Mumbai: Actor Jeetendra turned a year older Tuesday. Born April 7, 1942 in Amritsar, Punjab, Jeetendra’s real name is Ravi Kapoor and he was active in the Hindi film industry between 1960s and 1990s.
He was considered as the best dancer of that era. In the year 1959, he started his film career with a double role in director V. Shantaram’s film Navrang.
For nearly five years, Jeetendra struggled to get work. In 1964, he got a chance to work in Shantaram’s film Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne. However, it was the film Farz (1967) that served as his stepping stone to success. His vigorous dancing in the films won him the epithet; “Jumping Jack of Hindi Film industry.”
Did you know Jeetendra and dream girl Hema Malini were supposed to get married, but everything changed overnight. Hema Malini’s pairing with Jeetendra was liked by the audience. When Hema appeared in films, Jeetendra was already a superstar and every girl was eager to work with him.
During that period, the pair of Dharmendra and Hema Malini gave many hit films, after which Jeetendra thought that if he married Hema, he too will become successful like Dharmendra. Birthday boy Jeetendra tasked his mother Krishna Kapoor to convince Hema’s mother Jaya Chakravarthy for the marriage but Jaya dumped the decision on Hema.
Not only this, both families also met in Madras. The marriage was about to get fixed but Jeetendra wanted to get married soon after the engagement. He feared that Hema might change her mind for marriage.
Jeetendra was also dating Shobha Kapoor at that time.
At the same time, it is believed that Hema got cold feet and said no to marriage at the last minute. Later Hema married Dharmendra in 1974 and Jeetendra also tied the knot with Shobha in the same year.
