This actor 'numbered' his girlfriends, feared gold-diggers, died lonely without wife or home, had failed relationships with Shabana Azmi and..., his name is..

Sanjeev Kumar, one of the most iconic actors of the Hindi film industry, was an outsider before he made it big in Bollywood. With a series of hit films, including Khilona, Aandhi, Mausam, Namkeen, Koshish, Anamika, Sanjeev Kumar eventually became as popular as his contemporaries like Dilip Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, and Shatrughan Sinha. However, despite the major highs in his professional life, Sanjeev Kumar faced immense struggle when it came to his personal life. 

Why did Sanjeev Kumar 'number his girlfriends'? 

Sanjeev Kumar was a popular figure among women and did not shy away from showing it off. Once, in an interview with Filmfare, Anju Mahendroo, who was Sanjeev Kumar's close friend revealed that the actor used to number his girlfriend. "Whenever he was seeing a girl, he’d share it with me. We had numbered his girlfriends 1, 2, 3… He’d call up and say, ‘Number 3 called me up today and number 9 reacted in this manner'," she said. 

Sanjeev Kumar's failed relationships with Hema Malini, Sulakshana Pandit, and Shabana Azmi 

Sanjeev Kumar, in his short life, was linked to many of his actresses, including Saira Banu, Hema Malini, Jayshree T, Shabana Azmi, and Sulakshana Pandit. His love story with Hema Malini even reached the marriage stage; however, Sanjeev Kumar's condition for her to stop working after marriage ended their relationship. As per the book, An Actor's Actor, "The cultural difference did not pose a hurdle, but Hema Malini’s film career became a bone of contention." 

Sulakshana Pandit was also madly in love with Sanjeev Kumar, but he turned her down as he was in love with Hema Malini. The rejection hurt the actress so much that she never got married. Sanjeev Kumar was also in love with Shabana Azmi; however, due to religious differences, they never pursued their relationship. In an interview in 1979, he said, "I knew Shabana for a longer period than I had known any other girl in films. What she felt for me that time must’ve been mere puppy love, but it could have culminated in an alliance with me if my mother had not put her foot firmly down. My mother, tolerant in other respects, was adamant about her refusal to accept a Muslim bahu."

Sanjeev Kumar feared women around him were gold diggers, died at just 47 without a wife or a home 

Sanjeev Kumar never really trusted the women around him and feared that they were gold diggers. Anju Mahendroo once revealed that he became wary of women. She said, "I don’t know whether he kept falling in love, or women kept falling in love [with] him. But there were lots and lots of women around him all the time. He was charming, and he had a wonderful smile. They tried wooing him by sending him dabbas. Some women were genuinely in love with him. But he believed they were after his wealth, which was so sad because at the end of the day, he had neither a home nor a wife."

Anju Mahendroo added, "He had stopped going out to prevent himself from eating and drinking. He was aware that premature death ran in his family, what with an inherited congenital heart condition. He’d keep saying that in his family, the men didn’t live beyond 50."

Sanjeev Kumar died after suffering a heart attack in 1985 at the age of 47. He never owned a home, as the property he bought was embroiled in legal controversy till his death.