Dilip Kumar: The original Badshah of Bollywood

Nonika Singh

Much before superstars like Rajesh Khanna and Big B rode to success, lived this super-duper star. The original Badshah of Bollywood, he lorded over the silver screen and people’s hearts like few can. Dilip Kumar, aka Mohammed Yusuf Khan, might have fallen silent but his dialogues live forever. Heralded as the ultimate method actor by Satyajit Ray, here was an actor whose acting prowess was sworn by millions, and generations of actors have tried to emulate his inimitable style. Dilip learnt the first lesson in acting from none other than Ashok Kumar, who told him, “Acting is about not acting.” Early on he realised that if he had to stand out, he had to imbibe a bit of his personality in his acting. So he gave exhibitionism a miss and learnt to deliver dialogues softly with an even cadence and sought inspiration from real-life experiences.

Edit: Goodbye, Dilip Kumar

Some of his dialogues like “Kaun kambakth hai jo bardasht karne ke liye peeta hai. Main toh peeta hoon ke bas saans le sakoon” in Devdas are etched in the memory of cinephiles. His portrayal of the doomed lover became a reference point for actors for all times to come. The scene in Mughal-e-Azam in which he caresses Madhubala with a feather is deemed to be the most sensuous in cinematic history. He was not merely an undisputed role model in acting but also in the department of adulation. Shah Rukh Khan is believed to have said, “I want more fans than Dilip Sahib for he was my parents’ favourite actor.” Not just his but yours, mine and everyone’s parents or grandparents, remotely connected to Hindi cinema, have grown up idolising the great actor. Never mind that his last film Qila came in 1998, his hold over people’s imagination did not lessen even by an iota. Laurels came easily. If the Government of India honoured him with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994, he received the highest civilian honor Nishan-e-Imtiaz in 1998 from Pakistan, where he was revered like a god.

If his stellar performances in movies such as Andaz, Aan, Devdas, Azaad and the historical Mughal-e-Azam and the social Ganga Jumna earned him a name in the hall of fame, his refusal to act in several famed movies such as Pyaasa and Sangam stirred people’s curiosity as much. He didn’t want to be a part of Mother India for he didn’t like the thought of playing the son of Nargis, who played his romantic interest in movies such as Mela and Babul. Of course, he rubbished rumours of his supposed rivalry between another great, the showman Raj Kapoor. Raj’s chance remark, “You are so handsome, you should be an actor” might have subconsciously set him on the path of acting.

But his first acting assignment in Jwar Bhata and his screen name came from Devika Rani. His debut performance may not have set the cash registers ringing but he discovered his Midas touch with Jugnu and delivered one hit after another. With a career spanning six decades, he ruled the box office and the hearts of his leading ladies. His love affairs with Kamini Kaushal and Madhubala set the grapevine abuzz. But it was for the real love of his life, his wife Saira Banu, that he said, “Who can be luckier than me?”

In his autobiography Dilip Kumar: The Substance and the Shadow, his romance with Saira unfurls like a fairytale, his picture with her that went viral a couple of years ago captured tenderness and love at its best. But then the man who was an epitome of dignity and quietude could only bring out the best in others, including his co-actors, about whom he spoke rather fondly.

For times to come, he will be remembered as just that — an actor extraordinaire. Sue Mengers said: “Stars are rare creatures, not everyone can be one.” He was the brightest of them all, and will be a beacon for all times to come.