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Dilip Kumar – as Tragedy King

Devdas (1955)

Dilip Kumar in Devdas (1955)

This film has to be seen in terms of continuation of Dilip Kumar’s earlier films such as Shaheed (1948), Andaz (1949), Jogan (1950), Deedar (I 951), Sangdil (1952) and Shikast (1953).

All the characters were intense with varying shades of introspection. Scene after scene was negotiated in a way that the artiste held the audience firmly in his grip.

He played with silence as well as soft whispers and pauses. His silence was more voluble than a thousand words.

According to me, an avid student of his work, he reached the zenith as the soft-spoken, introvert tragedian in this film directed by Bimal Roy.

Devdas was not only a milestone for Dilip Kumar but also established a school to which many hove sought to gain entry and learn. It signalled in no uncertain terms, the actor’s maturity, his oneness with characters who were ever so vulnerably human.

Devdas is a prime example of what a director and his actor can achieve with simplicity, with the pristine purity of un­spoken words in love scenes. No won­der, they cannot be ever erased from my memory – Saira Bano (Filmfare Magazine)

Mughal-e-Azam (1960)

Dilip Kumar in Mughal-e-Azam (1960)

Prince Saleem was again a total departure from any role essayed by Dilip Kumar before this. A for­mal character in the genre of the classical historical drama had not been attempted by any of his contemporaries. Neither has it been attempted with as much success by any of the present gene­ration of actors

Mughal-e-Azam is a classic. The pulse of the Mughal era has been touch­ed with astounding acumen. The splendor of the bygone era has never been recreated with such eye-filling sumptuousness and that too, largely in black-and-white.

The dialogue is like pieces culled from period literature; the lines reverberate in the mind of the viewer long after the sea­sons have changed and other merchandise has been placed on exhibition of the cinema halls.

While Madhubala captivates with her seamless charm and the delicate rendering of the character of the tormented kaneez so hopelessly in love with the exalted Prince Saleem, Dilip Kumar turns in a rare depiction, cast almost as it were in a Shakespearean mould.

He rendered his dialogue with a crystalline diction and majesty. It was evident, right from the first to the closing frames, that he owned the character he portrayed. An exercise outside the ambit of his personality, his perfomance in Mughal-e-Azam should rank with the best that he.. or for that matter anyone else has tried in the realm of the historical sagas of Indian cinema.

I will never forget the scene where Jodhabai, played by Durga Khote,wants to set eyes on her son Saleem who has came home after years of separa­tion; he has been courting battles to expand his father’s empire. That scene will always be quoted by historians of our nation’s cinema… it will be quoted for Saleem’s regal walk towards Jodhabai… the way he kneels with respect and looks at his mother. Here is o man of steel with the softness of silk in his eyes.

Similarly, it is impossible to forget the look in Dilip Kumar’s eyes when he first steals a look at the life size statue of Anarkali, the stoke that will be unveiled to all the next morning. In a tight close up, his eyes light up, and he smiles because he has liked what he has seen… Saira Bano (Filmfare Magazine)

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