Legendary actor Dilip Kumar breathed his last on Wednesday, after battling age-related complications for a while. He was hospitalised at Mumbai's Hinduja Hospital on Tuesday after he complained of breathlessness.
Known as the ‘Tragedy King of Bollywood’, the star’s acting prowess, good looks, and charisma were unparalleled and six decades in the industry is a testimony of that.
But here are some lesser-known facts about Dilip Saab that you probably didn’t know:
For his first film 'Jwar Bhata' in 1944, Dilip Kumar was paid ₹1250 per month as his remuneration. But during his superstardom days, the actor’s signing amount ranged from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 11 lakh, the highest in the industry.
Dilip Kumar took method acting to a whole other level. For the song 'Madhuban Mein Radhika Naacha Re' from the film 'Kohinoor', Dilip Kumar learned how to play the sitar and trained for six months. Music composer Naushad Ali in an interview had said, Dilip Kumar had turned up on set with his fingers bandaged. When asked, the thespian said, his fingers had cut while training on the sitar, but he wanted the close-up shots to look authentic.
'Mughal-E-Azam is Dilip Kumar’s highest-grossing film to date. The 1960 mega-blockbuster earned a whopping Rs 5.50 crore at the box office half a century ago.
But can you guess how much the film is worth today?
The price for 10 grams of Gold in 1960 was just Rs 112, today its almost nearing Rs 50,000. The business of Mughal-e-Azam, if calculated in terms of the current gold price, beats the collective total of all-time top four highest box office grossers of India, films like 'Baahubali: The Conclusion, 'Dangal', 'Avengers: Endgame' and 'Tiger Zinda Hai'. The number amounts to somewhere over Rs 1600 crore.
Dilip Kumar's cult fame came at a cost. With roles in tragedies written for him in the 1950s, Dilip Kumar went through bouts of depression and later decided to opt for lighter roles in films like 'Ram Aur Shyam' and 'Gopi'.
But 'Tragedy King' Dilip Kumar was a very fun-loving and jovial person in real life, quite contrary to his on-screen roles. Friends and fellow actors say Dilip Kumar has been known to make people laugh for hours.
Though the reasons are not clear, media reports say Dilip Kumar declined the role of Sherif Ali in filmmaker David Lean’s "Lawrence of Arabia" in 1962. The role went to Egyptian actor Omar Sharif.