END OF AN ERA: DILIP KUMAR passes away
As the era ends, as Dilip Kumar passes away at the age of 98, with Amitabh Bachchan going so far as we can declare that when the history of Indian cinema is written, Dilip Kumar is the man who always chose to step up and speak up he never kept quiet seeing anything wrong happening around. When speaking truth to the power, he was always a superstar who chose not to be with superstardom but always be pure and good to others.
He was born Mohammad Yusuf Khan in Peshawar in 1992 in the house of a fruit merchant; he went on to enjoy a career in the movies and spanning five decades he was Blessed with long life, he wanted with many co-stars, Raj Kapoor, Dev Annand, DILIP Kumar’s oeuvre portrays the social and political cross currents of modern India. A helpless farmer, a fiery student leader, Dilip Kumar said the new face of new India as it unfolded. Dilip Kumar was known as every man.
He didn’t want stardom, but he was the earliest Indian actor to lend his star status to a variety of causes; he was the man who never missed fundraising and always chose to lend his name and face to charitable institutions such as this and Ali Yavar Jung institute of speech and hearing in Bandra rather than modeling for commercial gain. The film lyricist Director, Gulzar, remembers DILIP KUMAR holding donation drives and rallies during the Indo-China War at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park. Wound their way through Crawford Market and gullies of bhendi bazaar, where money was showered at them from the roof.
Gulzar Sahab also calls Dilip shab stepping up for similar interactions for the benefit of the film industry, lending his moral gravitas and serving as a bridge between actors and producers-directors. At a seminal meeting of the Indian motion picture association held at Dilip sahab’s home, several landmark decisions were taken to break the impasse that gridlocked the industry.
When acting was highly dramatic, Dilip Kumar underplayed as opposed to other stars who overplayed. No wonder he was labeled a master of understatement, actor, and dancer; Jaaved jaaferi shares his memories of spending time with Kumar in the 1990s and what makes the Devdas star a benchmark in Hindi cinema.