Happy Birthday Dilip Kumar!

Recently, Veteran actor Dilip Kumar has been diagnosed with mild bronchial pneumonia. And it seems this will affect his 95th birthday celebration.

According to reports, Dilip Saab will not have a grand birthday celebration this year. The reports state that though he is doing fine and being treated at home, plans are not being made for his big day yet due to such unexpected events.
The report added that the source said it will be a family affair and due to actor's health going up and down, the family just wants to be together on this birthday.

From being Yusuf Khan to Dilip Kumar
Known for bringing 'realism' in Bollywood, veteran film legend Dilip Kumar has had a commendable journey in show business. The actor, fondly known as the 'Tragedy King', has influenced generations of young artists over the years. He was even described as "the ultimate method actor" by legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Kumar is one of the biggest Indian movie stars and a pioneer of Indian cinema.


Born as Yusuf Khan to an Awan family, Dilip Kumar grew up in the same neighborhood as Raj Kapoor, who was also his childhood friend. In 1940, after a dispute with his father, Dilip left home for Pune (Poona as it was known then). There, he started up a sandwich stall at the army club until his contract ended. He then headed home to Bombay with savings of Rs 5,000. Later, he joined Bombay Talkies, there he met actor Ashok Kumar, who played a significant role in influencing his acting style and introducing him to method acting. That is when Devika Rani requested him to change his name from Yousuf to Dilip Kumar and later cast him in a lead role in the film 'Jwar Bhata' in the year 1944.

Entry into Bollywood
Jwar Bhata' marked Dilip Kumar's entry into Bollywood, with help from Mrs Devika Rani. He once said in an interview that he was introduced to Mrs Devika Rani at the Bombay Talkies Studio by a family friend who was helping him find a job and claimed that she had not seen him anywhere before that. She offered him the job of an actor on a salary of Rs 1,250 per month. An excited Dilip thought the amount offered was for a year as it was a rich sum. He later learned that Devika only offered the sum because she saw potential in him and did not want to lose him.

An interesting love life
Dilip Kumar first reportedly fell in love with married actress Kamini Kaushal. He then courted actress Madhubala, but they parted ways as her family opposed their union. In 1966, he married actress Saira Banu, who was 22 years his junior. Since then, she has always been by Dilip Kumar's side.


Interestingly, Dilip later revealed that he fell head over heels in love with Saira when he attended her birthday party and was taken aback because she was no longer the young girl he consciously avoided working with because he thought she would look too young to be his heroine.

The 'Tragedy King' of Bollywood
After Dilip Kumar's debut film 'Jwar Bhata', he had a string of good movie. However, his rise to fame started in the 1950s with films like 'Sairat', 'Babul', 'Tarana', 'Hulchul', 'Deedar', 'Daag', 'Chandirani', 'Uran Khatola', 'Devdas', 'Yahudi' and 'Kumati'. These were the films that established him as the 'Tragedy King' of Bollywood. In order to shed his 'Tragedy King' image, he even played lighthearted roles. However, that was one tag he could not shed.


-Agencies