Dilip Kumar

Bollywood actors have never failed to charm and mesmerize their audiences. If you were to make a list of such handsome and memorable actors, perhaps the charming Dilip Kumar would top the list. He has worked in over 60 movies in the span of his six decade career. He has won several awards for his contribution to the Hindi film industry, such as the Padma Bhushan and the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award. He is the male equivalent of Meena Kumari and is therefore known as the 'Tragedy King'. Even the most legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray appreciated him by calling him a method actor. Also, he is married to the beautiful and charming Saira Banu. He even has been a member of the Rajya Sabha for one term.

Born on 11th December 1922 in Peshawar, Muhammad Yusuf Khan comes from a well to do family. By the end of the 1930s, his family moved to Mumbai. In the year 1940, he moved to Pune to work as a dry fruit seller and to run his own canteen. It was in 1943, that Hindi film director Himanshu Rai spotted him and offered him a role for his film 'Jwar Bhata' in 1944. This was his Bollywood debut. It was the Bhagwati Charan Verma, a Hindi author who gave Dilip Kumar his popular name. Though his first film went totally unnoticed, his next one named 'Jugnu' was a box office hit in the year 1947. His most popular role of the time was in the 1949 film 'Andaaz' which was a love triangle between himself, Nargis and Raj Kapoor.

In the 50s, he was seen in films like 'Jogan', 'Daag', 'Deedar', 'Devdas' and 'Yahudi'. For 'Daag' and 'Devdas', he won the Filmfare Best Actor Award. His other films like 'Aan' and 'Naya Daur' from the decade are still etched in public minds. However, the year 1960 brought a major film project to him, which will be one of the most epic masterpieces in the history of Hindi cinema. It was K. Asif's 'Mughal-E-Azam'. In 1961, he was seen starring alongside his brother Nasir Khan in the film 'Ganga Jamuna'. For the 1962 film 'Lawrence Of Arabia', David Lean, the film director offered him the role of 'Sherif Ali', but he declined it.

His 1964 film 'Leader' couldn't do much, but his 1967 film 'Ram Aur shyam' a story of separated twins was a hit. However, by the 70s, his career began to slow down. Films like 'Dastaan', 'Gopi' and 'Bairaag' characterized his career in the 70s. He also acted in a Bengali film in 1970, titled 'Sagina Mahato'. However, he took a career gap from the year 1976 till 1981.

He re-entered the industry in 1981, with the film 'Kranti' where he played the role of a revolutionary who fights against the British rule. The film was a multi-starrer with Shashi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Hema Malini and Manoj Kumar as the main characters. Then came his another film in 1982, titled 'Vidhaata', where he shared the screen space with Sanjay Dutt. His role in Ramesh Sippy's film 'Shakti', won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. His most popular film of the 80s was 'Karma'. This was his second film with Subhash Ghai, the first one being 'Vidhaata'. His role in the 1991 film 'Saudagar', played alongside Raaj Kumar is very well known. In 1993, he was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. His last full fledged film role was in the 1998 film 'Qila', where he played the role of a vicious landowner, who gets murdered, and his twin brother, who sets out for the revenge of his brother's murder. In the year 2004, his 1960 epic hit 'Mughal-E-Azam' was colorized and so was 'Naya Daur' in 2008.

His health deteriorated by the end of 2011 and some rumors were spread about his death, but were eventually trashed. He has won several awards including the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and several Filmfare Awards. In fact he is also a record holder in the Guiness Book of World Records for the Indian actor winning highest number of awards.

Even at the matured age of 91, he is still active on the internet and communicates himself with his fans through Twitter.