Remembering Dilip Kumar: From 'Aan' to 'Shakti', your fans will always remember you for every 'Naya Daur'

File image of actor Dilip Kumar

You tamed haughty princesses with your ‘Maan mera ehsaan are nadaan ke maine tujh se kiya hai pyar…

You went walkabout in the mountains, and your song is still being sung, ‘Suhana safar aur yeh mausam haseen’.

You, Dilip Kumar, reigned the silver screen when other heroes shone briefly and faded away. Sixty years in the industry, and you made films that everyone has seen.
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If you’re like me, falling in love with long-haired lads who ride motorbikes, then this has to be your campfire song:

Dilip Kumar starred in the 1944 version of the film Jwar Bhata (Bombay Talkies) and then made his mark as Suraj in the drama Jugnu. (If you have sharp eyes, you will spot singer Mohammed Rafi as a college classmate in the film).

Rafi sang all the memorable songs for Dilip Kumar, and he made this song from Aan a mountain road bike song: Dil mein chhupa ke pyaar ka toofan le chale…’

India gained Independence, and we saw Dilip Kumar in Leader, singing, ‘Apni azadi ko hum hargiz mita sakte nahi!’

But not all his roles were exactly heroic. It took Vyjayantimala’s love for the drunken Devdas to elevate him to someone worthy of love. No matter how many times this story has been remade and reinterpreted, Dilip Kumar’s Devdas has no equal. The man could convey with a look what many had to deliver with pages full of dialogue.

Another role that has been turned into a thousand memes is Dilip Kumar as young prince Salim in Mughal-e-Azam. I wept when watching the magnificence of the film when it was re-released on the big screen a couple of years ago. His mute frustration - as a prince in love with a nautch girl, but duty-bound to his father the emperor - is palpable on the screen. While the gorgeous Madhubala, sings, ‘Pyar kiya toh darna kya’ and taunts the father and son duo by her, ‘Charon taraf hai unka nazara’. Unforgettable love story that is. And as was wont of the day, they don’t show the prince and the nautch girl make out on the royal bed. The scene where he wakes up to see she’s covered in flowers is proof enough that love has struck its bows.

Epics films needed epic delivery of dialogue as well. In Mughal-e-Azam, the young prince does confront his father and is banished to fighting wars, you remember how the emperor seethes in anger, ‘Saleeeem!’ It’s now a standard dialogue whenever I disobey rules at home, my father still says, ‘Saleem! In frustration. This is how much his films have affected us.

Dilip Kumar as Prince Saleem in 'Mughal-e-Azam' (screen grab).

His boyish charm has earned him lifelong fans. I dread to check in on my aunts who were collectively in love with him, trusting everything he did in the movies as God’s honest truth. I remember having been evicted from the dinner table because I dared to say that him singing, ‘Mujhe duniyawalon sharabi na samjho, main peeta nahi hoon, pilayi gayi hai…’ was just acting. And that he surely drinks in real life.

‘Kaun kabhakht hai jo bardasht karne ke liye peeta hai. Main toh bas peeta hoon ke saans le sakoon!’ How we kids laughed at such dialogue. But when Satyajit Ray called Dilip Kumar the ultimate method actor, he wasn’t kidding at all. Whether he was a man caught between two women and needed to do the right thing, or he played a journalist, yelling into the dark night for help for his dying wife, Dilip Kumar was known for his tragic roles (Andaz, et al), but who could replace him in Ram Aur Shyam? Whenever I look at a tractor, I have to imitate him ‘And my Tractor is out of order!...

(Image via Twitter @TheDilipKumar)

The only consistent thing about Dilip Saab in real life was the indelible love that a young star had for this thespian. Yes, the stunning Saira Banu fell headlong in love with Yusuf Saab and has been by his side come rain or shine, in sickness and in health. She married her older heartthrob at such a young age, and it was stunning to discover that Saira Banu is indeed younger than Amitabh Bachchan. People speculated when she was cast as his heroine in Zameer, but those who knew were awed by her ability to hold her own against the big B.

You will hear many stories about how difficult stars can be when pitted against one another. And apparently when Shakti was being shot, there were many rumors that neither Amitabh Bachchan nor Dilip Kumar wanted to be upstaged. They said that each said their dialogue separately, and then Ramesh Sippy edited the magnificent father and son love-hate story together. But I can tell you with confidence that when they were shooting a scene at the noisy airport, and people wouldn’t listen to polite requests made by Amitabh Bachchan for quiet because he wanted to rehearse the lines, it took Dilip Saab’s, ‘Khamosh ho jao sab ke sab! Amit ko rehearsal karna hai! (Be quite everyone, Amit wants to rehearse)’ to stop everything and everyone in their tracks.

I don’t know how we are going fill the gap left by him. He hadn’t been well, and yet the brave face put on by Saira Banu and his social media team (cutting cake on his birthday, and so on) has helped fans. He still rules their hearts. Besides, who can make a film like Gunga Jumna, and make you fall in love with an outlaw? Dilip Saab’s Gunga makes you worry when they chase after him, and makes you smile and dance with him:

We will miss you Dilip Kumar. You were certainly the best of many generations. Rest in peace.

Also read: Tribute: Dilip Kumar, method actor extraordinaire and Nehruvian hero