RIP Dilip Kumar: A look at his association with Tamil and Telugu cinema

Dilip Kumar worked with several Tollywood and Kollywood filmmakers in his career

Bollywood legend Dilip Kumar, who died on Wednesday at the age of 98, was widely regarded as one of the first superstars of Indian cinema. While almost everyone knows about his contribution to Hindi cinema, not everyone may be aware of the fact that he shared a special bond with the Tamil and Telugu film industries. As fans mourn his demise, here is a look at some relatively unknown aspects of Saab's career.

Also Read | RIP Dilip Kumar: A stellar performer who left an indelible impact on Hindi cinema

Appreciation for ANR

In 1955, Kumar received rave reviews for his work in the Bimal Roy-helmed classic Devdas. The film was an adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Bengali novel of the same name and revolved around the life of an arrogant young man from a well-to-do family. The novel had previously been adapted into a Telugu-Tamil bilingual movie Devadasu/Devadas, starring the iconic ANR. The 'Tragedy King' had once given a shout-out to the thespian for his work in the film.

Ram Aur Shyam: A glorious remake

Kumar suffered a few setbacks in the mid-1960s when Leader and Dil Diya Dard didn't live up to expectations. He eventually bounced back with Tapi Chanakya's Ram Aur Shyam, which hit the screens in 1967 and emerged as a big hit. It, incidentally, was a remake of Sr NTR's Telugu classic Ramudu Bheemudu. The Telugu version was also remade in Tamil and Malayalam as Enga Veettu Pillai and Ajayanum Vijayanum with MGR and Prem Nazir in the lead.

Dubbed releases

While Kumar never acted in a Kollywood film, his 1960 blockbuster Mughal-e-Azam was dubbed and released in Tamil as Akbar in 1961. Similarly, the 1957 classic Naya Daur was dubbed in Tamil as Pattaliyin Sabatham in 1958.

Notable collaborations with stalwarts

'Saab' collaborated with celebrated Tamil filmmaker A Bhimsingh for the 1970 release Gopi, which did reasonably well at the box office. He teamed up with Telugu director B Gopal for the 1989 release Kanoon Apna Apna, co-starring Sanjay Dutt. The flick was a remake of Collector Gari Abbai, which featured ANR and Nagarjuna. K Bapayya and K Raghavendra Rao directed Kumar in Izzatdaar and Dharm Adhikari, respectively.