Looking beyond Dilip Kumar the actor

In the thespian’s birth centenary year, Ranjan Das Gupta writes about the actor’s passion for cricket and music

Dilip Kumar was leading the Mumbai film star’s cricket team against their Bengal counterpart at Eden Gardens in 1978. It was a cricket game to raise funds for flood devastated Bengal. Enjoying a few light moments with his competitor, Uttam Kumar, Dilip Kumar went to bat. He scored 54 runs with 7 boundaries. The match was a huge success and lots of funds were raised which were contributed to then Chief Minister of Bengal, Jyoti Basu’s relief trust.

The thespian was a true cricket lover and player. He admired Vijay Hazare, Poli Umrigar and Vijay Manjrekar’s batting. He along with Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand indulged in many cricket matches at Brabourne stadium, Mumbai. A genuine football lover, Dilip Kumar was a supporter of Mohammedan Sporting, Kolkata and also appreciated Mohun Bagan and East Bengal clubs.

Regular morning walks at Joggers Park, Mumbai, and fitness exercises kept Dilip healthy till he suffered from heart ailments in the late 90s. He was an avid reader of Rabindranath Tagore, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Munshi Premchand and William Shakespeare. His recitation of Urdu ‘shayari’ was a delight for listeners.

During a visit to Kolkata in 1993, at Taj Bengal Hotel, Dilip did Urdu ‘shayari’ as Vilayat Khan strummed the sitar chords. Director Tapan Sinha who was present as one of the selected invitees was moved to tears of joy witnessing the event. Vilayat Khan embraced his beloved Yusuf Bhai aka Dilip after the event.

No wonder following Vilayat Khan’s style of playing the sitar, Dilip learnt to play the musical instrument for one and a half years to perform the song sequence, Madhuban Me Radhika from Kohinoor,1960. After a sarod recital by Ali Akbar Khan at his Pali Hill residence in Mumbai in the late 1950s, Dilip embraced the maestro and cried in joy.

Similarly, viewing a live dance performance by Uday and Amala Shankar in New Delhi, the actor clapped in praise. He told the couple, ”Main yeh soch ke hairan hun, aap itni achhi rhythm kaise rakhte hai”. Very few know that an assistant of director Nitin Bose was facing financial problems in returning to Kolkata in 1961. Learning about it, Dilip promptly paid his train fare (first class) and recommended him highly so he could join Ajay Kar’s directional team. The tea stall owner at Khan Market could not believe his eyes when he received a gift of Rs 500 from Dilip who was fascinated by his liquor tea.

Generally known as an arrogant person, the actor generally avoided unintelligent, loud-mouthed people. He rarely showed his true emotional self in public. When he was truly impressed by a person’s honesty and intelligence, he made friendly relations with him. He really respected seniors, hailed contemporaries and bestowed affection on his juniors.

His acting accolades as a versatile, intense actor are very well known and written about many times. But Dilip the human being is little known or talked about. Like Uttam Kumar he always said, “Sab Dilip Kumar ko bahut pasand karte hai. Lekin Yusuf Khan ko koi puchta nahin.” The soft-spoken Dilip was liberated from religious dogmas and never indulged in abusive language.  

(The author has written about and known Dilip Kumar for three decades.)