As a student, I had a record of Lata Mangeshkar singing live at the Royal Albert Hall, and it was Dilip Kumar who introduced Lataji on stage. I remember we would keep lifting the needle and bringing it back to the edge, only because we wanted to hear his voice again and again. His Urdu was magical. In 1975, when I was a student in New York, and Dilip sa’ab came with Saira Banu ji for a function there. I wanted to interview him for my radio show, and when I called his hotel, I heard on the other side a man speaking wonderful English. In my head, Dilip sa’ab only spoke crisp Urdu. I refused to believe it was him. He would later pull my leg for this. When we met for the first time, I was in complete awe of him.
Even as a young girl who was excitedly running around with her tape recorder, I knew he was endearing but I could also tell that he was humble, approachable and extremely down to earth. He was the sole reason why I did Saudagar (1991). I just wanted to share screen space with this legend. It was something of a lifetime opportunity for me, one I knew I couldn’t miss out on. When we were on set, it would be quite an experience watching him prepare for the next scene. One would assume that someone of Dilip sa’ab’s stature wouldn’t need any rehearsals, but in truth, he was like a child. I remember he would stand to one side and rehearse even the smallest of lines. It was such an education to see him work so hard even after so much experience, after having contributed so much.
We shot Saudagar in Manali. After the day’s shoot, Manisha Koirala and I would go to Dilip sa’ab’s room to hear him and Raaj Kumar talk and reflect upon life. It was such an awesome experience to be in the presence of the finest actor we have ever known, perhaps the finest actor we will ever know.
Dilip Kumar really is the backbone of Indian cinema. For generations to come, I cannot think of a single creative person in the Hindi film industry who will not be impacted by his life and work. On the one hand, you have films like Andaz (1949) that cemented his reputation as the ‘Tragedy King’, but then on the other, you also have a Ganga Jumna (1961), where he puts in such an ebullient performance.
There is, of course, the beautiful graph of his performances, but there was also this depth to his personality which came across when he delivered a dialogue or sang a song. He was so sincere and genuine, one never felt he was acting. No performance ever seemed like a performance. It was like he always lived the character he was playing. As a result, if he was Devdas, that was the only Devdas we wanted to know. You can see the difference between a Dilip Kumar and actors who are “acting”. I feel fortunate to have lived in an era where he lived and he worked, one where he impacted our lives.
I don’t think his impact will ever wear off. He has set a foundation for actors already working in the industry, yes, but also for actors who are to come, actors for all times. Every actor wants the kind of screen presence he had. Everyone wants to be as believable as Dilip Kumar was. Actors today dream that someone writes them a part which allows them to deliver the kind of genuine performance Dilip sa’ab was always known for. For us, he was both inspiration and aspiration.
(Deepti Naval is an actor, director and writer)
– As told to Shreevatsa Nevatia
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