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  • The remarkable journey of Dilip Kumar: From selling sandwiches to becoming a Bollywood legend
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The remarkable journey of Dilip Kumar: From selling sandwiches to becoming a Bollywood legend

Updated : Jul 7, 2021, 16:22 IST2508 views

Legendary actor Dilip Kumar left for his heavenly abode this morning, leaving everyone heartbroken and sad. His dashing looks, effortless dialogue delivery and his ability to get into the skin of any character on screen was a joy to watch. His almost six decades-long career comprises unforgettable roles and a phenomenal body of work that will forever be cherished. Born as Mohammed Yusuf Khan to an Awan family, Dilip Kumar grew up in the same neighbourhood as Raj Kapoor. They were childhood friends. In 1940, after a dispute with his father, Dilip left home for Pune. He started up a sandwich stall there at the army club until his contract ended. Post that, he left home to Bombay with Rs 5,000 savings. In Bombay, he joined a film studio where he met actor Ashok Kumar, who is said to have played a significant role in influencing his acting style and introducing him to method acting. That is when Devika Rani requested him to change his name from Yousuf to Dilip Kumar and later cast him in a lead role in the film 'Jwar Bhata' in the year 1944. However, this film did not launch him as a rising star. It went largely unnoticed. Then three years later, 'Jugnu' was his first major box- office hit. After this, he went on to do many hit films like 'Mela', 'Andaz', and 'Deedar'. For the uninitiated, after PC Barua, he was the second actor to play the role of Devdas in the 1955 film. Then the 1950's tagged him as the ‘Tragedy King’ of Bollywood. The only actor who excelled in this form at the time of superstars Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand. Such tragic roles, however, took their toll on his health. On the suggestion of his psychiatrist, the actor decided to do light-hearted roles. Then came hits like 'Aan', 'Azaad' and 'Kohinoor'. In 1960, he played the role of Salim in the historical film 'Mughal-e-Azam', which became a blockbuster, and up until 2008, it was the second highest-grossing film in the history of Bollywood. Not just his sheer brilliance as an actor, his love life was quite the talk of the town in his heydays. Kumar first reportedly fell in love with married actress Kamini Kaushal. He then courted actress Madhubala, but they parted ways as her family opposed their union. In 1966, he married actress Saira Banu, who was 22 years his junior. Since then, she has always been by Dilip Kumar's side. Interestingly, Dilip later revealed that he fell head over heels in love with Saira when he attended her birthday party and was taken aback because she was no longer the young girl he consciously avoided working with because he thought she would look too young to be his heroine. Dilip Kumar collected a number of laurels during his long and glorious career. To mention a few, Kumar was appointed as Sheriff of Mumbai and was also awarded the Padma Bhushan, Dadasaheb Phalke Award and the Padma Vibhushan awards by the Government of India. He made his last film appearance in the movie 'Qila' in 1998. And since the past few years, he had been in and out of hospital owing to his frail health.

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