Showing posts with label dilip kumar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dilip kumar. Show all posts

Saturday 11 December 2021

DILIP KUMAR- The Ultimate Method Actor

 


Dilip Kumar was not only one of the earliest superstars of Hindi cinema, but also one of the few legendary artists India has seen. Dilip Kumar's resume contains many of Indian cinema's landmark, genre-defining roles. His performances as the drunken, doomed lover in Devdas and the rebellious royal son in Mughal-e-Azam have been endlessly referenced by his successors on-screen. In Madhumati, he set the trend for reincarnation films. In Ram Aur Shyam, he established the twins-separated-at-birth formula. He became the first-ever winner of the Filmfare Best Actor award for Daag in 1954 and went on to win the award another seven times. 

 Born as Yusuf Khan in Peshawar on December 11, 1922, it’s said that it was Devika Rani who spotted him at Pune’s military canteen. She told him to come to Mumbai and offered him his first film Jwar Bhata (1944). Since then in 6 decades he appeared in 65 films. His span across a staggering 50 + years, was full of some classics and utterly dedicated performances. He won as many as 8 Filmfare Awards for Best Actor (Daag, Azaad, Devdas, Naya Daur, Kohinoor, Leader, Ram Aur Shyam, Shakti) Let's look into the performance of Dilip Kumar in these films

Daag 1952


Dilip Kumar won the first-ever Filmfare Award in the Best Actor category for his performance in this film. The Awards were instituted in 1954. The film fared well at the box office and was declared a hit. Dilip Kumar played the character of Shankar . Who was addicted to alcohol? He is attracted to Parvati (Nimmi), who also lives a poor lifestyle. Shankar wanted to marry her but being a drunkard her stepbrother Jagat Narayan refused. In a dramatic turn of events, Jagat Narayan agrees to marry Parvati with Shankar, Shankar quits alcohol and the film finally finishes with a happy ending.

Azaad (1955)


 It was the top-grossing Hindi film in the year of its release, and one of the biggest Hindi films hits in the decade. After so many films Dilip Kumar played a light-hearted role and the result was this swashbuckling adventure. The tragic hero was transformed into a Robin Hood character who is also a master of disguises. He uses guile and charm to outwit the villain and woo the heroine played by Meena Kumari who too seemed glad to be out of her three handkerchief roles. 


Devdas 1955


The film had Dilip Kumar in the title role and Vyjayanthimala in her first dramatic role where she played as Chandramukhi, a hooker with a heart of gold and Suchitra Sen in her Bollywood debut as Parvati in the lead. MotilalNazir HussainMurad, Pratima Devi, Iftekhar and Shivraj were playing other significant roles with Pran and Johnny Walker in extended cameo appearances.
Dilip Kumar played a man driven by unrequited love into being a drunkard to perfection. His eyes are hazy throughout the film and his silences are eloquent. He got so much under the skin of the character that it’s said he had to go to London and consult Harley Street psychiatrists to overcome depression. 


Naya Daur 1957


For this film, Dilip Kumar won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for the third time in a row, being his fourth overall. Man Vs Machine was the theme of this pioneering film which made you question the price of progress. Director BR Chopra’s socialist strand was ever-present in this humanist drama. Dilip played the rustic Tangewala to perfection, flirting outrageously with his firebrand heroine Vyjayanthimala. 


Madhumati 1958


The film stars Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala in the lead roles, with Pran and Johnny Walker in supporting roles. The plot focuses on Anand, a modern man who falls in love with a tribal woman named Madhumati. They are unable to have a relationship during their lifetimes and are reincarnated.Excellent performances by both Dilip and Vyjayanthimala. It won nine Filmfare Awards; including Best FilmBest DirectorBest Music DirectorBest Female Playback SingerBest DialogueBest Art Direction and Best Cinematographer—the most awards for a single film at that time. It also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.


Kohinoor 1960


Kohinoor cast Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari to play a prince and princess of different kingdoms and was full of sword fights, songs and dances. This film is also notable for some rare comical and funny scenes by Meena Kumari, who is otherwise known as the tragedy queen. Its tone was light and it lacked the intense characterizations of their earlier films. It was a major hit of the year.It had great music by Naushad. Gems like Madhuban mein Radhika naache re (Dilip Kumar reportedly learned to play the guitar to lend authenticity to the song) and Do sitaron ka zameen par hai milan regale us even today.

Mughal-e-Azam 1960


 Released on 5 August 1960, it broke box office records in India and became the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time, a distinction it held for 15 years.Starring Prithviraj KapoorDilip KumarMadhubala, and Durga Khote, it follows the love affair between MughalPrince Salim (who went on to become Emperor Jahangir) and Anarkali, a court dancer. Salim's father, Emperor Akbar, disapproves of the relationship, which leads to a war between father and son.


Ganga Jamuna 1961


The film stars Dilip Kumar, Nasir Khan and Vyjayanthimala in leading roles, and Azra, KanhaiyalalAnwar HussainNazir Hussain and Leela Chitnis in supporting roles.The film features real life brothers Dilip Kumar (Muhammad Yusuf Khan) and Nasir Khan in the title roles It was one of the biggest hits of the 1960s and one of the most successful Indian films in terms of box office collection, domestically in India and overseasDilip Kumar's performance as Ganga is considered one of the finest acting performances in the history of Indian cinema.


Ram Aur Shyam 1967

This was perhaps Dilip Kumar’s last big hit as a solo star and what can be more fitting than the fact that he played a double role in the film? It’s to his credit that he was able to infuse two different personalities into the roles. Dilip Kumar’s capability isn’t limited to performing serious roles. He can play a light-hearted or comical character in a commercial film too with equal ease.

If you liked this blog, you would also appreciate my Youtube channel Bollywood Unplugged, the link is given below

https://youtu.be/tcAAE7QwScA


Immortal songs of Dilip Kumar
Song from Andaz 1949

Song from Deedar (1951)

Song from Daag (1952)

Song from Azaad (1955)

Song from Madhumati (1958)

Song from Kohinoor(1960)

Song from Ganga Jamuna (1961)



















Friday 11 December 2020

Dilip Kumar- Uden Jab Jab Zulfen Teri

 


Recall this song of Naya Daur(1957), became a rage those days. This song was specially written by Sahir Ludhianvi for Dilip Kumar. Sahir used the word 'Zulfay' with reference to Dilip Kumar's mop of hair which was attracting attention right from his earlier films.

In the early years, many critics used to make fun of his unruly hairstyle falling on his forehead. But the same hairstyle became a fashion later. His fans used to adore it, they love to blow the hair in the wind. There as an incident in 1954 when one day Dilip Kumar led a procession of many filmstars on the street of Mumbai to raise fund for the flood victims, he discovered by the end of the day, they received hundreds of combs along with money.



In the 70s Alim Hakim was a celebrity hairstylist. He used to cut Dilip Kumar's hair. He was at Hotel TAJ, Mumbai as a hairstylist and later started his salon by the name of HAKIM’S.  His clientele included who’s who of the film industry and icons from different walks of the world.  From Dilip Kumar to Sunil Dutt to Anil Kapoor to Bachchans all were his clients.



In the 50s and 60s, Dilip Kumar was a fashion role model of India and Pakistan. Many of the youth in Pakistan used to have a Dilip Kumar hairstyle. There was an exciting story of a young boy of Lahore who walked to a very famous studio and asked the famous photographer to click his photograph similar to the photograph of Dilip Kumar which he was carrying with him.

The famous photographer gently patted on his cheek and said ' I can click the similar photo only if you have the same features.

Song of Naya Daur 1957


Friday 28 August 2020

50 Years of Gopi

 

Recall the song 'Gentleman Gentleman Gentleman' sung by Mahendra Kapoor. Yes, this was a very popular song of 1970, picturized on Dilip Kumar in the film Gopi. This film was released on 28th Aug 1970. It stars Dilip KumarSaira BanuPranOm PrakashDurga KhoteFarida JalalJohnny WalkerLalita Pawar, and Aruna Irani. The film was a Jubilee Hit with hit music by Kalyanji Anandji. The film had 5 songs, all the songs were very popular. "Ramchandra Keh Gaye Siya Se" and  "Ek Padosan Peechhe Pad Gayi" were very popular. 

According to film expert Rajesh Subramanian, Rajendra Kumar was first signed for the film. The producers felt Saira Banu and Dilip Kumar would make a perfect pair and requested Rajendra Kumar to return the signing amount and quit the film.

Dilip Kumar plays Gopi, who is a simpleton of a village. He lives with his elder stepbrother played by Om Prakash, bhabhi played by Nirupa Roy and younger sister played by Farida Jalal. Om Prakash works for a local Lala played by Pran. Om Prakash keeps all his savings with Pran so that in future he needs for the marriage for Farida Jalal.

 Saira Banu along with her aunt comes to their home for a few days, Saira Banu fell in love with Dilip Kumar. There are a few songs picturized on them'



Farida Jalal's marriage got fixed so Om Prakash goes to the landlord Lala (Pran) to take back money, which he had saved for Nandini's wedding but gets thrown out of the house. Gopi forcibly gets the money but is accused by the landlord of stealing. Sent out of the house by Girdhari, Gopi leaves for the city and vows to come back only after making enough money for Nandini's wedding.



The highlight of the film was the acting of Dilip Kumar and Om Prakash. It is said that when Dilip Kumar heard the script of gopi he felt only Om Prakash could play his older brother. When Om Prakash was offered this movie as Dilip Kumar wanted only him to play this role Om Ji agreed on one condition that he would be paid 1 rupee more than Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar gladly accepted his condition. And what a performance by both actors.

The film's music is by Kalyanji Anandji and the lyrics were penned by Rajinder Krishan.

SongSinger
"Akele Hi Akele Chala Hai Kahan"Lata Mangeshkar
"Ramchandra Keh Gaye Siya Se"Mahendra Kapoor
"Gentlemen Gentlemen"Lata MangeshkarMahendra Kapoor
"Ek Padosan Peechhe Pad Gayi"Lata MangeshkarMahendra Kapoor
"Sukh Ke Sab Saathi, Dukh Mein Na Koi"Mohammed Rafi



Song of Gopi 1970
Song of Gopi 1970
Song of Gopi 1970
Song of Gopi 1970
Song of Gopi 1970