Prosenjit

A glittering chapter of Indian cinema has come to an end. Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand — these legendary names hold immense significance in the world of Indian cinema. Dilip Kumar is a legend... and is a part of history, the history of cinema... his name will shine bright forever.

Sabyasachi Chakrabarty

At one point of time he was the king of Hindi films, though there were other actors too like Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar... they were all contemporaries... but what was special about Dilip Kumar is that he would never over-emote, there was a certain sophistication in his acting. All of his films are great, and one would watch them awestruck. I think he was outstanding in Tapan Sinha’s Sagina Mahato. I really liked his style of dialogue delivery, the rustic look and his expressions in the film. Sagina Mahato is my all-time favourite and in later years the film Shakti with Amitabh Bachchan. He had a certain control over his acting. I was just a film fanatic like all youngsters, so I used to watch all kinds of films and that included Hollywood, Hindi and Bangla and that is how I got introduced to Dilip Kumar’s films too. Though I was a bit inclined towards Hollywood films, in Hindi I used to always like Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar and Dev Anand, though their acting styles were much different from Dilip Kumar. The only time I saw him in person was at the Calcutta airport. He walked in and talked to a few people and was whisked away to the VIP lounge. That was the only time I have seen him in person otherwise I’d never met him.

Raima Sen

I’m really sorry to hear about his demise. I have seen Devdas and my grandmom (Suchitra Sen) would tell me stories about him. She spoke really fondly of him. It is such a picture perfect frame (above), so emotional. One is reminded of my grandmom’s classic black-and-white movies. One is transported to a different era. She looks beautiful in the picture, and her eyes have this quiet determination and resolve. She looks so serene.

Anup Ghoshal, Musician who had done the playback for Dilip Kumar’s film Sagina Mahato

I first met him during the shoot of Tapan Sinha’s film Sagina Mahato in 1969. I had recorded a song for him to lip-sync. He was supposed to sing the song himself initially. But he said that the song was sung so well that he will lip-sync and the voice will remain as it is. That showed how big an artiste he was. He did not have any ego. That is what I understood. When I recorded the song Chhoti si panchchi, Tapan Sinha had said that I sang it really well and I had heard that it was sent to him, and they had requested him to pick up the song to sing in the film. But he refused, he really liked the song the way it was sung. A portion in the beginning of the song... only that part was recorded initially for him. I met him only once during the shoot of Sagina Mahato... and when the movie was shown at the mahurat in our studio, we met once more. We have never interacted that much really. There were always many people around him. He was a very big artiste and such big people are always large-hearted. The way I thought of him... my idea matched after meeting him too. I had met him at his house once. Some people from Calcutta wanted to meet him and they had asked me too. I agreed to accompany them. I was thinking that he would not be able to recognise me, but he did. I reminded him of our shooting of Sagina Mahato and he said it was really nice. He was such a big artiste, yet on the set he always remained like an ordinary person.

Rituparna Sengupta

I have been hearing his name from my childhood... and as I grew up I got to know about his commanding presence in cinema. I was in school when I saw Shakti. I was thrilled to see two great actors, Amitabh Bachchan and Dilip Kumar, coming together in a film. After that I saw Karma, Saudagar... later on I saw Devdas, Madhumati. My father’s a great fan of his, and I often would hear about him from my father. The whole world is mourning his loss today. He has left behind a huge legacy. He was so versatile... the way he used to deliver his dialogues, his pauses, his silence, his expression... was absolutely mesmerising. It is one of the darkest days of our film industry since we have lost a precious gem. He was like a Kohinoor to us. We lost the Kohinoor of our industry. It is a very sad day. I had not personally interacted with him but I had met him on a few occasions. I convey my condolences to the family. He will always be with us and shine forever.

Abir Chatterjee

It is difficult to pick a favourite Dilip Kumar film. The kind of acting style that he had, the subtlety in acting that actors follow nowadays, it all started with him. We actually started watching his films much later. He was a contemporary of our parents’ generation and they were huge fans of his films. Thankfully, the wonderful and popular black-and-white films of his times are available online, and I have watched many of his films online in later years. When we were growing up these films weren’t aired on television that often and seeing them in theatres was of course not possible. I would pick at least two of his films. I was a huge fan of his film Shakti; another is Madhumati. I think it is hard to explain the kind of acting charisma and power he had. The kind of nuances he used to bring to his performances are memorable. You just watch the film and enjoy it. I loved the way he presented himself, the melancholy that he brought to his performances... that is why he was also called the ‘tragedy king’. The romance and the slightly heart-broken characters that he used to play in his younger years were of course popular but later on the different character roles that he played gained equal popularity too. He did not confine himself to the roles of heroes only. Although we have seen him as the protagonist in many films, his character roles were also very inspiring. It is a great learning for any actor that you should not confine yourself to a particular image even if you are a very popular hero, you should take risks by exploring different characters. And he was a superstar. The kind of aura and charisma he had and the way he used to carry it with him. He had a very natural flow in his acting style. The way he emoted came to him very naturally and that was something to learn. Shakti is a double hero film in my opinion and I really liked it. The kind of emotions he expressed with silence was unbelievable at that point of time. I watched Shakti in a very early stage of my life. He never expressed his emotions with grandeur and that was brilliant.

Parambrata Chattopadhyay

I started watching Dilip Kumar’s films on growing up. Also, my family has a connection with his films like Madhumati. My maternal family is the Ghatak family and a member from that family had written the script for Madhumati, so there’s a connection that way. The Dilip Kumar films that I watched, his films represented the new India, the post-Independence India which is also universal in a certain way. Very Hollywood in a certain way and still very Indian. Those times were very different, they don’t make films like that any more. He is not just an actor or movie star, he is lot more than that. There is a certain Indian sensibility. People like Dilip Kumar represent the syncretic culture of India. Through Madhumati I got introduced to his films. His acting style was modern and that I really appreciate.