Dosti Boys – Sushil Kumar & Sudhir Kumar

QAMYAB – THE FORGOTTEN GEMS OF BOLLYWOOD

Qamyab is our humble tribute to all those lesser-known actors, one hit wonders and junior artists who we see umpteen times but don’t know about; beyond their faces. These actors have been an integral part of Bollywood but didn’t get their due. This series is our sincere attempt to put a name to these faces, familiarize them to our readers and celebrate their achievements in life – however big or small. We believe that every artist contributes in his/her own way to the cinema’s success. Qamyab will explore the unknown lives of such actors and artists as we believe even these forgotten gems of Bollywood deserve their due recognition today.

The one film, which accurately depicts true and thick male bonding in Bollywood is Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay (1975). After all, who can forget the iconic pals Jai and Veeru. A decade before Sholay, another Hindi film based on friendship, had struck a chord with movie buffs.

The film, one of the biggest hits of that era, revolved around two characters: crippled Ramu and blind Mohan and their unconditional friendship. Yes, we are talking about Dosti (1964) and its lead actors Sudhir Kumar Sawant and Sushil Kumar Somaiya, who became household names after the film’s success

There is a lot of speculation and fake information about these two actors and most believe Dosti is their only film, which isn’t true. Some rumours about their death are widespread, which are also fake. For the first time, we will be covering the two actors jointly in our ‘Qamyab’ article as like their inseparable characters in Dosti, we feel we should tell their life journey jointly and not separate them. So, here we go…

Both, Sushil Kumar and Sudhir Kumar were unknown to each other before Dosti. They got this opportunity of a lifetime, as many still believe that Dosti was their first and only film but both actors had acted in films before.

Sushil Kumar was born in Karachi, Undivided India on 4th July,1945 into a wealthy Sindhi family to Kishanchand and Tulsibai Somaiya. They ran a successful dry fruits business there. Unfortunately, the family had to migrate to Navsari, Gujarat during India’s partition in 1947. Sushil’s family started the same dry fruits business in Navsari

Sadly, the business didn’t do well here and they faced heavy losses. Finally in 1953, Sushil’s family came to Mumbai and lived in a chawl in Mahim. The sudden downfall in their fortunes took a toll on Sushil’s father, who passed away soon. Other earning members too died, leaving behind huge debts.

Sushil’s mother shifted with him and his siblings to the suburban Chembur and lived with his uncle and aunt (Mausi). The couple were well settled in Mumbai and became huge support to them.

Sushil Kumar loved dancing and took part in his chawl functions, where a prominent junior artist called Kishanlal Bajaj noticed him and spoke to his mother that he would give young Sushil a break as a child artist.

The first film Sushil signed was the 1958 Sindhi film Abana (which was also acting debut of Bollywood star Sadhana) and he went on to work in many Hindi films as a child actor. These include Phir Subah Hogi, (1958), Dhool Ka Phool (1959), Kala Bazaar (1960), Shriman Satyavadi (1960), Usne Kaha Tha (1960), Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere (1960), Sanjog (1961), Sampoorna Ramayan (1961) and Phool Bane Angare (1963). While acting as child actor, Sushil completed his BA degree from Mumbai’s Jai Hind college.

Coming to Sudhir Kumar, he was born as Sudhir Sawant in a middle-class Maharashtrian family in Mumbai’s Lalbaug Parel area in 1947. Unlike today when the area is filled with cosmopolitan high rises and large conglomerate offices, the Lalbaug Parel in that bygone era was occupied by mills and the labourers, predominantly Marathi families, working there.

Sudhir lived with his parents and two sisters: Shobhna and Chitra. Sudhir was the second child in the family. He had passed his SSC exam from Aryabhata school. His connection with the film world was through his uncle (Mama) called Prabhakar, who was a chief makeup artist and worked for the legendary V. Shantaram’s company Rajkamal Kalamandir, which was based in Parel itself

In 1962, Rajshri Productions patriarch Tarachand Barjatya planned a remake of the successful Bengali film Lalu Bholu (1959) in Hindi as Dosti and was looking for young boys close to eighteen years. His daughter Rajshri Barjatya had seen Sushil Kumar in Phool Bane Angare and recommended him to her father. While it is unknown how Sudhir Kumar bagged Dosti, he had debuted in the same year with the film Sant Gyaneshwar

Dosti was about two physically challenged friends Ramu (Ramnath) and Mohan, who meet on the streets of Mumbai and become thick friends. They can do anything for each other but destiny plays a cruel part and they are separated. The film was filled with genuine emotions and tugged your heart.

Dosti released in September 1964 and became a sleeper hit at the box office. Its songs became chartbusters and remain popular till date. Sushil and Sudhir got instant recognition.

Soon after, rumours spread that a top actor of that time killed both, Sudhir Kumar and Sushil Kumar, fearing that their newfound success might impact his stardom. A parallel story went that a certain mafia gang killed the Dosti boys for extortion. These rumours floated for many years and even today, many believe that Sudhir and Sushil were killed after Dosti’s success.