Dilip Kumar, one of India’s most respected actors and known for his roles as a tragic hero in Bollywood films, died on Wednesday morning. Dilip sahab was 98 and ailing for some time.
Dilip sahab was born Mohammed Yusuf Khan in 1922 in Peshawar, Pakistan. He was known by the screen name of Dilip Kumar once he joined Bollywood in the 1940s.
“With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of our beloved Dilip Saab, a few minutes ago,” Faisal Farooqui, a relative, posted on the actor’s Twitter account early on Wednesday morning.
Dilip sahab is survived by his wife, Saira Banu, a top Bollywood leading lady in the 1960s and 1970s.
Dilip sahab did his first film, “Jwar Bhata” in 1944, which tanked. His breakthrough role came in 1949, with “Andaz”. He played a jilted lover who is caught in a triangle between the woman he loves and her husband.
That role catapulted him to stardom. It was the beginning of a decade where he made a career of playing tragic roles.
‘Tragedy King’
Bimal Roy’s adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s seminal novel “Devdas” was the turning point in an already successful career, catapulting him to super-stardom.
People loved his role as the doomed lover in “Devdas”. It earned Dilip sahab the epithet of “tragedy king” – the man who embodied melancholy on screen.
Dilip sahab said he felt weighed down after years of playing tragic roles. In the late 1950’s, he made a conscious attempt to play more upbeat roles. He then acted in romantic films like “Madhumati”, “Aan” and “Naya Daur”.
In his later years, Dilip sahab retained his stature as India’s first marquee star. The man whose face on a poster was enough for audiences to throng the theatres.
The world is in mourning!
To Allah, we all shall return. People in Pakistan and India, and your fans worldwide will miss you and cherish your work for the cinema always.
In the heart of Peshawar, Dilip sahab used to live in the famous Qissa Khwani Bazaar with his family once. In 2020, he expressed his gratitude towards the government of Pakistan for making efforts to protect and restore his ancestral home in the bazaar.
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