1950s: Early career and breakthrough

Raaj Kumar began his career with Rangeeli in 1952 and followed it with Anmol Sahar (1952), Aabshar (1953), Ghamand (1955), most of which sank without a trace. He got his breakthrough in 1957 with Mehboob Khan's epic drama film Mother India. The film emerged an All Time Blockbuster at the box office and also the most successful film of the 1950s.^[7] The huge success of Mother India was followed by another blockbuster in 1959 with S. S. Vasan's social drama Paigham which had Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala in the lead.^[8] Kumar received praise for his performance of a caring elder brother and got a nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor category.^[9]

1960s: Rise to prominence

Kumar began the new decade with Kishore Sahu's romantic drama Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai.^[10] The film proved to be a box office hit with one of its song "Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh" sung by Lata Mangeshkar becoming a chartbuster.^[11] In 1961, he appeared alongside Rajendra Kumar and Asha Parekh in Gharana.^[12] A remake of Telugu blockbuster Shanthi Nivasam, the film proved to be equally successful in Hindi and emerged a superhit at the box office.^[13] After an absence lasting a year, he reunited with Rajendra Kumar and Meena Kumari for C. V. Sridhar's romantic drama Dil Ek Mandir.^[14] It opened to highly positive response from audience and went on to become a superhit with Kumar receiving Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film.^[15] His other major release of the year, Phool Bane Angaare also did reasonably well at the box office.^[16] In 1964, he once again worked with Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayanthimala in Ramanand Sagar's second directional venture Zindagi.^[17] The film opened to positive response and added one more box office hit in his kitty.^[18]

After many years of doing supporting roles, Raaj Kumar became a saleable hero in 1965 with Yash Chopra's ensemble masala film Waqt and Ram Maheshwari's romantic drama Kaajal.^[19][20] Both the films opened to thunderous response from audience and went on to become blockbusters.^[21] For portraying a sophisticated thief in Waqt, Kumar won massive acclaim and his second Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.^[22] His performance in Kaajal was also appreciated and he received his first and only nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Actor category for the film.^[23] Kumar's other notable release of the year was Phani Majumdar's drama film Oonche Log co-starring Ashok Kumar and Feroz Khan.^[24] The film opened to immensely positive reviews from critics, eventually winning National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film in Hindi and emerging a hit at the box office.^[25] After having no release in 1966, the following year, he reunited with makers of Waqt for the suspense thriller Hamraaz.^[26] The film proved to be a major critical and commercial success, eventually emerging a superhit and winning National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.^[27][28] One of its song, "Neele Gagan Ke Tale", sung by Mahendra Kapoor and filmed on Kumar and Vimi proved to be an instant hit and won Kapoor his second Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer.^[29] He also reunited with C. V. Sridhar (the director of Dil Ek Mandir) for the multi-starrer social drama Nai Roshni, but contrary to expectations, it flopped critically and commercially.

He concluded the decade with two biggies - Mere Huzoor and Neel Kamal.^[30][31] While the former alongside Jeetendra and Mala Sinha didnt do that well, the latter co-starring Manoj Kumar and Waheeda Rehman was a blockbuster and one of the top 5 highest grossing films of 1968.^[32] For portraying a soul longing for his lost love in Neel Kamal, Kumar received his fifth and final nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor category.^[33]

1970s: Continued success and career slump

The early 70s saw Kumar appearing in some of his most iconic films. His only release of 1970 was Chetan Anand's romantic musical Heer Raanjha opposite Priya Rajvansh.^[34] It opened to highly positive reviews from critics and emerged a box office hit.^[35] The soundtrack of Heer Raanjha composed by Madan Mohan was a chartbuster with a Mohammed Rafi solo - "Yeh Duniya, Yeh Mehfil Mere Kaam Ki Nahin" becoming a rage among the masses.^[35] The success of Heer Raanjha was followed by Lal Patthar and Maryada in 1971.^[36][37] While, Lal Patthar in which he got paired with Hema Malini was an average fare, Maryada opposite Mala Sinha and co-starring Rajesh Khanna proved to be a superhit.^[38] In 1972, Kumar appeared in Kamal Amrohi's magnum opus Pakeezah which also had Meena Kumari (in her final film appearance) and Ashok Kumar in the lead.^[39] Despite receiving polarizing reviews and being a slow starter, it went on to become a blockbuster at the box office and gained cult status in later years.^[40] Pakeezah also emerged as one of the best selling Bollywood albums of 1970s.^[41]

Post-1972, Kumar saw a decline in his career with a string of flops in Chetan Anand's war drama Hindustan Ki Kasam (1973), Raj Tilak's crime thriller 36 Ghante (1974) and Brij's action comedy Ek Se Badhkar Ek (1976).^[42] Despite the setback, Kumar ended the decade with a hit in another of Ram Maheshwari's film Karmayogi (1978).^[43]

1980s and 1990s: Comeback and later career

Kumar began the new decade with a critical and commercial failure in Chambal Ki Kasam, but returned to success in 1981 with Esmayeel Shroff's crime thriller Bulundi.^[44] The film proved to be a suprise hit at the box office and received positive response from critics.^[45] The same year, he also appeared in Chetan Anand's reincarnation drama Kudrat alongside Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, Hema Malini and Priya Rajvansh.^[46] Despite having blockbuster music and a huge star cast, Kudrat flopped commercially.^[47][48] In 1982, he reunited with Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra for Sultan Ahmed's successful actioner Dharam Kanta.^[49] This was followed by another series of commercial duds in Ek Nai Paheli (1984), Sharara (1984), Itihaas (1987), Muqaddar Ka Faisla (1987), Mohabbat Ke Dushman (1988), Saazish (1988) and Mahaveera (1988).^[50] During this phase, he saw hits in Rajkumar Kohli's Raaj Tilak (1984) and Mehul Kumar's Marte Dam Tak (1987).^[51]

In 1989, he reunited with Mehul Kumar and Esmayeel Shroff for the actioners Jungbaaz and Suryaa: An Awakening, respectively.^[52][53] Jungbaaz co-starring Govinda did moderately well, but Suryaa alongside Vinod Khanna emerged a superhit, thus ending Kumar's dry run at the box office.^[54] He began the next decade with another of Esmayeel Shroff's film, the crime thriller Police Public.^[55] An adaptation of Malayalam blockbuster Oru CBI Diary Kurippu (1988), it was a successful venture in Hindi as well.^[56] In 1991, Kumar reunited with his Paigham co-star Dilip Kumar after 32 years for Subhash Ghai's action drama film Saudagar.^[57] The film emerged a box office superhit and also proved to be the highest earner of 1991.^[58]

After delivering an average hit with K. C. Bokadia's Police Aur Mujrim in 1992, Kumar starred alongside Nana Patekar in Mehul Kumar's magnum opus, the patriotic action drama Tirangaa (1993).^[59] Tirangaa opened to bumper response all over the nation and emerged a blockbuster at the box office.^[60] It also proved to be the last box office success of Kumar as his later films like Betaaj Badshah in 1994, Jawab and God and Gun (which was also his final film appearance) in 1995 were critical and commercial failures.^[61]