Dilip Kumar, Bollywood’s ‘tragedy king’, dies aged 98
ONE of India’s most famous actors Dilip umar, known for his tear-jerking roles in Hindi cinema, died on Wednesday at the age of 98. Dilip umar’s death was announced by family friend Faisal Farooqui on the veteran actor’s Twitter handle.
umar died at Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai, after he was admitted last week complaining of breathlessness.
Born in 1922 in Peshawar, now in Pakistan, as Muhammad usuf
han, the actor changed his name to Dilip umar when he began his Bollywood career in 1949.
umar has acted in over 60 films in a six-decade long career, with his biggest hits between 1949 and 1961 - some of them all-time classics of Bollywood.
In Mughal-e-Azam (1960), umar played the handsome, besotted Prince Salim trying to stand up for his love against a largerthan-life father in Bollywood’s most lauded period film.
His other memorable roles include the intense lovelorn heroes of Andaz (1949) and Devdas (1955).
The mood is lighter in the top-grossing film Azaad (1955) where he plays a bandit posing as a wealthy man, and in anga Jamuna (1961), woven around social issues and class divides.
He was known for his sensitive portrayal of other male leads, with roles ranging from a struggling farmer, politician, trade unionist, to a refined gentleman and more.
Dilip umar put in tremendous effort to get into the skin of his characters, according to his autobiography The Substance and the Shadow, published in 2014. For a movie where he had to play the sitar, he took lessons for nearly a year.
His acting was styled yet natural and had a distinctive quality, eminent film critic halid Mohamed wrote in a 2012 article titled
The magic of Dilip umar in the Deccan Chronicle newspaper.
Dilip umar’s diction, dialogue delivery (oh those killer pauses), uid body language and a face capable of limitless expressions are unchallenged, Mohamed wrote.
umar is said to have passed over a lead role in David Lean’s
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) that later went to Egyptian actor Omar Sharif.
In his later years he would play the role of the patriarch, often putting in shadow younger stars like Amitabh Bachchan.
An institution has gone .. whenever the history of Indian Cinema will be written , it shall always be before Dilip umar, and after Dilip umar’, Bachchan wrote on Twitter.
In a message of condolence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote the actor will be remembered as a cinematic legend who enthralled audiences across generations.
umar won many Indian film awards, served as a member of parliament and the sheriff of Mumbai. In 2015, he received the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award.
He was also honoured by Pakistan with the country’s highest civilian award, the Nishan-e-Pakistan.
Dilip umar is survived by his wife Saira Banu, whom he married in 1966 when he was 44 and she was 22. They have no children.