Dolly Chopra
Dilip Kumar was buried on July 7 evening with state honours at Juhu Kabrastan, Santacruz, Mumbai. Many celebs from the film industry paid tributes at his house during the day.
Dilip Kumar was easily the finest performer Indian cinema has seen. Satyajit Ray had described him as the ultimate method actor. David Lean had offered him a role in the Lawrence of Arabia. Guru Dutt wanted him to play the lead in his Pyaasa. His portrayal of Prince Salim in the mega-blockbuster Mughal-e-Azam showed him as a real blue-blooded royal.
Many actors emulated the thespian and the long list includes Rajendra Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Dharmendra, Sanjay Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. The well-known video firm Al Mansoor brought out a video cassette in the early eighties where they demonstrated how Amitabh Bachchan who was at the peak of his popularity delivered some of his dialogues a la Dilip Kumar. Amitabh too has acknowledged that Dilip Kumar born as Mohammad Yusuf Khan was the unrivalled actor India has had.
After watching Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas, the veteran artiste who had won many accolades for his performance in the Bimal Roy film of the same title complimented Shah Rukh Khan. In fact, Dilip Kumar said that if he would have had a son, he would have been like Shah Rukh Khan.
Dilip Kumar was part of the triumvirate comprising Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand and the trio became synonymous with life as it unfolded after India became a free nation. Dilip Kumar was the actor, Raj Kapoor the showman and Dev Anand, the flamboyant romantic. While
Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand never worked together, Dilip Kumar did a film with each one of them—Mehboob Khan’s Andaz with Raj Kapoor and SS Vasan’s Insaniyat with Dev Anand.
Dilip Kumar had a great charisma about him, speaking gently yet firmly. He enjoyed his food and never missed an opportunity to go to the Karim’s near Jama Masjid to have burra kabab and korma.
Dilip Kumar had opted for the Naushad-Shakeel Badayuni combination to provide music and write lyrics consciously. Hailing from Peshawar, the thespian was aware that if he had to appeal to the North Indian Hindi and Urdu speaking audiences, he should ensure that the lyrics and the music had the flavour of some of these states.
Dilip Kumar received the Padma Vibhushan, the Padma Bhushan and the Dada Saheb Phalke award. He also received Pakistan’s highest civilian honour, the Nishan-e-Imtiaz.
Dilip Kumar won several cinematic awards and was the first ever winner of the Filmfare Best Actor prize. He won eight Filmfare Best Actor awards, a record he shares with Shah Rukh Khan.
