Considered as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema, Dilip Kumar originally known as Yusuf Khan was born on 11th December, 1922 in Peshawar, Pakistan. With a Pathan family of 22, Yusuf Khan’s father came to Mumbai and set up his own business. And later Yusuf Khan shifted to Pune to start his own canteen business and supplying of dry fruits. He started his career at the age of 22. It was only in the year 1966, Dilip Kumar married actress and beauty queen Saira Banu.

Jwar Bhatta in 1944 introduced a magnificent and spectacular actor Yusuf, who was given a screen name Dilip Kumar. After getting launched in 1944, by the late 1940’s, 1950’s, 1960’s and 1980’s, Dilip Kumar had starred in most of the commercially successful film that only boost his career. Known as the Tragedy King of Bollywood, Dilip Kumar became popular for his deep, rich voice. Dilip Kumar’s performances have been regarded as the epitome of emoting in Indian Cinema. The first one to receive the Best Actor award, Dilip Kumar even holds a record for winning the most number of awards for the same category.

Considered as one of the best actors produced by the Hindi film industry, Dilip Kumar has always balanced a wide variety of roles such as the powerful Andaz in 1949 with the swashbuckling Aan of 1952, the dramatic Devdas in 1955 with the comical Azaad in 1955 and the 1960 historical romance Mughal-E-Azam with the social Ganga Jamuna in 1961. After having done every possible role, Dilip Kumar took a long 5 year break and returned to the industry with power packed performances in Kranti and central character roles such as Shakti, Karma and Saudagar.

Being the recipient of India’s highest award for cinematic excellence, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and also the Nishan-e-Pakistan, Pakistan’s highest civilian award, Dilip Kumar in the year 1998 retired from the Indian Film Industry leaving a benchmark for the actors of today to reach.

It is Dilip Kumar’s style of acting that is characterised by rich dialogues in Urdu and a very poetic style of delivery. His acting has influenced his successors and many actors who look up to him. There have been many who try to emulate his style but all in vain.