Manoj Kumar, the Indian actor-filmmaker best known for infusing the country with a brand of fervent nationalism through films like “Upkar” and “Purab Aur Paschim,” died April 4 in Mumbai. He was 87. He died of a heart attack caused by cardiogenic shock.

Born Harikrishan Goswami in Abbottabad, Kumar and his family relocated to Delhi after the Partition. He studied at Hindu College, Delhi University, before entering the film industry in the late 1950s.

After early screen roles in “Kaanch Ki Gudiya” (1961), “Hariyali Aur Raasta” (1962), and “Woh Kaun Thi?” (1964), Kumar’s performance as freedom fighter Bhagat Singh in “Shaheed” (1965) established him as a serious dramatic presence. But it was “Upkar” (1967)— a film he directed and starred in, inspired by Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri’s slogan “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” — that cemented his on-screen persona as the face of patriotic cinema.

Nicknamed “Bharat Kumar” (India Kumar) for his commitment to patriotic themes,...