End Of A Golden Era
   Date :11-Jul-2021

by the way_1  H
 
By ANSHUMAN BHARGAVA :
 
Dilip Kumar was one of the three members of the famed troika of cinema’s most celebrated faces that included the evergreen Dev Anand and showman Raj Kapoor. For reference, all three have won the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award. 
 
Dilip Kumar didn’t have the showmanship of some of his contemporaries— he was unassuming, to say the least, and made no bones about his ordinary looks. He was not associated with all the glitz and hype that Hindi cinema stars are generally known to embrace. He was not someone who would overtly try to publicise himself to sell his films and his charisma. 
 
THE demise of acting legend Dilip Kumar has also sounded the end of a golden era of Hindi and Indian cinema. Dilip Kumar was one of the three members of the famed troika of cinema’s most celebrated faces that included the evergreen Dev Anand and showman Raj Kapoor. For reference, all three have won the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award, the highest honour in Indian cinema, which cinematic stalwarts like Ashok Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Satyajit Ray, Pankaj Mallik, Mrinal Sen, Soumitra Chatterjee, Tapan Sinha and Devika Rani have shared. Dilip Kumar is no less than these greats and hence in his death as in his life, he has found an apt reference in their company. Dilip Kumar was not a prolific actor – he hardly did more than two films a year even in his peak, for in a career spanning over five decades, he appeared in only around 70-odd films— he was very choosy and particular about where he would best fit in a role; he was not a socialite either, who could be seen in fashion circles and film parties, so common in the tinsel down. He didn’t have the showmanship of some of his contemporaries— he was unassuming, to say the least, and made no bones about his ordinary looks. He was not associated with all the glitz and hype that Hindi cinema stars are generally known to embrace. He was not someone who would overtly try to publicise himself to sell his films and his charisma.
 
The inherent shyness of Yusuf Khan from his pre-acting days in Peshawar, where he was born and spent his early days, would remain his lifelong company, which he could never overcome, despite being in the limelight for a whole era and influencing thousands of wannabe actors with his unique mastery of the film art. Yet, what enhances the mystery surrounding the man is that despite being on the side of reticence and reclusiveness, he grew into a cult figure in his lifetime – not just because of his films but also because of his restraint and decorum – a whiff of an inherent royal elegance that he carried with him till his last day. Despite being bedridden for almost 15 years preceding his death, his lovers, admirers, fans, and followers never dwindled and he was continued to be talked and written about even for doing nothing. Not many stars achieve this kind of reverent adulation that Saab enjoyed. He never ran after fame and money, but fame chased him and made him a larger-than-life figure, which he had never thought of. The memories from the roles he essayed in the 50s and 60s are as fresh as they were in their heydays. Films like ‘Shaheed,’ ‘Mughal-e Azam,’ ‘Devdas,’ ‘Daag,’ ‘Madhumati,’ ‘Ram Aur Shyam.’ ‘Ganga Jamuna,’ ‘Naya Daur’ — the landmarks of Indian cinema – also cemented the name of Dilip Kumar as a harbinger of method acting in India. He introduced a new kind of sensibility to Indian cinema that shunned callow romanticism and celebrated pathos as a part of life’s reality. Perhaps no other actor of the time could justify these roles the way Dilip Kumar did, which certainly is one of the reasons for his claim to such iconic fame. These names will shine bright as long as the business and art of cinema exist on earth and Dilip Kumar will thus continue to stir our psyche and inspire us, whenever there is a reference to great cinema. It would be an understatement to say that Dilip Saab was a very consummate actor of the tragic genre, though he was brilliant in some of the lighter roles as well, his sobriety never leaving him in the process.
 
He was a voracious reader – his Urdu was as impeccable as his acting skills, and he very diligently prepared himself for the character he was to play, which is one reason he took breaks between films and did fewer films because he was left exhausted after the grueling effort he put into each film to perfect his craft. Such hard work and deep involvement are reflected on the screen – in his elegant mannerisms, in the cadence and clarity of his dialogue delivery, and his varied expression that could evoke every emotion he wanted – which makes his films so great. That’s the mettle an intensely passionate actor is made of. No critic ever could write disparagingly about Kumar’s films. No wonder, he won eight Filmfare awards (three of them in a row) and record nine of his films remained the highest-grossing films of all time, till Salman Khan broke it in recent years with ten. He was so perfect to a fault that his films remain ever relatable and relevant, and his acting is worth emulating as ever, which every generation of aspiring actors can learn from. Many things have been written and told about his films and his life surrounding films, but the equally endearing person that Dilip Kumar was, doesn’t find many mentions, because he never opened up much, bragging about his greatness. He was a personification of grace and decency and gracefully accepted the age that signaled him to bid adieu to filmdom, even when actors, unable to reconcile with the truth of their fading relevance, want to hang on in the transient world of glamour, lest the world should forget them. Perhaps Saab knew his aura was never going to fade, even when the lights were turned off.
 
Not many people know that he was a generous philanthropist who helped the poor in large numbers, yet he was too humble to trump it up around town. He was a go-to man in the film industry for anyone who was in need of any kind of support – be it emotional or financial. He represented an era that we have lost – a time when people valued people and stood for each other through their ups and downs as a family. He was from that era that celebrated unity and brotherhood of mankind above the politics of narrow communal boundaries and made decency in speech and action a cornerstone of character. Like his good friend Sunil Dutt, Kumar too worked in his own silent way towards peace and harmony between nations and communities. By the way, a lover of the arts, he knew that peace was the only way for the promotion and refinement of culture beyond geographical boundaries—because, to people like him, art was the only religion, the only threat that binds us together. These are rare qualities these days, which made people like Dilip Kumar even greater as persons than what they portrayed on the screen.