'''Dilip Kumar (b. 1922)'''


Hindi-Urdu cinema’s top 50s and 60s star. Born
in Peshawar (now Pakistan) as Yusuf Khan in a
Pathan family of 12 children. They moved to
Maharashtra as fruit merchants. Worked in a
British army canteen in Bombay (1940).
Devika Rani claimed to have recruited him for
Bombay Talkies. A noted Hindi novelist,
Bhagwati Charan Varma, renamed him Dilip
Kumar. Attained stardom with Jugnu. Achieved
an enduring reputation for naturalist acting
although he claims to have followed in the
footsteps of Motilal. Andaz brought him
superstardom and he acted again with Nargis
in Jogan. Presented, e.g. in Footpath, as an
exponent of indigenous neo-realism. His style
developed tragic dimensions, e.g. in the
Oedipal drama Deedar, where he blinds
himself, and in Devdas, as the lovesick
aristocrat. Eventually decided to change to a
more swashbuckling image with Aan, Azad,
Insaniyat, Kohinoor, etc., apparently on
advice of his psychoanalyst, although he kept
his romantic image going as well. Like his
contemporary Raj Kapoor, his filmic identity
offered a complex cultural/psychological
terrain displaying the anxieties of
Independence and the nostalgias of a pre-
Partition childhood. Unlike Kapoor, Dilip
Kumar’s naturalist underplaying often
presented him as an innocent loner caught in
and destroyed by conflicting social pressures,
as in the only film he did with Raj Kapoor,
Andaz, a classic drama of male guilt paid for
by the woman. His acting was used mainly to
address issues of identity in the Hindi films of
Bengali directors: Nitin Bose’s Deedar and
Ganga Jumna, Bimal Roy’s Madhumati and
Tapan Sinha’s Sagina Mahato, after which
he stopped acting for 8 years. Married actress
Saira Banu of Junglee (1961) fame. Made a
comeback with Kranti and esp. with Shakti,
starring opposite Bachchan in a larger-thanlife
role confirming his legendary star status.
Recent films with Subhash Ghai (Karma,
Saudagar). Although he virtually directed
some of his films (e.g. Ganga Jumna, Dil
Diya Dard Liya) his first official directorial
credit is for Kalinga (in prod.).


'''FILMOGRAPHY:''' 1944: Jwar Bhata; 1945:
Pratima; 1946: Milan; 1947: Jugnu; 1948:
Anokha Pyar; Ghar Ki Izzat; Nadiya Ke
Paar; Mela; Shaheed; 1949: Andaz;
Shabnam; 1950: Arzoo; Babul; Jogan; 1951:
Hulchul; Tarana; Deedar; 1952: Aan; Daag;
Sangdil; 1953: Footpath; Shikast; 1954:
Amar; 1955: Azad; Devdas; Insaniyat;
Udan Khatola; 1957: Musafir; Naya Daur;
1958: Madhumati; Yahudi; 1959: Paigham;
1960: Kohinoor; Mughal-e-Azam; 1961:
Ganga Jumna; 1964: Leader; 1966: Dil Diya
Dard Liya; Pari; 1967: Ram Aur Shyam;
1968: Sadhu Aur Shaitan; Admi; Sangharsh;
1970: Gopi; Sagina Mahato; 1972: Anokha
Milan; Dastaan; 1974: Sagina; Phir Kab
Milogi; 1976: Bairaag; 1981: Kranti; 1982:
Shakti; Vidhata; 1983: Mazdoor; 1984:
Duniya; Mashaal; 1986: Dharam Adhikari;
Karma; 1989: Kanoon Apna Apna; 1990:
Izzatdar; 1991: Saudagar.

[[Actor]]