Dilip Kumar

Dilip Kumar was born on December 11, 1922 in the Quiss Havani Bazaar area in Peshawar (now the territory of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province , Pakistan ). Now his house is given the status of an object of cultural heritage ^[6] . From birth, he bore the name Muhammad Yusuf Khan and was the fifth of thirteen children in the family ^[1] . His father, Lala Ghulam Sarwar Khan, was a fruit merchant and owned orchards in Peshawar and Deolali ( Maharashtra , India) ^[7] . His mother's name was Ayesha Begum ^[8] . Since she had asthma, the family moved to a milder climate a few years later - Deolali, a small town near Nasik , where Dilip studied at the prestigious Lord Banner boarding school ^[9] . In the late 1930s, his family moved again, this time to Bombay . There he ended up in one high school with another native of Peshawar, Raj Kapoor - The Khalsa College ^[10] .

After graduating for two years, Dilip lived in Pune ^[9] , where he began his business as the owner of a dining room and a supplier of dried fruits. In 1943, actress Devika Rani , who owned the Bombay Talkies studio, was , saw Dilip Kumar in the dining room of Pune and invited him to the main role in the film "Sea Tide" ( "Jwar Bhata" , 1944). However, in her opinion, the name Yusuf Khan was not suitable for a romantic hero. The debutant agreed to take a pseudonym, as this would help to hide the connection with the cinema from his father, who despised filmmakers ^[7] . Poet Pandit Narendra Sharma He proposed three variants of the screen name, from which “Dilip Kumar” was chosen ^[8] .

Dilip Kumar speaks a number of languages: English , Hindi , Urdu (the international language of communication in Peshawar), Hindko (the language of the Peshawar Indians), Pashto (the language of the Peshawar Muslims) and Marathi (the language of communication in Deolali and Pune) ^[9] . He also studied Bengali for filming in regional films ^[11] .

Dilip had a stormy romance with his partner in several films Madhubala , which ended during the filming of The Great Mogul . At the same time, they were supposed to act together in the movie "New Age". Several scenes had already been shot when she left the project at the insistence of her father. Since she signed a contract to participate in the film, a trial followed, which lasted about a year, where Dilip Kumar spoke on the side of the director B.R. Chopra . This was the end of their relationship. According to one version, Dilip suggested that she marry him on condition that she quit her job and break off ties with her father, with whom he could not find a common language, but Madhubala could not leave her relatives who lived only because of her earnings ^[12] . According to another version, told by the sister of the actress, Madhubala demanded from Dilip that he apologize to her father after the completion of the lawsuit, but he refused ^[13] .

In 1966, Dilip married actress Cyrus Banu who was half his age (She was 22 years old, while he was 44) ^[14] . Sixteen years later, in 1982, he brought Asmu Rehman's second wife to the house, but this marriage did not last long and ended in divorce. Dilip and his wife have no children; in 1972, Saira was pregnant, but lost her child in the eighth month ^[15] .

On September 15, 2013, Dilip Kumar was taken to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai with a heart attack ^{[16] [17]} . 14 years earlier, he underwent heart surgery ^{[17] [18]} .

His debut film “The Tide of the Sea” ( Jwar Bhata ^[19] , 1944), in which his long-time acquaintance Raj Kapoor was an assistant director, went unnoticed. The first success at the box office was Jugnu (1947), where he played a major role with Nur Jehan . This was followed by a film adaptation of Tagore ’s novel “Milan” (“Arrow” ^[19] , 1947), directed by Nitin Boss . But the decisive breakthrough was the role in the film "Reputation" (1949) of Mehbub Khan . This is the story of a rich girl who makes friends with a poor man, being engaged to another person equal to her in position. Dilip Kumar came to the film on the recommendation of the composer Naushad . Other major roles were played by Raj Kapoor and Nargis . The appearance of two friends in one film caused heated debate among fans and critics about whose game is better. After that, Dilip never starred together with Raj, despite the entreaties of the directors and producers, including Kapoor himself, and even refused the role of Russian in his film “Sangam” (1964).

Paired with Nargis in 1948-1952, Dilip appeared in six films, including Fair, (1948), Father's House and Yoginya (1950), Meeting and Rumble (1951). After the screen pair Nargis-Raj Kapoor was formed, Dilip found a new partner - Vijayantimalu , with whom he made seven films. His partners also included many other leading actresses of the time, including Kamini Kaushal , Mina Kumari and Madhubala . With Camini Kaushal, he first appeared together in the movie Martyr ( Shaheed ^[19] , 1948). The plot was based on a story about a revolutionary who, with weapons in his hands, fought for freedom and gave his life for it. Imbued with the spirit of true patriotism, the film was very successful at the box office.

Dilip Kumar was very successful in the 1950s, playing tragic roles in films such as “The Stigma of Shame” (1952), Devdas (1955), The Jewess and Madhumati (1958). He also played a negative character in Amar (1954), Mehbub Khan. He was the first actor to win the Filmfare Award for Best Actor in the film “Stigma of Shame” in 1954. The embodiment of such serious tragic roles on the screen in the near future announced itself: Dilip Kumar appeared protracted depression and nervous breakdowns. On the advice of a psychiatrist, he switched to lighter music films such as Pride (1952), his first color film, where he played the role of a daredevil peasant. In the future, he was waiting for success with roles in "Azad" (1955), Insaniyat (1955), The New Age (1957), Musafir (1957) and Kohinur (1960). For his role in the latter, he again received a Filmfare figurine.

In 1960, after more than ten years of filming, the high-budget epic historical film “The Great Mogul” by K. Azif was released . The picture was a cinematic adaptation of the drama Anarkali, popular in the 1920s and 1930s, telling the love story of Prince Salim and the court dancer. Their names became common and took place among the names of the great lovers of all time. Azif initially did not want to remove Dilip Kumar in the role of Prince Salim. Dilip himself also did not want to play in a historical costume movie . The fact that he eventually ended up in the film is the merit of the new film producer Shauprji Palongi. Filming was not easy for Dilip, filming on location in Rajasthan , where the heat was excruciating, and the actor had to wear heavy armor, was especially difficult. As a result, this work is considered one of the best in his film career , although Dilip was not the hero of the picture in the generally accepted sense of the word. The name of the film refers to the Great Mughal Akbar , the play "Anarkali" put the girl at the forefront, and the theme of this play was self-sacrifice in the name of love. But Dilip’s game made him the third, if not the first, protagonist of the picture. It was his prince Salim who became the commentator on Akbar the Great’s internal conflict - the conflict between love for his son and duty.

In addition to The Great Mogul, one of the main films in Dilip’s career was Ganga and Jamna (1961), where Dilip was a producer and writer of the script, and also starred along with his brother Nasir Khan. The film told the tragic story of two brothers, one of whom is a policeman, the other is a bandit. This plot subsequently more than once found on-screen life, for example, in “The Wall ” (1975) by Yash Chopra . Dilip was also the unofficial director of The Ganges and Jamna and the failed Dil Diya Dard Liya at the box office. Kalinga , which was supposed to be his official directorial debut, was closed after only a few scenes were shot. ^[7]

In 1962, British director David Lyn offered him the role of Sheriff Ali in the movie Lawrence of Arabia , but Dilip refused ^[20] . As a result, the role went to Egyptian actor Omar Sharif . The next film of Dilip "The Conspiracy" (1964) based on rental results was rated as "below average." And the roles of twins, separated at birth, in the film " Ram and Shiam " (1967), are called the last successful main roles of the actor.

In the 1970s, his career began to decline, when the films “Love Story” (1972) and “Fate cannot be avoided” (1976), in the last of which he played a triple role, failed at the box office. “Gopi” also failed , in which he starred with his wife Saira Banu , and the Bengali film "Sagina Mahato" . The public no longer perceived the fifty-year-old actor as a romantic hero. After that, Dilip took a five-year break in filming from 1976 to 1981.

He returned to the cinema in 1981 with the movie "Hot Heart", which became the biggest hit of the year. Appearing in the ensemble of actors, including Manoj Kumar Shashi Kapoor , Hemu Malini and Satrughana Sinha , he played the main role - a revolutionary fighting for the independence of India from British rule. Then he fruitfully collaborated with Subhash Ghai , starring in Almighty (1982), together with Sanjay Dutt , Sanjeev Kumar and Shammi Kapoor . In the same year, he played the father of Amitabh Bachchan in "Shakti" directed by Ramesh Sippi . One of the Shakti screenwriters, Salim Khan, is , said: “We were surprised that he gave the character created by us a completely new shape. It very rarely happens that you have a competent script in your hands, and a film goes beyond what you thought up. Nevertheless, Dilip Kumar understood his role and strengthened it in his usual manner . ” The film did not make big fees, but Dilip naturally received his last Filmfare award for the best role for his work.

In 1984, he played in The Torch Yasha Chopra and the “Cruel World” of Ramesh Talvar along with Anil Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor respectively. The second time he collaborated with Subhash Ghai in 1986 in the action movie Karma. In this film, he played a prison keeper who hires three people (performed by Nasiruddin Shah , Jackie Schroff and Anil Kapoor) to help him avenge the death of his family to the terrorist Dr. Dang ( Anupam Kher ). In 1991, he starred in the venerable actor Raj Kumar in , his third and last film directed by Subhash Ghai. It was also his second film with Raj Kumar after The Call of 1959. "Merchant" was the last success of Dilip Kumar at the box office and his last film for several years.

In 1998, he last appeared on the screen in the film Qila , where he superbly played the double role of twin brothers. In 2014, the movie Aag Ka Dariya , filmed in 1990, was released on the screens of cinemas, but did not go on sale at the time due to financial differences ^[21] .

Although Dilip Kumar never regretted his decision, the three films he turned down later became iconic for the cinema of India: “ Mother India ” by Mehbub Khan, “ Thirst ” by Guru Datt and “Sangam” Raj Kapoor ^[1] .