This review is for you Mazhar, my Dear friend upon whose request I have written this review. Thanx for your encoragements and having faith in me todo justice to this great legend Dilip Kumar.
Dilip Kumar is a legend who needs no introduction but nevertheless it is for the benefit of those who are not aware of this legend.
Intro - Muhammad Yusuf Khan, or Dilip Kumar was born on December 11, 1922 in Peshawar, now in Pakistan, in a Pathan family of twelve children. His family shifted to Mumbai in 1930s and in the early 1940s Yusuf Khan moved to Pune, there he started off, with his canteen business and he also dealt in supplying of dry fruits. He was spotted by Devika Rani, the wife of the founder of Bombay Talkies, Himanshu Rai. She helped his entry into the Bollywood film industry and gave him the name of Dilip Kumar.
What attracts others to him – His looks, charm, good nature, manner of speech, helpfulness, humbleness and intelligence.
In my school - I had an oppurtunity of seeing Dilip Kumar and Saira Bano , when they attended a function in my school. He was sitting bang opposite me with all his good looks and he gave me such a sweet smile, hey I still remember it. What atrracts most is his smile, which reaches to his eyes. Saira Bano was though a little haughty, but he was very congenial and interacted very nicely with all the students.
First film - His first film Jwar Bhata, released in 1944 went unnoticed. In 1947, his film Jugnu, was his first major hit.. In 1949, his film Andaz, became a huge success and a new star was born on the horizon of Indian cinema.
Tragedy King - His playing of tragic roles in popular films such as Deedar, Amar , Devdas and Madhumati earned him the title of "tragedy king". It is also said that these films took a heavy toll on him and he had to resort to Psychological Counselling but nevertheless he excelled in playing those roles.
Undisputed King - In the sixties with almost all of his Bollywood movies being major hit, it made him undisputed king of Bollywood. Though new coming actors continuously kept challenging him for the top spot he was never actually threatened at all. He retired too when he was at top.
His Marriage And Lovelife - It was rumoured, that he had affairs with most of his female co-stars, so as to bring authencity to the characters played by his co-stars. Anyway who are we to judge him. His most talked about affair is with Madhubala, whose family didn’t allow the affair to develop. She was heartbroken and on rebound married Kishore Kumar. He married Saira Bano when he was 44 yrs and she was half his age. There is an interesting story about their marriage, I don’t know how true it is, or whether it can be found on net. I read it in one of the Urdu magazine, when I was a kid. It seems Dilip used to visit Saira’s home very often, one day Naseem Bano, Saira’s mother told Dilip that Saira wanted to marry actor Rajendra Kumar, but she did not agree to the match and requested him to talk some sense into her. Dilip spoke to Saira, she replied that their affair had become very famous and no one else would agree to marry her, suddenly Saira asked Dilip whether he will marry her. This led to their tying the knot. Their marriage was predicted to doom right from start, but inspite of all odds, their marriage has still survived. He had married Asma but later divorced her after being pressurized by everyone to do so.
Mughal-e-Azam - His most successful film was Mughal-e-Azam, where he played the role of Prince Jehangir or more commonly known as Salim, son of Emperor Akbar. This film is memorable in many ways, it was one of the costliest film produced at that time. It took ten years for completion. The famous song in Sheesh Mahal, had a very costly set built. Mughal-e-Azam ranks as the second highest grossing film in Hindi film history. His role is still remembered today and if you ask any one belonging to older generation, they will sure tell you so. My own Dad saw it more than 50 times.
His Career - The Tragedy King not only portrayed successful tragic roles but also performed comic roles with liveliness in Leader, Ram aur Shyam. His film Naya Daur was also a very hit film and the songs of this film are among the ones which I like. His film Andaz had a love triangle theme, he was one angle and the other two were Nargis and Raj kapoor. He played double role in Ram and Shyam, which led to spate of films having double role. He also played triple role in Bairaag, a father and two sons. Devdas is another hit film, which helped him reach stardom. His role in Vidhata, that of a grandfather, who could do anything for his orphaned grandson, or that of an editor in Mashaal, who reformed a youngman who had gone astray. In Shakti, he was trying to reform his son. In Saudagar, he was pitted against another brilliant actor Raj Kumar and there too he shone brilliantly, he played the character of a person , who wanted to end the bloodshed between two families, who were friends turned to foes. In Karma, he played a role of jailor, who took help of three prisoners to avenge and get rid of terrorists. He also produced several films, the most famous being Ganga Jamuna, which also starred his brother Nasir(they acted in several films together). He recently produced a Bhojpuri film.
He had the art of creating drama in every scene, yet he never let the drama turn into melodrama. He always controlled the extent to which the role should be stretched. He had the ability to emote well, say without uttering a single word.
A Great Humanitarian - Dilip Kumar was a great humanitarian as well and has worked for the poor and helped overcome the cultural and communal gaps between India and Pakistan. For those efforts of his, he had been awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz in 1998, the highest civilian award by Govt of Pakistan.
He was the Honorary Sherriff of Mumbai in 1980 and led a successful year while in office. He was nominated to Rajya Sabha, in 2000, where he served a full term with responsibly and rationally throughout. He has always raised his voice on social issues and was always forefront when needed for some worthy cause.
Naushad Saab On Dilip Kumar - In the words of Naushad Saab( a very good friend of his), the renowned Music Director, “Yusuf Saab is a fountain of hope, care and love, a man of great virtue, patient, subdued, intelligent, with a great sense of humour, he knows exactly when to speak, how much to speak and what to speak. This is one of the secrets of his success in personal life.
Some of His Well known Movies - Saudagar, Izzatdaar, Kanoon Apna Apna, Karma, Dharam Adhikari, Mashaal, Vidhaata, Kranti, Bairaag, Dastaan, Koshish, Gopi, Aadmi, Sunghursh, Ram Aur Shyam, Leader, Gunga Jumna, Mughal-E-Azam, Kohinoor, Madhumati, Naya Daur, Azaad, Devdas, Aan, Hulchul, Arzoo, Babul, Jogan, Andaz, Shabnam, Nadiya Ke Paar, Shaheed, Jugnu
Continued in comment section....