The film was declared the blockbuster. But the success was short-lived as Kumar Gaurav's later films were huge disappointments at the box office and his son's career declined as soon as it began. Rajendra produced several other films starring his son which did not do well. In 1986 he produced Naam with his son and his son's brother-in-law Sanjay Dutt in leading roles which was a box office success but the success was short-lived. His last attempt to revive his son's career was with the 1993 film Phool where he once again acted alongside his son but this film was also a box office failure.
Rajendra appeared in only a few films after this and his last film appearance was a minor role in Deepa Mehta's critically acclaimed film Earth in 1998.
He died on 12 July 1999 of cancer, 8 days before his 70th birthday. He was known to never have taken medicines in his entire life.
He married Shukla and had a son and two daughters. His son Kumar Gaurav married Namrata Dutt, the daughter of actors Sunil Dutt and Nargis and sister of actor Sanjay Dutt.
Rajendra had acted with Sanjay's parents Sunil Dutt and Nargis in the blockbuster film Mother India (1957) where both Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar played natural sons of Nargis. He had a special relationship with Sunil Dutt, who is quoted as having said that "Even though Rajendra Kumar did not win any award throughout his career, he was one of the most genuine human beings I have ever encountered. When I was struggling with the troubles related to the arrest of my son Sanjay Dutt and my house was repeatedly being searched by means of numerous police raids, Rajendra Kumar was the one who came to my rescue by staying at my house and ensuring that raids were conducted using due procedures, false evidences were not planted in the house and valuables were not stolen".
He was a gentleman to the true sense of the word - very disciplined on the film sets and polite with his co-stars. Meena Kumari, the legendary actress paired with him in a number of films. Although, being a major star at the time, he would modestly address Meena Kumari as Mem Sahab'. Rajendra Kumar lived his life astutely and conserved his resources very well.