Mumbai: An actor par excellence and a man of words, Muhammad Yusuf Khan better known as Dilip Kumar turned a year older today as he rang his 97th birthday on Wednesday.
Stepping into another year filled with love and prosperity, let us dig into his magnanimous career that is spanned over more than five decades.
Kumar’s real life is no less than his life on celluloid.
Born on December 11, 1922, to parents Ayesha Begum and Lala Ghulam Sarwar Ali Khan, the fruit merchant scion went on to become one of the greatest actors in the Hindi cinema.
The first Khan that the Hindi film industry could cherish was offered a role in Jwar Bhata in 1944. It is said that the first lady of Indian Cinema Devika Rani Chaudhuri discovered Kumar in a military canteen following which she offered him a role in the Amiya Chakravarty directorial.
It was Jugnu in 1947 in which he starred opposite Noor Jahan that went on to become his first major hit at the box office. The following year came his next hits titled Shaheed and Mela.
Kumar made his first breakthrough in the year 1949 with Mehboob Khan’s Andaz where he featured alongside his childhood friend and actor Raj Kapoor and Nargis. And since then there was no looking back.
In 1950s success kissed Kumar’s feet as he went on to play the lead roles in several blockbuster movies such as Jogan, Babul, Deedar, Daag, Insaniyat, Paigham and many others.
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The first actor to win the Filmfare Award, Kumar was honoured with the Best Actor Award for his incredible performance in Daag. The Mughal-E-Azam actor has eight Filmfare Awards under his name. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award was also bestowed upon him in 1994.
The Padma Vibhushan awardee was also honoured with Nishan-e-Imtiaz, the highest civilian honour, by the Government of Pakistan.
Like most of his onscreen avatars, he remained an unrequited lover in real life till he was in his 40s. Kamini Kaushal, reportedly his first love remained unattainable since she was already married. His ties with Madhubala broke off after he extended support to the Chopras in a court case against his Mughal-e-Azam co-star and her father.
In 1966, the Kohinoor actor finally tied the knot with Saira Banu. He was 44, while she was just 22 when they got hitched.
The Tragedy King entered into a second marriage in 1981 with a Hyderabad socialite Asma Sahiba. The marriage ended in 1983.
Speaking of the Asma episode, Saira Banu said: “Men are polygamous by nature, but I had to take a strong stand that I would never tolerate this. He took me aside and admitted he had made a mistake. He asked me to stay by his side, and I did.”
The duo clocked 53 years of togetherness.
On his special day, ETV Bharat wishes the veteran actor another year filled with happiness, love, good health and prosperity.
