Dilip Kumar

He was in a romantic relationship with actress Madhubala but had to end it as her father was opposed to their marriage.

He married the much younger actress Saira Banu in 1966; he was 44 and she was 22 at the time of their marriage.

He had a second marriage with Asma in 1980 but the marriage was short-lived.

He was born as Muhammad Yusuf Khan into a Pashtun family in Peshawar (now in Pakistan). His father, Lala Ghulam Sarwar was a fruit merchant. He received his primary education from the prestigious Barnes School in Deolali.

His large family relocated to Mumbai during the 1930s in search of a better future for the children.

Yusuf went to Pune during the early 1940s where he began operating a canteen. He supplemented his income by supplying dry fruit.

He happened to meet actress Devika Rani and her husband Himanshu Rai in 1943. Rai was the owner of Bombay Talkies and the husband-wife duo selected Yusuf for playing the lead role in their film ‘Jwar Bhata’ which was released in 1944. During this time he acquired the screen name Dilip Kumar.

He starred as Sooraj in ‘Jugnu’ in 1947 which also had Noor Jehan and Shashikala in important roles. The film was a big hit and is noted for being the legendary actor’s first major hit.

After the success of ‘Jugnu’, Dilip Kumar was flooded with movie offers and appeared in several movies in 1948 including ‘Shaheed’, ‘Mela’ and ‘Anokha Pyar’ of which ‘Shaheed’ was a big hit.

He found his big breakthrough with Mehboob Khan’s ‘Andaz’ in 1949. It was a love triangle which also starred Raj Kapoor and Nargis. The movie went on to become the top grossing film ever made in India till then.

The decade of 1950s was very productive for him. It was during this time that his image as a tragic hero began to emerge as he played tragic roles in ‘Jogan’ 1950, ‘Deedar’ (1951) and ‘Daag’ (1952).

One of the best known works of the Tragedy King is his movie ‘Devdas’ which is a love triangle revolving around the doomed love of Devdas and Paro. The movie won him a Filmfare Award and was ranked among the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films by Indiatimes Movies in 2005.

His film ‘Kohinoor’ in which he acted opposite Meena Kumari was a rare film where he played a light-hearted role. The movie is famous for its funny scenes and Dilip Kumar won a Filmfare Award for his role.

‘Ram Aur Shyam’ a film in which he played the dual roles of twin brothers who are separated at birth and reunited later on is a very famous film which has inspired several remakes in Hindi films.