#Happ92ndBirthday Happy birthday Dilip Kumar. One of Indian cinemas iconic actor, Dilip Kumar turns a year older today. He was born as Muhammad Yousuf Khan. Lets take a trip down the life of the ultimate method actor of Hindi cinema. Born into a Hindko-speaking Peshawari Pashtun family of 12 children, Dilip Kumar was born in Peshawar, now in Pakistan. Around 1940, Dilip Kumar left home for Pune and he was spotted by Devika Rani, and her husband Himanshu Rai (owners of Bombay Talkies) in Aundh military canteens Pune, following which he was cast in his first film Jwar Bhata in 1944. Hindi author Bhagwati Charan Varma gave him the screen name Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar got his breakthrough role with Mehboob Khans Andaz (1949) in which he starred alongside Raj Kapoor and Nargis. He went on to have success in the 1950s with playing tragic roles in films like Jogan (1950), Deedar (1951), Daag (1952), Devdas (1955), Yahudi (1958) and Madhumati (1958). These films established his screen image as the Tragedy King. Seen here with Dilip Kumar and othere is late Amjad Khan. It is believed that Dilip Kumar is a polyglot who speaks a number of languages, including Pashto, Hindko, Urdu, Hindi and English. Dilip Kumar was the first actor to win the Filmfare Best Actor Award for Daag and went onto win it again for Devdas. In an attempt to shed his tragedy king image, Dilip Kumar took up his psychiatrists suggestion that he take on lighthearted roles such as Aan (1952), his first film in technicolour in which he played a swashbuckling peasant. He had further success with lighter roles in Azaad (1955), Naya Daur (1957) and Kohinoor (1960) which won him the Filmfare Best Actor Award once again. In 1960 he portrayed Prince Salim in K. Asifs big-budget historical film Mughal-e-Azam. In 60s Dilip Kumar had become so popular that in 1962 British director David Lean offered him the role of Sherif Ali in his film Lawrence of Arabia (1962), but Dilip Kumar declined to perform in the movie. The role eventually went to Omar Sharif, the Egyptian actor. In th era of 60s, Dilip Kumar also dabbled into production. He produced and starred in Ganga Jamuna in which he and his brother Nasir Khan played the title roles. Talking about Dilip Kumars love life, the actor reportedly fell in love for the first time with renowned actress Kamini Kaushal. The actors came close to each other while shooting for Shaheed(1948). But Kaminis brother became a wall between the two. Then Bollywood starlet Saira Bano entered his life who was too pleased to marry the prince of her dreams 22 years elder to her. But destiny had its other ways when Dilip Kumar fell in love with a woman called Asma of Pakistani origin. The two tied the knot in 1982 without Dilip Kumar divorcing first wife Saira Bano. But the sizzling diva Saira Bano won him back as Dilip Kumar divorced Asma within two years of their marriage. Since then the romantic couple has had a quite rock solid marriage. Few are aware that Dilip Kumar holds the Guinness World Record for winning the maximum number of awards by an Indian actor. One reason for Dilip Kumar s phenomenal popularity from 1947 to 1970 was the fact that his intense emotionalism provided filmgoers with a cinematic correspondece to the intense personalities of such national leaders as Gandhi and Nehru. During escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, he had agreed to accept an award from Pakistan. Then Dilip Kumar actually wrote to the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, for protection. The threat has now subsided with improved relations between India and Pakistan. Dilip Kumar was the most successful actor of the 40s and 50s and had great success as the legend of Bollywood Amitabh Bachchan in the 70s and 80s. Uday Kumar , Vaaman Kumar and Dilip Kumar - were the three options before Devika Rani to give a screen name to Yusuf Khan. Finally she chose Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar, during his heydey, was paid a visit by every producer in town, with bundles of cash in tow. The thespian would frankly warn them against leaving these signing amounts - ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 11 lakh! Dilip Kumar did the maximum number of films with Nargis (7) and Vyjayanthimala (7). His pairing with both these actresses was very popular. Top heroines with whom Dilip Kumar never acted include Suraiya. Suraiya was then a bigger star than Dilip and they were paired in a film called Jungleee. However, during the shooting, Suraiya was angry as she felt that Yousuf saab had misbehaved with her! In 1991, the Government of India honoured Dilip Kumar with the Padma Bhushan and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994. Dilip Kumar refused many films during his career and most of the ones he rejected went on to become box-office bonanzas. Dilip Kumar was offered the role of Birju in his favourite director Mehboob Khans Mother India. But he refused saying he did not wish to play Nargis son on screen.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 10:25:31 +0000
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