Dilip Kumar Mohammed Rafi Rabindranath Tagore Munshi Premchand Kishore Kumar Vivekananda
When Yusuf Khan shifted from Peshawar to Maharashtra, he was just one in a family of 12 siblings that sold fruits for a living. However, it didn't take him very long to rise above the mediocrity of his existence and become an emperor of showbiz in an age when cinema still didn't have too many superstars.
It all began when Devika Rani reportedly recruited him for Bombay Talkies while he was working for a canteen in the British Army and noted novelist Bhagwati Charan Verma rechristened him Dilip Kumar. A lacklustre debut in Jwar Bhata (1944) was followed by a string of successes - Andaz, Aan Deedar, Devdas, Daag, Madhumati - Where the actor skilfully enunciated the art of underplaying.
As a hero, Dilip Kumar was more aggrieved than angry. Rambling aimlessly, bottle in hand, a dirge on his lips and the shadow of death looming ahead, he brought to life a prototpye of the Greek tragic hero. Hence the unrequited lover of Andaz, Deedar, Devdas who firmly believed happiness was an impossible dream in a world riddled with class and caste barriers. And when he began to be typecast, he opted for an image change. This time, he donned the mask of the swashbuckler who stormed throught films like Aan, Azaad, Kohinoor, Ganga Jamuna and Ram aur Shyam, As a colossus that strides across six decades, Dilip Kumar has managed to dominate the marquee even in recent years with hits like Karma, Shakti and Saudagar.
Dilip Kumar Mohammed Rafi Rabindranath Tagore Munshi Premchand Kishore Kumar Vivekananda
Virtually the voice of India, Mohammed Rafi articulated the joys and sorrows of millions of Indians throught his songs. One of the three most popular Hindi film playback singers, ever with Kishore Kumar and Mukesh. Rafi made his debut in 1944 in the film Pehle Aap. He tasted success, however, with Mehboob's Anmol Ghadi in 1946, where he sang duets with Noorjehan. With the longest career span for almost all heroes from Pradeep Kumar, Bharat Bhushan, Dilip Kumar, Guru Dutt, Shammi Kapoor, Dev Anand to Rishi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan. His career was somewhat eclipsed when the superstar of the 1970s. The music of composers like Naushad, S.D.Burman, Shankar Jaikishen and the poetry of Sahir, Kaifi Azmi would not have been immortalised without the melodious croonings of Rafi. |
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