally adored by both critics as well as viewers, who incidentally never fitted the standard description of typical leading men, were treated by their respective industries. Although considered to be one of the best performers Indian cinema has ever seen, Kumar isn't viewed on the same lines as Peter Sellers, who became a legend in his own lifetime. While honorifics such as “icon”, “legend” and “thespian” are readily attached to both, it wouldn't be incorrect to say that Sellers' aura, even for Indians, is far bigger than Kumar's. But the one significant difference between the two greats is how Kumar got more opportunities than Sellers to display his immense talent.

There is a general perception surrounding popular Hindi cinema that talent, when not neglected, often goes under-appreciated. Accompanying this belief is the fact that unlike the West, Bollywood prefers to give precedence to looks over skills when it comes to acting. Yet one look at the filmography of both Kumar and Sellers is enough to see how commercial Hindi cinema of yore was more than the bastion of leading men who refuse to age or the young ones who can't look beyond trying what's been tested.

Sellers, who hailed from a family of actors, had made a name for himself in post-war London long before Stanley Kubrick cast him as Clare Quilty in Lolita (1962). The next year saw Sellers play his most loved character Inspector Jacques Clouseau for the first time in The Pink Panther (1963) but it was only after Dr Strangelove (1964) and A Shot in the Dark (1964) - the second of the Pink Panther films - that his career took off. By comparison Kumar, who, too, was a well-established name by the time films beckoned, had to wait a few years till Sanghursh (1968) to make people sit up and take notice of him. The peak of Sellers' popularity in 1964 also saw him suffer the first of his three heart attacks and he never fully recovered largely owing to his negligence. For some reason Sellers turned down Inspector Clouseau (1968) - the third in the Pink Panter series - but enjoyed another farcical hit in The Party (1968), the film that gave birth to the weird Indian accent, thanks to Sellers' Hrundi V Bakshi. In spite of working with Kubrick on two films where he wasn't playing an out and out buffoon and the huge success of the Pink Panther series, Sellers was relegated to lacklustre B-films or making appearances on television shows.

By the early 1970s, Sellers became a spent force while Kumar was only beginning to come into his own. Even after playing the lead in Raja Aur Runk (1968) it was still the impressive supporting acts in Shikar (1968), Aashirwad (1968), Satyakam (1969) and Khilona (1970) that got Kumar recognition but this changed with Dastak (1970)- the film that also fetched him his first National Award. For someone who was unlike classical leading men and known to be a “character” artiste, Kumar began to play the standard leading man with élan in Paras (1971), Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), Manchali (1973) and Manoranjan (1974) while balancing his impressive resume with Koshish (1973), Aap Ki Kasam (1974), Aandhi (1975) Mausam (1975). Kumar also played a multitude of characters in a single film a la Sellers in Naya Din Naye Raat (1974), where he famously reinterpreted Sivaji Ganesan's nine roles from the Tamil original Navarathiri (1964). Both Sellers and Kumar had a great year in 1975 where Sellers reprised Clouseau in Return of the Pink Panther (1975) and Kumar had Sholay (1975), Aandhi, Mausam and Faraar (1975).

Besides similar prowess and career paths, Kumar and Sellers' off-screen lives were quite similar. Like Sellers, Kumar, who was born with congenital heart condition, suffered a heart attack very early on. Both actors were unlucky when it came to personal relationships - Sellers was married four times and prone to depression and Kumar was jilted by a few and never married - and both died young. It's in the second half of their careers that the difference between Sellers and Kumar stands out. By the mid-1970s, Sellers wasn't allowed to look beyond Clouseau and it was almost impossible for him to get any other role that was different whereas Kumar entered one of the best phases of his career. It was around this time that Kumar worked with Satyajit Ray in Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977), played a philandering husband in Pati Patni Aur Woh (1978), a business tycoon who can't lose in Trishul (1978), an everyman in the art-house film Griha Pravesh (1979) and a regular villain in Jaani Dushman (1979). Seller finally got a shot at playing someone else besides the inept French policeman in Being There (1979), a film that would ultimately be his swansong. His final role featured him as a simple-minded gardener whose existence is created by what he saw on television and was a far cry from his comic roles.

Ironically Sellers found ever-lasting glory through a serious role and Kumar endeared himself to a new generation with his comic outings in Biwi O Biwi (1981), Angoor (1982) and Hero (1983). Even decades after their deaths Sellers and Kumar share similarities where both have proved to be irreplaceable. Intriguingly enough, much like life, in death too, Kumar seems to outdo Sellers as his stature continues to grow with the passage of time while Sellers' legacy still remains firmly ensconced within the bumbling Inspector Clouseau.