Remembering Dilip Kumar

By Reshma

BCJ

Last week, Veteran actor Dilip Kumar passed away at the age of 98 in Mumbai. A legend in acting, he spoke mostly with his silence and also was known for his loud dialogues that made an impact. He gathered the most number of Filmfare awards, eight times. His acting career spanned over five decades of impeccable performances. The man who introduced method acting into the Hindi film industry is no more.

Dilip Kumar is survived by his wife, Saira Banu, a popular leading lady in Bollywood in the 1960s and 1970s. Ram Nath Kovind, Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi conveyed their condolences through various social media platforms. The veteran actor was hospitalised after a similar complaint on June 6. He was later readmitted to Hinduja hospital in the Intensive Care Unit.

He has acted in over 65 films in his career and is known for his iconic roles in movies like 'Devdas '(1955), 'Naya Daur' (1957), 'Mughal-e-Azam' (1960), 'Ganga Jamuna' (1961), 'Kranti' (1981), and 'Karma' (1986). He was last seen in 'Qila' in 1998. Born Mohammed Yusuf Khan in 1922 in Peshawar, now in Pakistan, he was known by the screen name of Dilip Kumar once he joined Bollywood in the 1940s. His selections were bold and always had a statement. He believed that being a successful actor had its responsibilities and always chose characters that commented on social issues in society. Dilip Kumar has an excellent command of English and Urdu. He was an influencer at his prime age and had a huge fan base both from the industry and from outside. He used to receive poems of famous poets with great interest and love. He hand-wrote various ghazals. His public gatherings were crowded with thousands of people thronging just to see and listen to him. Dilip Kumar had strong political stands and was at the forefront in various campaigns. His campaigns were mostly centred at Meerut. Meerut was represented by General Shah Nawaz Khan, an INA soldier and an associate of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. He and Dilip Kumar were great friends. General Khan won four Lok Sabha elections from Meerut and I remember the rallies in the last two campaigns, where Dilip Kumar would address the people and ask for their votes. It was a treat to listen to his political speeches.

His films like Paigham(1959) upheld strong Nehruvian politics when the Congress party itself had abandoned. He echoed his voice strongly even in Jogan. It was a film on an ascetic woman, played by Nargis, but Dilip Kumar was outstanding in it, expressing his emotions through his eyes.

In 1964, Dilip Kumar portrayed the role of a political leader who stood against religion that broke the country into two. An act that is still strong and commendable. All the politically strong films were released after the partition, he was born in what is now Pakistan and settled in Mumbai. He is the only actor in Bollywood who has inspired various other actors like Rajendra Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and many others. This makes us sure that the days of Dilip Kumar will be remembered in the following decades and keep him alive in our hearts.

Nehru with Dilip Kumar