Bollywood Super Stars...

Bollywood is primarily into entertainment business. Hence it has always looked out for people who can entertain. Talent is useful but not necessary. It relies on actor's screen presence that pulls audience to the theater. Any other talent that actor has is a useful bonus but not a must.

As always this post will be filled with controversial remarks. Read at your own risk. Listed here are the names of the people who actually occupied super star's throne. Here is one thing that has to be understood. Stars are born on ticket windows, super stars are made by trade. No one becomes super star in retrospect. So if the current trade does not call you super star, you are not one. No. of Hit, ATGG, ATBB are not the only determining factor. There are other factors involved such as likeability, ability to pull bad script, audience love outside theater, name value et al...

This is my impression of Bollywood super stars. My purpose is not to give complete information. So if you like someone on this list be sure to google them. If you know something or have experience watching them, please do add them in comment.

K.L. Saigal

Kishore Kumar is my most favorite Bollywood star. He sort of binds my family together because we all love him. He was acknowledged genius and all-rounder and won the award for Bollywood personality of millennium. I can wax poetry on him and his movies and his singing and his eccentricities. Unfortunately this post is not about him but man he considered his guru - Saigal. Padosan has a small ditty sung by Kishore called "Dheerse Jaana Bagiyaan Main" that was originally sung by Saigal. It piqued my interest with the man. And then I came across piece of information that Lata Mangeshkar and Noor Jahan actually wanted to marry the man. You can imagine my reaction to first glimpse of their dream man and the image persisted for some time.

I revised my opinion double fast as the first notes came out of his mouth. That voice was divine. Even in my ignorance, I had picked one of his best. "Street singer" is a very good start to check his vocals. I followed it up with Tansen (awesome), Shahjehan, Zindagi,and Didi. Truth is I watched as many movies as I could. And he was good in all of them and the movies were quite entertaining in their own wholesome way.

"My first sacrilege of the day"... I have watched almost every cinematic adaptation of Devdas in Bollyood but I find Saigal's Devdas as the best. Unlike the other adaptions that focus on the alcoholism, Saigal's Devdas brings out pathos. There is no histrionic involved in this adaptation. The man is simply caught between rigid society that would have hurt his sister's chance of marriage if he eloped (a social reality) and his heart (that want his Paro). It helped the movie was made in the time line nearer to when the story should have been based.


By the time I was done by his filmography I was also rid of my pre-conceived prejudiced notions about what makes male super star. In my mind, Saigal has all the necessary ingredients for someone to reign over Bollywood. Did I tell you about his sweet smile? Oh yes, he has one of the sweetest smile in Bollywood history. That kind of smile will make few more appearances on this list. Watch out for it.

Some of his famous songs are "Diya Jalao", "Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya"," Do Naina Matware", "Babul Mora Naihar Chhooto Jaye". The last one made him a legend.

Ashok Kumar
If K. L. Saigal was the most unlikely man on this list, Ashok Kumar embodies all the qualities of a superstar. He had height, lean body, lovely voice that he ruined by trying to play dying man, looks and acting ability. He was known for his understated style of acting. Even his clothes were more in lines with old Hollywood kind of dressing. He was really stylish on screen.

For all those interested, he is the first insider superstar of Bollywood. His brother-in-law Sashadhar Mukherjee (grandpa to Ayaan and Kajol, father to Joy) brought him to the industry as radio engineer in the place where he worked. Bombay Talkies was studio to reckon with. Helmed by married duo Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani, the studio had several German artiste working for them. Ashok's elevation to stardom was accidental after Mrs Rai decided to elope with her then leading man and had to be brought back. My first sight of Ashok Kumar was as elder brother to Kishore Kumar in "Chalti Ka Naam Gadi" which I later found out was conceived as starring vehicle for brother Anoop Kumar who got completely overshadowed by his "ball of talent" little brother - Kishore Kumar.

It was my sheer luck that I laid my hand on Ashok's autobiography - "Jeevan Naiya". Ever get a chance to read it, please do. Not only is the man frank but he has awesome sense of humor. It will also give you an idea on how old Bollywood functioned. Why it is so close knit and why insiders protect each other. His marriage tale is funny and poignant at the same time. It throws light on the fringe status that Bollywood enjoyed for long time. Or why the people working inside the industry were forced to borrow their relative just so they could have enough people in the industry. "All this with nice witty anecdote"...

Few more movies followed as my interest in him increased. And then I saw Kismet. Ashok Kumar gave first ATGG to the industry in Kismet - a record that was broken by Sholay. In it he plays a con man/ thief who falls in love with crippled singer and decides to turn new leaf not without lot of internal and external struggle. Door Hato duniya walo was an anthem for freedom struggle but on surface it was used as song against Hitler. Oh the irony.This movie made him the first star to play anti-hero on screen. There are multiple such firsts in his career- one including him becoming accidental rapper in rail gaddi song.

His ascent in the industry was helped by hard work and wise choices. He bought Bombay Talkies after World War forced Germans to leave India and produced few movies like "Mahal". One of the reasons, why I am spending so much time on this man is because he made one of the best career decisions in history of Bollywood that Amitabh Bacchchan few decades later said he wanted to emulate.

Ashok Kumar while talking about his career said that he reached a fork of road where he could continue playing lead opposite younger actress till point where audience rejected him for looking really old and move to character roles. Or accept the fact that he had younger brothers in industry and move to parallel roles and ensure longevity. A thing to remember is cosmetic science was still in its infancy and was very expensive. I have yet to come across a movie where he looked iffy opposite any actress. He provided strong support to leading actress in their female oriented movie (Bahu Begum opposite Meena Kumari) and added much required heft to Mala Sinha movies (Gumraah, Dhool Ka Phool).

In his long career, he has played thief, accused murderer, diabolic husband, good man trapped in bad situation, romantic lead, old man who wants to feel young, and guru on love who trained lovelorn Amol Palekar on how to woo girl of his dreams, father with children marrying mother with children, hen pecked husband and partner in crime to Rekha's revolt, misogynist who loves his brothers in famous movie with car. But none of these roles prepared his audience for Vijay Anand's Jewel Thief. Leading man and narcissist supremo Dev Anand had once said "One of the biggest reasons why Jewel thief worked was because no one could believe Ashok Kumar could be such a bad ass cold hearted villain. He just made it all work". Though these are not the exact words, the sentiments are same. Coming from mouth of Dev Anand, the praise weigh worth gold.

Ashok's career is full of many yeses and few no. He was brave star who never shied from doing not so pleasant roles but he never went overboard with villainess. Even at tail end of his career, he saw resurgence in popularity as his 5 minutes recap session in Hum Log over took popularity of the serial. The man had one of the dangerous smiles. Looking at it, you never knew which Ashok Kumar you were getting on the screen. Off screen though he was devoted to many hobbies and his family...

Dilip Kumar

If Ashok Kumar was pioneer of natural acting, Dilip Kumar brought method acting into forefront in Bollywood. I have to make a confession here. Of all the three stars who ruled Bollywood at same time, Dilip Kumar was my least favorite. That is not say I liked Raj Kapoor any better. It did not of course hamper my enjoyment of his movies. It is just that I have issue with people who mumble and Dilip Kumar was great mumbler.

I hate romance as genre and tragedy are not my favorite. And dear god the man loved dying on screen. Or the directors and script writer with blessing of producers loved killing him. His character's eventual death meant it was difficult to get attach to his character and that transferred to his person.

Azad is one of my most favorite Dilip Kumar movies simply because he lives at the end and because it is wonderful funny movie. With C.Ramchandra's lovely music, the man threw away the garb of depression to play light hearted thief. And he was ably supported by lovely young Meena Kumari who was eons away from becoming tragedy queen. The music is glorious with some ever green songs such as "Applam Chapplam", "Radha Na Bole", "Kitna Haseen Hai Mausam" . Kohinoor with even better music with songs like "Madhuban Main Radhika" and "Do Sitaron Ka Zameen Par" simply could not recapture the glory of sheer beauty that is Azad. 1950 and 60 is considered as golden period of Bollywood for good reason. Much of this has to do with music. SD Burman, Shanker Jaikishen, OP Nayyar, C. Ramchandra. The whole period was brilliant.

Dilip's movie journey started with Bombay Talkies "Jwara Bhatta" after he met S. Mukherjee. Devika Rani gave him his first movie which did not do much for his career and that was followed with few more flops. It was his luck that he got chance in Mehboob Khan movie where he played parallel lead as unsympathetic lover in famous Andaaz triangle- 2 corners were played by Bollywood insiders Raj Kapoor and Nargis. It was Dilip Kumar who walked away with accolades and star was born. I have seen the movie and I can see why Raj Kapoor conceived Sangaam and why Dilip Kumar wisely stayed away from temptation of working in it.

Madhumati is my next favorite Dilip Kumar movie. There is very little that can be said against Madhumati. With its moody cinematography, divine songs and lovely Vyjantimala who danced more than walked, the movie is perfect and yet scene that stole my heart is a song where Dilip Kumar's character walks in heavy fog singing "Suhana Safar". This is nearest I have come to love the man.

One of my intense irrational dislike about Dilip Kumar comes from the fact that Shakti was my first Dilip Kumar movie. And as a huge fan of AB, watching his young character getting screwed by his father was not my happy moment. Though the father did try to get the boy out, the dislike remained. It took me some time to wash away the anger.

I have to say something really sacrilegious. I was bored by Mughale-E-Azam, even if it had my favorite actor in it. If you guessed his last name was Kapoor, you are right. I had watched Anarkali along with this one. And Bina Roy's Anarkali dazzled along with gems like "Yeh Zindagi Ussiki Hai", "Aa Ja Aab Toh Aaja", Zindagi Pyar Ki Do Char Ghadi" and "Jaag Dard-E-Ishq Jaag". I was not surprised when the decade's poll picked Anarkali as a winner over MEA. The former had heart that was missing in big budgeted production. This is in no way shade on Madhubala who looked like someone from another world or Dilip Kumar who looked princely. It is just that Anarkali had Bina Roy who looked like a vulnerable women caught in throes of unexpected love and Pradeep Kumar whose sole strength was he could look like Prince.
There are few other Dilip Kumar movies that I have seen and liked. Naya Daur and Ganga Jamuna are lovely movies and I loved them. It is just that I liked his acting more than his movies. His association with B.R.Chopra and Mehboob Khan was fruitful. But the movie where I could let go of my anger with him was Ram aur Shyam. He was cute and funny. I have watched Vidhatha, Kranti, cheered unashamedly when he applies gulaal to his old friend Raaj Kumar in Saudagaar. He has one of the sweetest faces in Bollywood screen and ample talent. And I am glad that he has got chance to enjoy long life.

Raj Kapoor

Prithiviraaj Kapoor is my favorite actor but his son is not. Till I heard about how the father forced his son to work under Kirdar Sharma, all in attempt to get rid of his son's wildness. Kirdar Sharma was known to bring some of the best talent into the industry. Along with Devika Rani, he could be rightly called as star maker. Unfortunately he was also known for his vile temper and could have made SLB cry in sheer envy. Raj Kapoor was engaged as clapper boy / actor when he was caught fiddling with camera. Furious Kirdar who had been mad about Raj Kapoor's penchant for looking in mirror gave a tight slap and rest is RK Films history.

I once watched documentary about R.K. Banner and how it came into existence. On how poor Prithiviraj was trying to get rid of the people who were joining the studio simply because he was scared that they would give him bad name. The word the guys used why they joined was Junoon and I guess for young married RK, the studio was his first and only love. Nargis came close to being second love in his life. I have watched first RK movie Aag. Though by sheer luck it was way after I watched other movies for which I am grateful. Watching this movie is like admitting that ghost of Guru Dutt had entered director Raj and ghost of Dilip Kumar had entered actor Raj. The movie is bad Guru Dutt movie but yet for a new director there are few scenes where I can see seeds of his greatness.

I am not fond of Raj Kapoor as actor but I love his productions. He had style and keen ears for music. I have watched most of the movies that he has directed. I love Awaara the most but when it gets to song, it is Barsaat for me. Surprisingly I loved Raj Kapoor as actor when he was directed by other directors. Anari is my favorite. Hrishikesh Mukherjee had once shared anecdote on how Raj Kapoor had told him not to give up even in face of failure. It was perhaps why he wanted Raj Kapoor for his most famous movie- Anand. I even love "Jis Desh Main Ganga Behati Hain" and "Chori Chori". One thing common about it is these movies have songs to die for- especially "Chori Chori". I can see why Guru Dutt was so frustrated.


Raj Kapoor loved packaging social theme in commercial setup, though his most intimate portrayal "Mera Naam Joker" sees him in mode of pure entertainer. One famous actress once talked on why Raj Kapoor was never known for his acting skills. And her answer was that director in him never left. His eyes his co-stars said always looked at them in form of director. He could never be just actor.

One Raj Kapoor movie that I love is "Kal Aaj Aur Kaal". It is fluffy, fun and has Prithviraaj and flaky Randhir. As poor father and son caught between progressive son and traditional father, this multi-generational movie is rollicking fun. I even like Do Jasoos which is one of the few decent fun movies. Naukari is another one that is quite good.

Raj Kapoor is not an easy person to like. His obsession with female beauty, multiple infidelities means he will always remain controversial figure. And I am not sure I want to like him either. But he was also first director who openly talked about hypocrisy surrounding female widowhood by having Bindu's character ask the question on why they can't re-marry when they can be bedded and for getting Padmini's character remarried to Rishi's character. It was slap in face of traditional India that treated Indian widowhood as untouchability or disease. For that alone I have decided I can respect him as audience.

Dev Anand

It goes without saying Dev Anand is my favorite of trio. I mean he was face to Kishore's golden voice. And he made movies that were vastly entertaining. My first Dev Anand movie is "Nau Do Gyraah". If I had not watched any other movie, I could have loved Dev Anand for this alone. But then I found "Tere Ghar Ke Samne". I forgot all about hating romance genre. Have you watched the songs of this movie? They were picturized by most favorite director Vijay Anand. The actress is Nutan whom I love.

I can get giddy and talk about Dev Anand because most of my 1950 and 60's Bollywood love is because of this guy. It is interesting that he is second person on this list who was given big budget break by Bombay Talkies except this time it was Ashok who owned it. Like Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand loved Ashok Kumar. I got to watch Ziddi late, so in all honesty I missed the whole rush you feel when you know that you are watching star being born. Ziddi was super hit movie with one song sung by you guessed it- Kishore Kumar. In all honesty I like his pairing with Kamini Kaushal more than Suraiyya though his heart belonged to later.

Guru Dutt was his friend from days when both worked in Prabhat. I love Jaal and Baazi, Guru Dutt's initial movies were noir and that is my favorite genre. With Geeta Baali as lead and S.D. Burman as music director along with Guru Dutt's moody treatment, the movies are perfect. My mom pushed me to watch CID. And I am grateful to her. Apart from awesome songs, it has Raj Khosala at his best.

Apart from rom com, Dev Anand worked mostly in thrillers. Kaala Paani is my favorite movie. Bollywood audience know about Chetan Anand and his movie Haqeqaat or for the fact that his movie-"Neecha Nagar" was chosen by Cannes. But what is interesting is he was all set to direct Guide and left it. Vijay Anand who picked up threw away all the shots and reshot everything. He also made sure Waheeda looked divine. Guide is perfect combination of beauty and brains. It makes your eye happy and makes you think. I even enjoyed Jewel Thief. But the one Goldie movie that I real love does not have Dev Anand. It has Shammi Kapoor. One of the many movies that Dev Anand rejected because... I am not sure why.

Dev Anand is paradox. He had business acumen and brains to match and yet some of his decisions were poor like leaving Zanzeer that made some one super star. He was even IPTAA member. And from what little I know about the members, I can definitely say Dev does not fit their bill. Unlike Raj Kapoor who opened RK Films to direct movies, Dev anand opened NavKetan soley to make him star. He had once agreed to the fact that he was vastly inferior to Raj and Dilip when it came to acting. And the sole reason why he walked with hands moving was because he wanted to create a style to distract audience.
There was effervescent quality to the man and he had charming crooked smile and face that looked gullible and smart all at same time. And he looked like Hollywood actor Gregory Peck who was so dishy.

The troika ruled Bollywood for around 15 years. Shammi Kapoor had once talked about how difficult it was to actually break into movies when the three were ruling. And why he developed Yahoo persona just so that people would look at him and how he realized during Andaaz that it was not enough. In my next group of superstars I will talk about remaining 5. Till then cheers...

👏read each and every word and loved it CP..can't wait to read about the next group..

Very nice write up CP. I have only read the Raj Kapoor one as he is my fave. I will read the rest later. Thanks for this

Very informative and detailed read😊