Dilip Kumar

For other uses, see Dileep Kumar (disambiguation).
Dilip Kumar
Kumar in 2011
Born
Muhammad Yusuf Khan

(1922-12-11)11 December 1922
Peshawar, North-West Frontier Province, British India
(present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan)[1]
Died7 July 2021(2021-07-07) (aged 98)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Resting placeJuhu Qabrastan, Mumbai[2]
Nationality
  • British Indian (1922–1947)
  • Indian (1947–2021)
Other names
  • Tragedy King
  • Abhinay Samrat
  • The First Khan
  • Dilip Sahab
Occupations
  • Actor
  • film producer
Years active1944–1998
WorksFull list
Spouses
  • ​
    (m. 1966)​
  • Asma Rehman
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1981; div. 1983)​
Relatives
Awards
Honours
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
3 April 2000 – 2 April 2006
ConstituencyMaharashtra
Signature
Dilip Kumar's signature

Dilip Kumar (born Muhammad Yusuf Khan; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021) was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema,[3] he dominated the Indian cinema from the 50s throughout the 60s, being referred to as Abhinay Samrat (Hindi for "Emperor of Acting"). Kumar holds the record for most wins for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor (eight, which was later equalled by Shah Rukh Khan) and was also the inaugural recipient of the award. He holds the most dominant box-office record for a star (male or female) in Hindi cinema with over 80% box-office successes and several long-standing gross records.

In a career spanning over five decades, Kumar worked in less than 60 films in a variety of roles.[4] He debuted as an actor in the film Jwar Bhata (1944), produced by Bombay Talkies. Following a series of unsuccessful ventures, he had his first box office hit in Jugnu (1947). Kumar found further success with the romantic drama Andaz (1949), the swashbuckling Aan (1952), the social drama Daag (1952), the actioner Insaniyat (1955), the comical Azaad (1955), the romantic social Naya Daur (1957), the noir mystery Madhumati (1958), the social drama Paigham (1959), the action adventure Kohinoor (1960), the epic historical Mughal-E-Azam (1960), the crime drama Gunga Jumna (1961), and the comedy drama Ram Aur Shyam (1967). All three Andaz, Aan and Naya Daur briefly became the highest-grossing Indian films up to that point, a feat later achieved by Mughal-e-Azam, which sustained the record for 15 years.

The 1970s saw Kumar's career take a downturn, marked by three consecutive commercial failures, namely Dastaan (1972), Sagina (1974) and Bairaag (1976). Post-1976, he went on a brief hiatus from film performances and returned with the revolutionary drama Kranti (1981), which was the highest-grossing Indian film of the year.[5] He continued to play leading roles in films such as Vidhaata (1982), Shakti (1982), Karma (1986), and Saudagar (1991). His last on-screen appearance was in the commercially unsuccessful Qila (1998), which saw him in a dual role. Kumar later served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's parliament, from 2000 to 2006.

Kumar's personal life was the subject of much media attention, however, he himself had largely avoided media limelight and endorsements.[6] He was in a long-term relationship with actress and frequent co-star Madhubala that ended after the Naya Daur court case in 1957. He married actress Saira Banu in 1966 and resided in Bandra, a suburb of Mumbai, until his death in 2021. For his contributions to film, the Government of India awarded him with the Padma Bhushan in 1991 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015, the country's third and second-highest civilian awards respectively. He was also awarded India's highest accolade in the field of cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994. In 1998, the Government of Pakistan conferred Kumar with Nishan-e-Imtiaz, their highest civilian decoration, making him the only Indian to have received the honour. The house that Kumar grew up in, located in Peshawar, was declared a national heritage monument in 2014 by the Pakistani government.

  1. ^ Smith, Lewis (26 May 2011). "Twitter chief hints he may have to divulge users' names". The Independent. UK. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  2. ^ "Dilip Kumar laid to rest at Juhu Qabrastan". India Today. 7 July 2021. Archived from the original on 8 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Rewind - Forty Years Of Historic Blockbuster KRANTI, Box Office India, 13 February 2021
  6. ^ Lanba, Urmila (30 June 2019). The Thespian: Life and Films of Dilip Kumar. Vision Books. ISBN 978-93-86268-31-0.