Journalism of Courage
Legendary actor Dilip Kumar, who turns 93 today (December 11), will have a quiet birthday celebration as a mark of solidarity towards the victims of the Chennai deluge. "We will have a quiet birthday this year with family
only. He is saddened by the tragedy in Chennai. It's a big tragedy and we don't think it is right to celebrate anything," Kumar's wife Saira Bano told PTI.
Even otherwise, Saira is not in favour of having a bash
on the thespian's birthday, as she feels that whenever his special day is celebrated, the veteran actor falls sick. "I think whenever we celebrate his birthday, he falls sick. I feel there is an evil eye, as soon after after the celebrations he has health issues," she said.
Some of his most memorable performances include ‘Devdas’, ‘Andaz’, ‘Kranti’ and 'Mughal-e-Azam' among others. Take a look at his life in pics. (Express archive photo)
Veteran actor Dilip Kumar, who was admitted to Lilavati Hospital following a heart attack in September last year plans to celebrate his 91st birthday with friends and family. Dilip Kumar's family member shared a picture with his fans from the hospital. (Photo: Twitter)
Dilip Kumar was born as Muhammad Yousuf Khan in the Qissa Khawani Bazaar area of Peshawar, in what is now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to a Pashtun family of 12 children. His father, Lala Ghulam Sarwar, was a fruit merchant, who owned orchards in Peshawar and Deolali.
Dilip Kumar schooled at the prestigious Barnes school in Deolali near Nasik. In the late 1930s Dilip Kumar's family shifted to Mumbai. However, by 1940, Dilip Kumar left home and relocated to Pune where he worked as a canteen owner and a dry fruit supplier.
In 1943, Dilip Kumar was spotted in Aundh military canteen Pune by Bombay Talkies owners, actress Devika Rani and her husband Himanshu Rai. They cast him in a lead role in their film, Jwar Bhata (1944), which marked his Bollywood debut. It was Hindi author Bhagwati Charan Varma who then gave Yusuf Khan his screen name - Dilip Kumar.
Dilip Kumar was romantically involved with actress Madhubala. The duo met on the sets of ‘Tarana’. They later worked in ‘Sangdil’, ‘Amar’ and ‘Mughal-e-Azam’. It is believed they shared a nine-year-long relationship and had even gotten engaged. However, Madhubala’s father, Ataullah Khan was against the couple marrying. Hence the two parted ways.
In 1966, Dilip married Saira Banu, 22, who was two decades younger than him. In 1980, he married for a second time to Asma but the marriage ended soon after.
Coming back to his professional life, though Dilip Kumar's debut film, Jwar Bhata went unnoticed, his 1947 film Jugnu in which he appeared along with Noor Jehan went on to become his first major hit at the Box office. It was followed by his next hit Shaheed (1948).
In 1949, he was seen in a love triange Andaz along with Raj Kapoor and Nagris. In the 1950s Dilip Kumar went on to take more tragic roles in films like Jogan (1950), Deedar (1951), Daag (1952), Devdas (1955), Yahudi (1958) and Madhumati (1958). It was these films that earned him the title of - 'The Tragedy King'.
In 1952, Dilip Kumar attempted to shed his "tragedy king" image and took up light hearted roles such as Aan (1952), his first film in technicolour. Azaad (1955), Naya Daur (1957) and Kohinoor (1960) were some of the other films, which saw him in lighter roles.
In 1960, Dilip Kumar reprised the role of Prince Salim in K Asif's big-budget historical film Mughal-e-Azam, which was the second highest grossing film in Hindi film history till 2008.
In 1961, Dilip Kumar produced and worked in his only film, Ganga Jamuna along with his brother Nasir Khan. In the following year, he was offered the role of ‘Sherif Ali’ in British director David Lean’s film Lawrence of Arabia, however, Dilip Kumar declined to do the role. In this file photo Dilip Kumar with his sister Sayeeda and Vyjayanthimala on the sets of Ganga Jamuna. (EXpress Archive)
His next film Leader (1964) bombed at the Box Office. In his next film, Ram Aur Shyam, Dilip Kumar played a double role of twins separated at birth, which became a major hit.
In the 1970s, Dilip Kumar's career suffered a setback with films like c (1972) and Bairaag (1976), the latter in which he played triple roles failing at the box office.
In 1970, he starred alongside his wife, Saira Banu in Gopi (1970), Bengali film Sagina Mahato (1970) but they failed miserably at the box office. After which, Dilip Kumar took a break from films, 1976 to 1981.
After a five-year hiatus, Dilip Kumar returned to Hindi cinema with multi-starrer Kranti (1981), which also starred Manoj Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Hema Malini and Shatrughan Sinha. The film went on to become the biggest hit of the year.
The following year, Dilip Kumar formed a successful collaboration with Subhash Ghai with Vidhaata (1982) and action film Karma (1986).
Dilip Kumar played the father of Amitabh Bachchan in Ramesh Sippy's Shakti for which he won yet another Filmfare Award for Best Actor.
In 1991, he played the role of Dada Thakur in subhash Ghai's hit film Saudagar with veteran actor Raaj Kumar. This was his third and final film with Subhash Ghai.
Dilip Kumar was later said to make his directorial debut with a film titled Kalinga but the film was eventually shelved.
Seen here greeting Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan at the Meenambakkam airport in Madras (Chennai) on arrival of Badshah Khan. (Express archive photo)
In 1998 he made his final film appearance in 'Qila' where he was again seen in a double role.
In 2001 he was set to appear in a film titled ‘Asar - The Impact’ along with Ajay Devgn. However, this project was also shelved. His films ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ and ‘Naya Daur’ were fully colourised and re-released in 2004 and 2008 respectively. Seen here with his wife Saira.
Few are aware that Dilip Kumar holds the Guinness World Record for winning the maximum number of awards by an Indian actor.
Indian Express CEO Viveck Goenka and Dilip Kumar.
Seen in this picture with wife Saira Banu and megastar Amitabh Bachchan.
