Manoj Kumar

Manoj Kumar (born Harikrishna Giri Goswami on 24 July 1937) is an award-winning Indian actor and director in Bollywood. He is remembered for his films Hariyali Aur Raasta, Woh Kaun Thi?, Himalaya Ki God Mein, Do Badan, Upkar, Patthar Ke Sanam, Neel Kamal, Purab Aur Paschim, Roti Kapda Aur Makaan, and Kranti. He is known for acting in and directing films with patriotic themes, and has been given the nickname "Bharat Kumar". In 1992, he was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India.

Early life

Manoj Kumar was born in Abbottabad, a town of North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Pakistan, then part of British India. His original name was Harikishan Giri Goswami. When he was 10, his family had to flee to Delhi due to the partition. His family lived as refugees in Vijay Nagar, Kingsway Camp and later moved to Old Rajendra Nagar area of New Delhi.

After graduating from Hindu College, University of Delhi, he decided to enter the film industry.

Career

As a youngster, he admired Dilip Kumar, Ashok Kumar and Kamini Kaushal and decided to name himself Manoj Kumar after Dilip's character in Shabnam (1949).

Manoj Kumar (Tamil film director)

Manoj Kumar is an Indian film director and producer, who has directed Tamil, Telugu and Kannada language films. He is the brother-in-law of Bharathiraja.

Career

He directed several films which were unsuccessful at the box office in the 1990s and was given a minor breakthrough in securing more films after his venture, Guru Paarvai (1998) starring Prakash Raj, won positive reviews. He then went on to make medium budget action films including Vaanavil (2000) and Jaisurya (2004) featuring Arjun, as well as Raajjiyam which had Vijayakanth and Dileep in the lead cast.

He ventured into production in the mid 2000s and made the Madhavan-starrer Arya, before launching a directorial project titled Utharavu with Seeman, which eventually did not progress. Manoj Kumar resurfaced in 2013, when it was revealed that he was working with producer Kovai Thambi on a venture titled Uyirukku Uyiraga. The script of the film was reported to be about the relationship between parents and their grown-up children, while the cast was composed of newcomers.

Manoj Kumar (chess player)

Manoj Kumar is a Fijian chess player who has won the Fiji National Championship eight times: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. The Fiji Sports Councils Awards named him Fiji national domestic Player of the year twice, in 2007 and 2008.

Kumar won the first Fiji Invitational Championship in 2003.

Kumar represented Fiji in the most Oceania championships: 2001; 2007 Nadi, Fiji; 2009 Gold Coast; and 2011 Rotoura, New Zealand. Kumar also represented Fiji in three Chess Olympiads.

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