GG News Bureau
Mumbai, 7th July. The legendary Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar born as Mohammad Yusuf Khan passed away at Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai at around 7.30 am on Wednesday. He was known as the tragedy king in Bollywood as he acted in memorable roles spread across more than several decades. His twitter handle confirmed the news of hiss passing away. He was suffering from prolonged illness and was being treated periodically at the hospital. Dr. Jalil Parkar, the pulmonologist treating the actor confirmed his death to media. He was born on 11 December 1922 in Peshawar, North-West Frontier Province in British India now Pakistan.
His wife near him has expressed deep grief at his death. She had earlier slammed the fake news of his death in the social media few months back. Dilip Kumar was always a trendsetter in the films and played important roles in his bright career.
In a message from twitter handle posted on his behalf by Faisal Farooqui it was stated, “With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of our beloved Dilip Saab, few minutes ago. We are from God and to Him we return. – Faisal Farooqui”.
Dilip Kumar in his early years worked in an Army canteen and went to Mumbai where he met actress Devika Rani who introduced him to the film industry. His first film was Jwar Bhaata in 1944 but his film that brought fame was Jugnu in 1966.
Rahul Gandhi in his message on twitter said, “My heartfelt condolences to the family, friends & fans of Dilip Kumar ji. His extraordinary contribution to Indian cinema will be remembered for generations to come. Actress Khushboo shared her grief and said that he was an institution in himself in the film industry.
Dilip Kumar was one of 12 children. His father was a landlord and fruit merchant who owned orchards in Peshawar and Deolali near Nashik. Mohammad Yusuf Khan was schooled at Barnes School, Deolali, Nashik. He grew up in the same religiously mixed neighbourhood as Raj Kapoor, his childhood friend, and later his colleague in the film industry.
In the latter half of 1940, while still in his teens and after an altercation with his father, Mohammad Yusuf Khan left home for Pune in Maharashtra. With the help of a Parsi café-owner and an elderly Anglo-Indian couple, Kumar met a canteen contractor. He set up a sandwich stall at the army club and when the contract ended, he headed home to Mumbai, having saved Rs. 5000.
In early 1943, anxious to start a venture to help his father with household finances, he met Dr. Masani at Churchgate Station, who asked him to accompany him to Bombay Talkies, in Malad. There he met actress Devika Rani, owner of Bombay Talkies, who asked him to sign up with the company on a salary of Rs. 1250 per month. He also met actor Ashok Kumar, who influenced his acting style by telling him to act “natural,” as well as film producer Sashadhar Mukherjee. Both of these people became close to Kumar over the years. Initially, Kumar helped out in the story-writing and scripting department because of his proficiency in Urdu language. Devika Rani requested him to change his name to Dilip Kumar, and later cast him in a lead role for Jwar Bhata (1944), which marked Kumar’s entry into the Hindi film industry.
Kumar went on to have success in the 1950s playing leading roles in several box office hits such as Jogan (1950), Babul (1950), Hulchul (1951), Deedar (1951), Tarana (1951), Daag (1952), Sangdil (1952), Shikast (1953), Amar (1954), Uran Khatola (1955), Insaniyat (1955) in which he co-starred with Dev Anand, Devdas (1955), Naya Daur (1957), Yahudi (1958), Madhumati (1958) and Paigham (1959).
Kumar briefly suffered from depression due to portraying many tragic roles and on the advice of his psychiatrist, he also took on light-hearted roles. Mehboob Khan’s big-budget 1952 swashbuckling musical Aan featured him in one of his first lighter roles and marked his first film to be shot in technicolor and to have a wide release across Europe with a lavish premiere in London. He had further success with lighter roles as a thief in the comedy Azaad (1955), and as a royal prince in the romantic musical Kohinoor (1960). He worked with actress across the film industry including Amitabh Bacchan, Naseerudin Shah in Shakti and Karma. He has no children.
Comments are closed.