From Amitabh Bachchan, and Shah Rukh Khan to Akshay Kumar, there are several actors who overcome struggles in their early lives to become a star in Bollywood. Another such actor, who once made, and sold sandwiches, later became a superstar.
The actor we are talking about started his career with three back-to-back flops but later ruled over Bollywood. He is one of the most successful stars in the film industry. He is none other than Dilip Kumar.
Dilip Kumar was born in an Awan Hindkowan Muslim family at his family home in the Qissa Khawani Bazaar neighborhood of Peshawar, a city in the North-West Frontier Province of British India. He grew up in the same neighborhood in Peshawar as Raj Kapoor, who was his childhood friend.
Before films, Dilip Kumar worked in the British Army canteen to earn a living. He used to make sandwiches here and his sandwiches were very much liked. While working here, Dilip Kumar gave a speech during the freedom struggle, which was considered anti-government and he was put in Yerwada jail. He was in jail for several days and due to the speech, people started calling him Gandhiwala.
The actor then stepped into the film industry with the movie Jwar Bhata in 1944. Though he was born Muhammad Yusuf Khan, he changed his name before entering the film industry and adopted a Hindu name as suggested by Devika Rani, the producer of his debut film. Dilip Kumar's first three films failed to perform at the box office, however, in his fourth film Jugnu, and after there was no looking back for him. He went on to give Shaheed, Mela, Andaz, Barsaat and more.
The 1950s was Kumar's most successful and prolific decade with him playing leading roles in several box office hits such as Jogan, Babul, Deedar, Tarana, Daag, Aan, Uran Khatola, Insaniyat, Devdas, Naya Daur, Yahudi, Madhumati and Paigham among others. Several of his films established his screen image as the "Tragedy King".
Dilip Kumar ruled over Bollywood for over 50 years and later served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's parliament, from 2000 to 2006. For his contributions to film, the Government of India awarded him with the Padma Bhushan in 1991 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015, the country's third and second-highest civilian awards respectively. He was also awarded India's highest accolade in the field of cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994. In 1998, the Government of Pakistan conferred Kumar with Nishan-e-Imtiaz, their highest civilian decoration, making him the only Indian to have received the honour.
Not only this, Dilip Kumar reportedly holds the most dominant box-office record for a star (male or female) in Hindi cinema with over 80% box-office success and several long-standing gross records. The actor, however, passed away after a prolonged illness. He had
