Dilip Kumar's best performances: From Devdas to Naya Daur, 10 roles that defined the actor

Dilip Kumar, known for his tragic roles in Bollywood, passed away on 4 August 2017 at the age of 94. Kumar, born Muhammad Yusuf Khan in 1922, made his big screen debut with 1944’s Jwar Bhata, and was last seen on the big screen in Qila, which released in 1998. Over the span of six decades, he acted in over 65 films and was the recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015.

Here are some of the films which he is best remembered for:

Devdas

Before Shah Rukh Khan and Abhay Deol could show the world their versions of this lovesick hero, Dilip Kumar was the original Devdas. This Bimal Roy film, released in 1955, won Kumar a Filmfare award and is considered one of his best performances. The sensitivity with which he played the role of a doomed lover was appreciated, which is why it comes as no surprise that he was the first choice when it came to casting.

In an interview about the film, he said that he could not relate to the character. “I still cannot bring myself to agree with Devdas, when he hits Paro with a stick and says, ‘I have given you this mark to punish your pride’. But I played the part. And because the author was good, he turned the most nonsensical idea into sense,” he explained.

Daag

Daag will always be remembered as the film for which Dilip Kumar won the first ever Filmfare Award in the Best Actor category, for his role as Shankar. In the film, his character is the sole breadwinner, who crumbles under the pressure to support his widowed mother and takes to drinking. He reforms himself temporarily, but a lost chance at love and the death of his mother push him to alcoholism again. In the end, he redeems himself and turns his life around.

Also starring in this film directed by Amiya Chakravarty, were Nimmi, Usha Kiran and Lalita Pawar. It was a hit at the box office.

Gunga Jumna

For this film, Kumar donned the hat of a producer and actor to tell the story of an innocent man who was forced by circumstances to become a dacoit. Starring with Kumar in this 1961 film were Vyjayanthimala and Nasir Khan. Kumar and Khan played the roles of siblings Gunga and Jumna respectively; while Gunga takes to dacoity because he is wrongfully blamed for a crime, Jumna moves to the city and becomes a police officer. Older brother Gunga returns to the village when his son is about to be born, and Jumna urges him to surrender himself but later shoots him when the former refuses.

Gunga’s death at the hands of Jumna become all the more heartbreaking when we realise that it is his brother who funded his education, which allowed him to become a police officer. For his role, Kumar was nominated at the Filmfare Awards.

Ram Aur Shyam

This blockbuster movie saw Kumar playing two roles which were starkly contrasting; while his Ram was a shy and nervous man, his Shyam was mischievous and brave. They are separated at birth, and later on in life, develop feelings for characters played by Mumtaz and Waheeda Rehman respectively. But because of the similarity in their looks, confusion ensues and the brothers get into trouble when their brother-in-law decides to kill one of them and put the blame on the other. The film ends on a happy note after the villain is killed and the family is reunited.

Kumar found the experience of acting in this film satisfying. In an interview , he said, “The script of Ram Aur Shyam (1967) offered me endless stimulation. Each scene was sharply written to highlight the contrast between the characters and their predicaments.”

Madhumati

In Madhumati, Dilip Kumar played a double role once again, but in this film, one of his characters was a reincarnation of the other. The film was one of the first of its kind, and inspired a string of other reincarnation films. Directed by Bimal Roy and written by Ritwik Ghatak, the film had a noir-gothic feel to it.

The songs of this film, such as ‘Chadh Gayo Papi Bichhua’ and ‘Suhana Safar Aur Yeh Mausam’ were extremely popular and remain the favourites of fans even today. It was also one of the highest grossing films of 1958.

Mughal-e-Azam

Mughal-e-Azam gave Dilip Kumar one of his most memorable roles — Salim, and Bollywood one of its most iconic couples — Anarkali and the Mughal prince. It centered on their forbidden relationship and eventual escape from the Mughal empire. This film held the distinction of being the highest grossing Bollywood film of all time for 15 years and the first black-and-white Bollywood film to be digitally coloured.

Speaking about the film many decades later, Kumar said, “Mughal-e-Azam was an altogether different experience. Asif trusted me enough to leave the delineation of Salim completely to me… We were acutely conscious of the hard work we would have to put in as well as the responsibility we would have to shoulder while evoking a historical period that shaped the cultural, political and social ethos of the years that followed.”

Naya Daur

In this film, Kumar plays an underdog tongawalla, who decides to challenge the way things run in his village with respect to transportation and the injustice and oppression tongawallas face. Naya Daur won Dilip Kumar his third consecutive Filmfare Award in the Best Actor category, and fourth overall. It was set against the backdrop of post-Independence India which was run on Nehruvian ideals and focused on industrialisation.

The film earned a whopping Rs 5,40,00,000, and was the second-highest grossing film of 1957 after Mother India. One of the lesser known facts about this film is that Kumar initially turned down the offer to be part of it.

Andaaz

In Andaaz, Dilip Kumar’s character suffered a terrible fate because he fell in love with Nargis’ Neena, but this love was not reciprocated by her. Kumar is said to have showcased a “ seething intensity ” in the film, which was characteristic of many of his roles.

The film chronicles the story of how Kumar’s character falls in love with Neena and wants to confess it to her, only to realise that she has a fiance. One of the reasons why this film was anticipated was the fact that two A-list actors, Kumar and Raj Kapoor, would be seen on screen together.

Saudagar

This film came much later in Kumar’s career, and it was based on the Shakespearan tragedy Romeo and Juliet. In it, he starred with another yesteryear actor Raaj Kumar; the duo played a pair of friends who belong to a poor and rich family respectively. Their relationship goes downhill when Raaj Kumar decides to get his sister married to Dilip Kumar, but her in-laws demand dowry. In the end, however, the duo die in each other’s arms as friends, following complications which arise out of their future generations’ actions.

The iconic Bollywood songs ‘Ilu Ilu’ and ‘Imli Ka Boota’ were part of this film. Also part of the film’s cast were Manisha Koirala, Amrish Puri and Jackie Shroff.

Mela

This Hindi-Urdu film released in 1948 saw Kumar play yet another tragic character who is wrongly blamed for running away with an innocent girl and then for killing her. The pathos is only heightened by the fact that the girl, played by Nargis, and he first shared a friendly relationship which later blossomed into love.

Initially, Kumar was not happy with the plot of Mela and of the picturisation of one particular song. When the director and music composer Naushad incorporated the changes he suggested, he came on board.

(Also read — Remembering Dilip Kumar: ‘Ude Jab Jab’ to ‘Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya’, his most memorable songs)