Raaj Kumar

Raaj Kumar (8 October 1926 – 3 July 1996), born Kulbhushan Pandit, was a Hindi film actor. Raaj Kumar started out as sub-inspector i.a.s. of Mumbai Police in the late 1940s before he turned to acting with the 1952 film Rangeeli. He appeared in the Oscar-nominated 1957 film Mother India and went onto star in over 70 Hindi films in a career that spanned over four decades.

Raaj Kumar was born at Loralai Balochistan, Pakistan in a Kashmiri Pandit family. In the late 1940s he moved to Mumbai, India where he became Sub-inspector of the Mumbai Police. He married Jennifer, an Anglo Indian, whom he met on a flight where she was the airhostess. She later changed her name to Gayatri based on her horoscope as per Hindu customs. They had three children, two sons named Puru Raajkumar (a Bollywood actor), Panini Raajkumar and a daughter named Vastavikta Raajkumar, who made her screen debut in 2006 film Eight: The Power of Shani.