One of the greatest actor in Hindi cinema Muhammad Yusuf Khan better known as Dilip Kumar turned 96 today. “The tragedy King” and “The First Khan” of Bollywood had worked in more than 65 films during the span of six decades.
Dilip Kumar was born on this day in 1922, to Ayesha Begum & Lala Ghulam Sarwar Ali Khan in Peshawar. He grew up in the same locality as Raj Kapoor, who was Kumar’s childhood friend.
Dilip Kumar’s Bollywood Journey:
Dilip Kumar has witnessed almost everything in Bollywood. From originals to remakes to sequels, everything. He even launched new actors in the industry including Aruna Irani and Kader Khan, who made it big in Bollywood.
Kumar entered the Hindi film industry at the age of 22, in 1944, before the independence of India. His debut movie was ‘Jwar Bhata’ but starting three years, were not his successful years. He received recognition with his 1947 released ‘Jugnu’ which was a major hit. It also starred Noor Jahan opposite Dilip Kumar.
He has been in the industry for six decades and gave some memorable classic movies to the nation. His character of a rebel young prince in ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ is still appreciated. It was a tragic romantic love story.
Lesser known Facts about Dilip Kumar:
- In the 1950s Dilip Kumar became the first actor to charge Rs 1 Lakh for his films, which is equivalent to Rs 75 lakhs in 2017.
- Dilip Kumar starrer Mughal-e-Azam was the highest grossing Bollywood film until the 2010s, equivalent to over Rs 1000 crores in 2011.
- Portraying many tragic roles on the big screen, earned him the nickname “Tragedy King” and also made him suffer from depression. Upon his psychiatrist’s suggestion, he started playing lighthearted roles in an attempt to get away from his depression.
- He was the first actor to win Filmfare Best Actor Award for ‘Daag’ and won it nine more times. He holds the Guinness World Record for winning the maximum number of awards by an Indian actor.
- The actor made his last appearance on the big screen with 1998 released ‘Qila’ which was a Box Office flop. After that, we shot for several films which were never released.
- Kumar was nominated as a Rajya Sabha member, by the Indian National Congress from 2000 to 2006.
Dilip Kumar’s Love Life:
Kumar was in seven years relationship with actress Madhubala. The duo fell in love on the sets of ‘Tarana’ which was released in 1951. Their relationship ended with ‘Naya Daur’ court case when Dilip decided to stand with Chopras against Madhubala and her father.
Dilip married actress Saira Banu in 1966, who was 22 years younger than him. Dilip Kumar was Saira’s childhood crush. She was born in the year in which Dilip Kumar made his Bollywood debut.
He married the second time in 1981 to a Hyderabad socialite Asma Sahiba, but the marriage soon ended.
Birthday celebration:
Since morning, Dilip Kumar has been receiving lots of loves from his fans as well as from his Bollywood friends on his social media account.
Saira Banu shared an old picture of them together through Kumar’s twitter handle.
https://twitter.com/TheDilipKumar/status/1050382357717487624
Amitabh Bachchan also shared an old pic and wished the first superstar of India.
T 3022 – The ultimate MASTER of his craft .. Dilip Kumar – Mohammed Yusuf Khan .. turns 96 .. prayers and duas for his good health and happiness always .. the history of Indian Cinema shall always be written as 'before Dilip Kumar and after Dilip Kumar' 🙏🙏🌹 pic.twitter.com/qAsOW9v5uy
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) December 11, 2018
Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamta Banerjee, also sent her best wishes to the actor.
A very happy birthday to Dilip Kumar Ji. Hope you remain in good health @TheDilipKumar
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) December 11, 2018
However, on this occasion, the Kumar family is not planning a big party. According to his friend Faisal Farooqui, “Saab has never wanted to celebrate birthdays. The last birthday we celebrated as a big event was his 89th birthday, which was in 2011 and of course, Saab enjoyed that. Dilip Saab is not a big fan of celebrating birthdays.”
Dilip Kumar will celebrate his birthday with his family and close friends only. On this occasion, we also wish him a very happy birthday.