Actor Dilip Kumar, who embodied melancholy on screen, dies

FILE PHOTO. Bollywood star Dilip Kumar smiles after receiving an award in New Delhi. © Reuters-B Mathur via Microsoft News.

By Shilpa Jamkhandikar
MUMBAI (Reuters) -Dilip Kumar, one of India's most respected actors and known for his roles as a tragic hero in Bollywood films, died on Wednesday morning, his family said.
Kumar was 98 and ailing for some time.
Born Mohammed Yusuf Khan in 1922 in Peshawar, now in Pakistan, he was known by the screen name of Dilip Kumar once he joined Bollywood in the 1940s.
"With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of our beloved Dilip Saab, few minutes ago," Faisal Farooqui, a relative, posted on the actor's Twitter account early on Wednesday morning.
Kumar is survived by his wife, Saira Banu, a top Bollywood leading lady in the 1960s and 1970s.
Kumar did his first film, "Jwar Bhata" in 1944, which tanked. His breakthrough role came in 1949, with "Andaz", where he played a jilted lover who is caught in a triangle between the woman he loves and her husband.
That role catapulted him to stardom and was the beginning of a decade where he made a career of playing tragic roles.
Bimal Roy’s adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s seminal novel "Devdas" was the turning point in an already successful career, catapulting him to super-stardom.
His role as the doomed lover in "Devdas", earned Kumar the epithet of “tragedy king” - the man who embodied melancholy on screen.
"An institution has gone .. whenever the history of Indian Cinema will be written, it shall always be 'before Dilip Kumar, and after Dilip Kumar", actor Amitabh Bachchan said on Twitter.
Kumar said he felt weighed down after years of playing tragic roles. In the late 1950s, he made a conscious attempt to play more upbeat roles, acting in romantic films like "Madhumati", "Aan" and "Naya Daur".
In his later years, although the hits were harder to come by, Kumar retained his stature as India's first marquee star - the man whose face on a poster was enough for audiences to throng the theatres.
"Dilip Kumar ji will be remembered as a cinematic legend. He was blessed with unparalleled brilliance, due to which audiences across generations were enthralled," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Raju Gopalakrishnan) via Microsoft News
UNB adds: The 'Tragedy King of Bollywood' was admitted to the premier Hinduja Hospital last week after he complained of breathlessness. In fact, he had been in and out of the hospital over the past few years with age-related illnesses.
"Dilip Kumar passed away due to prolonged illness at 7.30 am," Dr Jalil Parkar, a doctor who had been treating the thespian at the hospital, told the local media.
The actor's family friend, Faisal Farooqui, also confirmed the death on his Twitter handle. “With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of our beloved Dilip Saab a few minutes ago. We are from  God and to Him we return."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi too took to social media to offer his condolences to the family and fans of the cinematic legend.
“Dilip Kumar ji will be remembered as a cinematic legend. He was blessed with unparalleled brilliance, due to which audiences across generations were enthralled. His passing away is a loss to our cultural world," Modi tweeted.
On Monday, his actress-wife of 50 years, Saira Banu, tweeted: “We are grateful for God's infinite mercy on Dilip Saab that his health is improving. We are still in hospital and request your prayers and duas so that Insh'Allah he is healthy and discharged soon.”
Born Yusuf Khan in Peshawar (now in Pakistan) in 1922 before the partition of India, Dilip Kumar acted in 65 films in an illustrious career spanning five decades.
A trendsetter in Bollywood who inspired generations of actors, Dilip Kumar won the hearts of millions in India with his all-time greats like Mela, Naya Daur, Ganga Jumna, Devdas and Mughal-e-Azam. He last acted in a film in 1998.
Apart from a number of film awards, Dilip Kumar was conferred with two of India's highest civilian awards.
"To us actors, he was The Hero. #DilipKumar sir has taken an entire era of Indian cinema away with him," aptly summed up Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar in a tweet.