Kumar was born into a Punjabi Hindu Brahmin[1] family in Abbottabad, a town in the North-West Frontier Province, British India (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan).

[7] The film emerged a superhit, which was attributed to its watertight screenplay and melodious songs composed by Madan Mohan, such as "Lag Jaa Gale" and "Naina Barse Rimjhim", both solos by Lata Mangeshkar.

[10] It received highly positive responses from critics as well as the then Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri, and was a hit at the box office.

This film was remembered for Khosla's direction, Kumar's performance, and songs written by the lyricist Shakeel Badayuni, including "Raha Gardishon Mein", sung by Mohammed Rafi, and "Lo Aa Gayi Unki Yaad", a solo by Lata Mangeshkar.

[13] He delivered another hit that year in Shakti Samanta's Sawan Ki Ghata, performing opposite Sharmila Tagore.

[15] It opened to critical acclaim and topped the box office chart that year, eventually emerging an All Time Blockbuster.

[26] His rise led to a career decline of many well-established artists, but Kumar and Dharmendra remained unaffected by Rajesh Khanna Mania and kept delivering major commercial successes.

Purab Aur Paschim held the UK record for 23 years, until it was finally broken by Hum Aapke Hain Kaun in 1994.

[33][34] While the first was a box office failure, Pehchan (opposite Babita) proved a commercial success, and Raj Kapoor's Mera Naam Joker (in which he had a supporting role) flopped at the time of release, but gained cult status with the passage of time and the growing visibility of Indian content in world cinema.

[39] It featured the memorable song "Ek Pyar Ka Nagma Hai", a duet by Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh, which was composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and written by Santosh Anand.

[42] In addition to Kumar, the film starred Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman and Moushmi Chatterjee.

[45] In 1975, Kumar reunited with Sohanlal Kanwar for Sanyasi, which opened to excellent audience response, eventually emerging a blockbuster and taking 3rd spot at the box office that year.

[46] For his portrayal of a religious minded young man in the film, Kumar received his fourth and final nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Actor category.

[53] The craze of the film was such that in places like Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana there were shops selling Kranti T shirts, jackets, vests and even underwear.

The year 1981 was a big one for the industry which saw some huge blockbusters like Naseeb, Laawaris, Ek Duuje Ke Liye, Love Story and Meri Aawaz Suno and many other hits, but Kranti stood apart and top of the pile.

[55] After Kranti in 1981, Kumar's career began to decline, and films he starred in such as Kalyug Aur Ramayan (1987), Santosh (1989), Clerk (1989) and Deshwasi (1991), all flopped at the box office.