From Mohamad Yusuf Khan to Dilip Kumar From Peshawar to Bollywood From Muslim to Hindu Name

Описание: #dilipkumar #rip #dilipkumarsaab #bollywood #news

So many times in the past have we heard of Dilip Kumar's demise and it has always turned out to be a hoax. This morning, India and the world, woke up to the same news, but, sadly it was not a hoax this time around.

Dilip Kumar has passed away at a ripe age of 98. Short of 2 years from a millenium that he ruled as an actor in the Hindi Film Industry. Even after the curtain call on his career, Dilip Kumar, never went out of the public memory, unlike many actors of his time.

Condelences are pouring in from the film fraternity, including celebrities, actors, filmmakers, singers, politicians and people. The tributes will not stop. He was after all the Maarlun Brandow of Bollywood. The original Badshah of the Bombay film industry.

Already, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading the nation in paying his last respects to one of the country's cinematic greats.

The demise of the legendary actor has left Amitabh Bachchan deeply saddened. Taking to Twitter, Big B extended his heartfelt condolences by saying My duas for peace of his soul and the strength to the family to bear this loss.

The Tragedy King was bigger than Bollywood and certainly bigger than Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, combined

Dilip Kumar's death, will have the sound of fury, much like his very remarkable journey — from the son of a Pathan fruit merchant to a Titan who became the face of the Hindi Film Industry — and sat atop its high throne.

It was perhaps this fairy tale transformation that captured a nation's imagination because Dilip Kumar's story has been — in many ways — the story of India too.

An India, which many feel, is not the same anymore. Here was a legend, who switched his name from Muslim to Hindu and lo and behold — no one blinked an eyelid.

He was loved, adored, honoured, and idolised by millions.

Born on December 11, 1922 in Peshawar, which is in modern day Pakistan, Dilip Kumar's real name was Mohammad Yusuf Khan. His strict father, Lala Ghulam Sarwar, frowned upon movies. Little did the old man know that his son was going to become a leading light of one of the world's biggest film industries.

It was a time when India and Pakistan were one country. Khan's family moved from Peshawar to Nasik in Maharashtra in the 1930s. He attended school in Deolali. Mumbai, then Bombay, was not too far. Strapping and swashbuckling, he got introduced to a film producer.

The actor adopted the screen name Dilip Kumar, partly not to offend his father, when producer Devika Rani offered him the lead role in the film 'Jwar Bhata' back in 1944. But it was the 1949 hit, Andaz, with Nargis and Raj Kapoor that shot him to fame.

Filmmakers in that age thought a Hindu screen name might offer Khan more acceptance with the audience, who were majority Hindu.

And the rest is history, as they say. The boy from Peshawar never really looked back. He went on to feature in hits like ‘Jugnu’, ‘Shaheed’, ‘Andaz’, ‘Jogan’, ‘Daag’, ‘Aan’, ‘Devdas’, ‘Naya Daur’ and ‘Mughal-e-Azam.' A star was born. At 25, Dilip Kumar was India's biggest star.

A refined man, he was quite soft-spoken, suave, usually seen in custome made indigo suits and Oxford ties. However, there was one thing he never forgot — his sense of connectedness.

Be it his immediate family of fruit merchants in Bombay's Crawford Market or his legendary romance with a younger Saira Banu, who he married in 1966. Saira Banu was 22 and Dilip Kumar was 44.

Saira Banu was just 12 when she fell in love with Dilip Kumar, who was already a big star at that time. He was 34. In 1960, during the premiere of Mughal-e-Azam, a 16-year-old Saira was expecting to meet her crush for the first time. However, the actor didn't turn up for the premiere, the actress was shattered. It was a little later when Saira Banu finally met Dilip Kumar and sparks began to fly instantly.

Dilip Kumar was awarded a whopping 8 Filmfare Awards, in addition to 19 Filmfare nominations. He also received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and Padma Bhushan Award for his contribution to cinema. Pakistan conferred its highest civilian honour, the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, to Dilip Kumar in 1998.

There is little doubt that he lent the Indian film industry a new identity. It was craft, not glamour, that mattered to the likes of him. Dilip Kumar understood the psychie of the human condition and how to showcase it. In doing so, he made the audiences waltz with him.

Dilip Kumar's journey that started from Peshawar ended at the Juhi Qabrastan in Mumbai and his last rites were done with full state honours.

In burying Dilip Kumar, a Kohinoor, would be laid to rest. And saying this is not an exagerration. His death is a piercing loss.

Here's sending out a prayer for his transition into the other realm and strength for those he leaves behind to overcome the void.

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Jai Hind!