The thespian speaks
RANJAN DAS GUPTA
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Another book on the grand old man of Bollywood, Dilip Kumar, co-authored by his wife Saira Banu, will hit the stands soon.
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The look that stole heartsActor Dilip Kumar.
In 1972, Uttam Kumar was attending a trial show of “Sagina Mahato” at Kolkata. Seeing the film he rose, held director Tapan Sinha’s hand and said, “Tapanda, you did the right thing by casting Dilip Kumar as Sagina. His performance is unforgettable. I would have never been able to perform ‘Sagina Mahato’ the way Dilip Kumar has done.”
The ultimate thespian of the Indian screen Dilip Kumar is at present narrating his biography to wife Saira Banu and veteran journalist Udaya Tara Nair. He says with a soft smile, “I am in a different mood these days recollecting memories of my childhood, youth, acting career and other aspects of my life. At 86 it is very difficult to remember all anecdotes for a complete biography.”
Three books on Dilip Kumar by Vinita Lamba, Sanjit Nawrekar and Lord Meghnad Desai are already top sellers. But Dilip Kumar is not content. He adds, “The book by Vinita Lamba was too sketchy. Sanjit Nawrekar’s book was a shade better. The one by Lord Meghnad Desai was a commendable attempt. Yet, there are many aspects of my life which are unpublished. I want to narrate them in my own style for this yet untitled biography.”
Why did he choose Saira Banu to be one of the authors? He smiles again, “She is my life partner. No other woman has understood me the way Saira has. She has supported me in all my avenues of life. I know Udaya Tara for more than two decades and have full confidence in her writing abilities.”
Dilip Kumar is an institution by himself. Amitabh Bachhan describes him as, “the milestone for every upcoming actor.” Tabu says, “It is a dream not only of mine but every actress of even my generation to work with a towering actor like Dilip Kumar. There are so many aspects of acting we can learn from him.”
Dilip says, “My acting career right from ‘Jwar Bhata’ in 1944 to ‘Quila’ in 1998 is being covered in my biography. When I first entered films I was a poor and shaky actor. Peculiar love scenes, theatricals and melodrama existed in films then. I understood I had to be natural, at ease and put in maximum efforts behind each character. Directors Amiya Chakrabarty, Nitin Bose, Bimal Ray and Mehboob Khan brought the best out of me as an actor. Later Zia Sarhadi, K. Asif, B.R. Chopra and Tapan Sinha utilised my acting abilities to the hilt. My most intimate films are ‘Andaz’, ‘Jogan’, ‘Footpath’, ‘Devdas’, ‘Mughal-e-Azam’, ‘Ganga Jumna’ and ‘Sagina Mahato’ in Bengali.”
The trio
Dilip Kumar speaks highly about his contemporaries Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand in his biography. He admits, “They rose to the top on the basis of sheer hard work and merit. Raj and Dev are still unmatched in ‘Jagte Raho’ and ‘Guide’. The three of us were never rivals. We shared clean healthy competition amongst ourselves and joined hands for any social cause required from the film industry in the ‘50s and ‘60s.”
He considers Meena Kumari, Suchitra Sen, Nargis, Vyjayantimala and Waheeda Rehman the best actresses he has worked with. He says, “I cherished working with the highly gifted Rakhee and the late Smita Patil in ‘Shakti’. I lament I did not get a chance to work with Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi both of whom are powerful actresses.”
Dilip is pouring in memories of his childhood days at Peshawar, his family fruit business, details of undivided India, Partition and aftermath in his biography like a collage of photographs. Dilip Kumar opted out of David Lean’s “Lawrence Of Arabia” though he was offered the lifetime’s role of Ali later immortalised by Omar Sharif. He recalls, “I was too busy with my home production ‘Ganga Jumna’. Besides, I had to shoot for a Bengali film ‘Paari’. I regret I could not work with the legendary Sir David Lean. Seeing ‘Lawrence Of Arabia’ I have confessed many times Omar Sharif did a far better job.” “Aye Mere Dil Kahin Aur Chal”, “Yeh Hawa Yeh Raat”, “Suhana Safar” and “Madhuban Mein Radhika” are some of Dilip’s favourite songs. For “Madhuban Mein Radhika” in “Kohinoor” he learnt to play the sitar for one and a half years. He laughs, “Hrishikesh Mukherjee and music director Salil Chowdhury literally compelled me to sing the number ‘Lagi Nahin Chhoote’ in ‘Musafir’ myself. It was the first playback I rendered.”
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