Raaj Kumar was born as Kulbhushan Nath Pandit.
Before he became an actor, he was an IAS Sub-inspector in the Mumbai Police in the late 1940s.
He once went to watch a film at Metro cinema. There, veteran filmmaker Sohrab Modi saw him and offered him a film. He refused the offer.
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 won a Filmfare Award in the Best supporting actor category for his role as a cancer patient in the movie Dil Ek Mandir.
Raaj Kumar and Dilip Kumar shared screen space in the movie Saudagar after 30 years.
8. He was not the first choice for the movie Pakeezah (1972). Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Dharmendra had been considered for the role earlier.
He died of throat cancer at the age of 69 on July 3, 1996.