Mumbai: Legendary actor of Indian cinema Dilip Kumar turns a year old Friday. Dilip Kumar was born Mohammad Yusuf Khan 11 December 1922 in Peshawar, Pakistan, Dilip Kumar is also known as the ‘Tragedy King’ and ‘The First Khan. On the request of Devika Rani, owner of Bombay Talkies, he changed his name to Dilip Kumar.
Dilip Kumar’s underrated style of acting made him a huge favourite amongst the movie buffs. Dilip Kumar married Saira Banu, but rumour mills say that he was madly in love with Madhubala.
Dilip Kumar has admitted in his autobiography that he was attracted to Madhubala. It has been said that Madhubala had numerous affairs. Among those she was in a relationship were Latif, Mohan Sinha, Kamal Amrohi, Premnath, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Dilip Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Bharat Bhushan and Kishore Kumar.
If Madhubala had married Dilip Kumar, it would have been a match made in heaven. She was beautiful and vivacious, he was intense and an introvert. However, it was not meant to be.
Dilip and Madhubala first met on the sets of Tarana (1951) and love blossomed between them. They also worked in three more films together – Sangdil, Amar and one of the most iconic films of all time, K Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam. The couple was deeply in love and they got engaged also.
Madhubala belonged to an orthodox family. Most of her decisions regarding movies were taken by her father. She was not allowed to mingle with co-stars. She was also not allowed to go shooting at locations outside Mumbai. This was the main reason why she did not accept the role to play the female lead in BR Chopra’s Naya Daur.
Dilip Kumar and Madhubala remained in a relationship for approximately seven years. It ended when Dilip Kumar testified in court a court against her in a case related to Naya Daur.
The relationship reached such a bitter stage that during the shooting of Mughal-e-Azam the two even stopped acknowledging each other. Dilip Kumar then found solace in Saira Banu and married her. Madhubala on the other hand married Kishore Kumar, but that relationship did not last for long also.
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