NEW DELHI — Bollywood icon Dilip Kumar, hailed because the “Tragedy King” and one among Hindi cinema’s best actors, died Wednesday in a Mumbai hospital after a protracted sickness. He was 98.
The “Tragedy King” title got here from Kumar’s quite a few critical roles. In a number of, his character died as a annoyed lover and a drunkard. He additionally was generally known as Bollywood’s solely Technique actor for his expressive performances figuring out a personality’s feelings.
Kumar was hospitalized twice final month after he complained of breathlessness, and his household tweeted “with a heavy coronary heart and profound grief” the announcement of his passing.
“Dilip Kumar will probably be remembered as a cinematic legend. He was blessed with unparalleled brilliance, on account of which audiences throughout generations have been enthralled. His passing away is a loss to our cultural world,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned in a tweet that additionally supplied his condolences to Kumar’s household and admirers.
“An establishment has gone,” Bollywood famous person Amitabh Bachchan tweeted. “Every time the historical past of Indian Cinema will probably be written, it shall all the time be ‘earlier than Dilip Kumar, and after Dilip Kumar’ ..”
“It’s the top of an period,” filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar mentioned.
He was born Muhammad Yusuf Khan, a Muslim, on Dec. 11, 1922. His Pathan household hailed from Peshawar, in what grew to become Pakistan after Partition, and he visited his ancestral house within the late Eighties.
He modified his title as he debuted in Bollywood, the Hindi-language movie business centered in Mumbai, with “Jwar Bhata,” or “Sea Tides,” in 1944.
His profession spanned over six a long time with over 60 movies. His first main box-office hits have been “Jugnu,” or “Firefly,” in 1947 during which he starred alongside Noor Jehan, and the 1948 movie “Shaheed,” or ”Martyr.”
He performed a wide range of characters — a romantic hero in “Andaz,” a swashbuckler in “Aan,” a dramatic drunkard in “Devdas,” a comic book position in “Azaad,” a Muslim prince within the historic epic “Mughal-e-Azam” and a robber within the social film “Ganga Jamuna.”
Mehboob Khan’s blockbuster “Aan” in 1952 was his first movie in Technicolor and was amongst a string of light-hearted roles he took on the suggestion of his psychiatrist to shed his “Tragedy King” picture.
He starred in lots of social drama movies like “Footpath”, “Naya Daur” (“New Period”), “Musafir” (“Traveller”) and “Paigham” (“Message”) in Nineteen Fifties.
His high feminine co-stars included Madhubala, Nargis, Nimmi, Meena Kumari, Kamini Kaushal and Vyjanthimala.
In 1966, Dilip Kumar married Saira Banu, who was 22 years youthful than him, and the couple acted in “Gopi,” “Sagina Mahato” and “Bairaag.” That they had no kids.
In 1961, he produced and starred in “Ganga Jamuna” during which he and his brother Nasir Khan performed the title roles. It was the one movie he produced. Indian media stories say he declined the position of Sherif Ali in David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia” in 1962. The position went to Egyptian actor Omar Sharif.
He took a break within the late ’70s however returned with a personality position within the profitable “Kranti,” or “Revolution” in 1981. He continued enjoying key roles in movies akin to “Shakti,” “Karma” and “Saudagar.” His final movie was “Qila” (“Fort”) in 1998.
In 1994, he was given the “Dadasaheb Phalke” award, the very best honor for contributions to Indian cinema. He additionally served within the higher home of Indian Parliament after being nominated for a six-year time period.
