King of tragedy' Dilip Kumar, whose career spans over six decades with memorable films like "Mughal-e-Azam", "Ganga Jamuna", "Devdas" and "Madhumati", "Jogan", is called the first superstar of film industry.
He would be one of the longest living legends associated with the world of cinema perhaps anywhere in the world.
Dilip Kumar was among the top actors of the Hindi film industry during 1950s and 60s. His fans gave him the title of 'Tragedy King' for his perfection in death and tragic scenes.
Dilip Kumar was born as Muhammad Yusuf Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan on December 11, 1922 in a family of twelve children. The actor's original name is Muhammad Yousuf Khan which he later changed to Dilip Kumar after entering the Hindi film industry.
Dilip Kumar was titled as the ultimate method actor" by Satyajit Ray, made his debut with Jwar Bhata (1944).
This undisputed king of Bollywood' starred in films of a variety of genres such as the romantic Andaz (1949), the swashbuckling Aan (1952), the dramatic Devdas (1955), the comical Azaad (1955), the historical Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and the social Ganga Jamuna (1961). Dilip Kumar's dramatic dialogue delivery and mannerism has set standards for generations to follow.
Such was his charisma that it is said that at the peak of his career, producers would line up at Dilip Kumar's house with signing amounts. The actor being very choosy would turn them down, but they would still leave the money behind, hoping he would say yes.
For Dilipsaab's contribution to Hindi film industry, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan award in 1991 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994. He was the first person to win a Filmfare Best Actor Award and has since then won the award in the same category for 8 times. Besides this, in 1998, Dilip Kumar was awarded the Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian award conferred by the government of Pakistan.
Closet secrets
Dilip Kumar's personal life is a true reflection of his Bollywood image-Tragedy King'. According to sources, he lost his heart for the first time to actress Kamini Kaushal. Their romance started on the set of 'Shaheed'(1948) and soon they were planning to get married but Kamini's brother who was in the Army played the role of villain in their love story. One day, he threatened Dilip to break all his connections with Kamini by showing a pistol to him. It was also not possible for Kamini to rise against her family as she was already married to her late sister's husband, Mr. Sood.
After the break-up with Kamini Kaushal, Dilip found love in the arms of the most beautiful and desirable lady Madhubala, daughter of Attaulah Khan. They both had almost made up their mind to devote their whole life to each other when destiny conspired against them.
The main reason for their breakup was a controversial court case filed by director B.R Chopra against her on refusal of doing outdoor shootings for the signed film 'Naya Daur' in which Dilip testified against her. It is said that it was her father who played a tricky role behind the curtain to separate these two love birds because of his possessiveness towards his daughter as she was the only breadwinner for his family. After this incident, Madhubala was so distressed that she married actor-cum-singer Kishore Kumar in 1960 at the age of 27 years to show her anger towards Dilip Kumar but the fact was that she loved Dilip till the last breath of her life. Dilip was her true love.
Finally, Dilip Kumar married much younger actress Saira Banu. This marriage created a sensation due to the huge age difference between them. But till now Saira Banu and Dilip Kumar marriage is going steadily.
Another sensation broke loose when rumors about Dilip Kumar's second marriage started doing the rounds. It was reported that Dilip married Asma in 1980. Tensions started brewing between Saira Banu and Dilip Kumar.
However, his second marriage broke up as soon as he realised that Asma was cheating on him by disclosing all his secrets to the press along with her former husband.
As long as the world of cinema is alive, Dilip Kumar's name would be taken with reverence. Wish this living legend of Bollywood a very happy and healthy birthday.
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