The success rate of Dilip Kumar in Bollywood films is incomparable.
Bollywood films had given superstars of different dimensions over the last 70 years. Right from Ashok Kumar to Rajender Kumar, Amitabh Bacchan to Shahrukh Khan, the superstars had entertained the audience and created records at box office over the years. These days viewers feel Salman Khan is the badshah of 100 crore, 200 crore, 300 crore club as his films Dabaang did business of 140 crores, Dabaang 2 158 crores, Ready 125 crores, Bodyguard 148 crores, Ek Tha Tiger 198 crores, Kick 232 crores, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo 219 crores, Sultan 300 crores and Bajrangi Bhaijaan 320 crores.
Even after the records of these superstars are compared, there is incomparable record with one superstar of the millennium, that is Tragedy King Dilip Kumar. One of the reasons why the records are incomparable is due to the span of time that the records are spread over. Dilip Kumar was a superstar in the 1940s. He remained a superstar in 1950s. By the 1960s he became a legend. In the 1980s he became a phenonmenon.
During Dilip Kumar’s time, success of films were measured in the context of number of weeks the films used to do business at box office. Now let us see the success in the context of the box office records.
Dilip Kumar’s Mela in 1948 was a blockbuster hit doing business for more than 50 weeks and had been called a golden jubilee hit. SU Sunny directed the film. The music was composed by Naushad Ali. The legendary combination of Dilip Kumar, Naushad Ali, lyricist Shakeel Badayani and singer Rafisahab was created by that time.
Dilip Kumar’s Andaz in 1949 was also a blockbuster hit and it remained the 2nd biggest blockbuster in 1949 after Raj Kapoor’s Barsaat. Andaz was directed by Mehboob Khan and had Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Nargis in the lead roles. The music was composed by Naushad Ali and the film was declared a golden jubilee hit which ran for more than 50 weeks.
Dilip Kumar’s Babul in 1950 was a silver jubilee hit which ran for more than 25 weeks. It was directed by SU Sunny. Naushad Ali composed the music of the film. Dilip Kumar and Nargis played the lead roles in the film.
Dilip Kumar’s Deedar in 1951 was again a blockbuster and golden jubilee hit running for more than 50 weeks. Dilip Kumar, Ashok Kumar and Nargis played the lead roles. Nitin Bose directed the film and the music was composed by Naushad Ali.
Aan was Dilip Kumar’s first coloured and India’s first coloured film. In 1952, the blockbuster films was directed by Mehboob Khan. It was a multistarrer film with Dilip Kumar, Murad, Premnath, Nimmi and Nadira in the lead roles. The music was composed by Naushad Ali. By that time the equation was Dilip Kumar + Naushad Ali + Shakeel Badayani +Rafisahab = magic. The film did business of more than 50 weeks and became greatest blockbuster of the decade.
Dilip Kumar’s Azad and Uran Khatola did business of more than 25 weeks in 1955 and were declared silver jubilees. Azad had Meena Kumari and Dilip Kumar in lead roles and music composed by C Ramchandran. Uran Khatola had Dilip Kumar and Nimmi in lead roles. SU Sunny directed the film and the music was composed by Naushad Ali.
Dilip Kumar’s Naya Daur in 1957 was a golden jubilee hit running for more than 50 weeks. BR Chopra and Yash Chopra were involved in production and direction and the film was revolutionary one in the history of Indian films. OP Nayyar composed the music of the film. Dilip Kumar Vaijayantimala, Ajit and Johny Walker were in lead roles.
Dilip Kumar’s Madhumati in 1958 was a golden jubilee hit running for more than 50 weeks. Bimal Roy directed the film and music was composed by Salil Choudhury. Dilip Kumar Vaijayantimala Johny Walker, Jayant were in lead roles. The film swept all the awards at filmfare in 1958 including best actor by Dilip Kumar, best composer by Salil Choudhury, best director by Bimal Roy.
Dilip Kumar’s Paigham in 1959 was a silver jubilee hit running for more than 25 weeks. Dilip Kumar, Raj Kumar and Vaijayantimala were in lead roles. The music was composed by C Ramchandran.
Dilip Kumar’s Kohinoor in 1960 was a golden jubilee hit running for more than 50 weeks. Dilip Kumar Meena Kumari, Kumkum and Jeevan were in lead roles. The music was composed by Naushad Ali, and Rafisahab’s “madhuban be radhika nachere” still is considered phenomenal rendition of raga style music in films.
Dilip Kumar’s Mughal-i-Azam in 1960 was an all time blockbuster. It was a diamond jubilee hit running for more than 100 weeks. It created such a brilliant record at box office, that Sholay only broke the record in 1975. Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, Prithviraaj Kapoor, Durga Khote were in lead roles. The film was directed by K Asif and music composed by Naushad Ali.
Dilip Kumar’s Ganga Jumna in 1961 was a golden jubilee hit running for more than 50 weeks. Nitin Bose directed the film. Dilip Kumar and Vaijayantimala were in the lead roles. The music was composed by Naushad Ali.
Dilip Kumar’s Ram Aur Shyam in 1967 was a golden jubilee hit running for more than 50 weeks. T Chanakya directed the film. Dilip Kumar, Mumtaz, Pran and Wahida Rehman were in lead roles. The music was composed by Naushad Ali. Dilip Kumar for the first time acted in a double role.
In the 1980s Dilip Kumar gave 2 golden jubilee hits, one was Shakti in 1982 and the other was Karma in 1986.
Shakti had Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachan, Rakhee, Smita Patil, Amrish Puri in lead roles. The film was directed by Ramesh Sippy. Karma had Dilip Kumar, Nutan, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher in lead roles. Subhash Ghai directed the film and Laxmikant Pyarellal composed music of the film.
So in a career of Dilip Kumar of 62 films, more than 25 films ending up as diamond jubilee, platinum jubilee, golden jubilee and silver jubilee is incomparable. India is indebted to Tragedy King for the business he gave over last 80 years. Only the record of Showman Raj Kapoor and in Bengal industry Mahanayak Uttam Kumar can come close to Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar always remained a phenomenon.
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