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My First break - DILIP KUMAR

I started as an actor with “Jwar Bhata” in 1944, opposite Shamim and Mridula. I am proud to call myself an Amiya hakrabarty discovery. He recognised my talent and gave me my much desired break as a leading actor. I must confess, I did not understand anything about performing in front of a movie camera. For my first ever shot which was a close up and I had to look intensely, thinking, I was really confused. After ten takes Amiya Chakrabarty canned the shot. I was nervous that he would reprimand me for my inability in delivering what he required of me in the first take. A thinking director, Amiyada never went on to scold or discourage me. He explained and narrated the scene very well to me and inspired me to deliver what was needed. He later worked very successfully with me in “Daag” in 1952, which earned me the title of tragedy king.

After “Jwar Bhata” followed “Pratima” and “Milan”. The latter was based on Tagore’s classic, “Naukadubi” and director Nitin Bose handled it with real care. Films like “Ghar Ki Izzat” and “Jugnu” fetched me my popularity as an actor though I did not have much to perform in them. Mohd. Rafi appeared in a cameo in Jugnu. “Shaheed” opposite Kamini Kaushal in 1946, gave me a solid footing in Hindi filmdom. This was followed by “Andaz” and I was able to establish myself as a talented actor. The acting style of the ‘40s, was loud, theatrical and not natural. Peculiar love scenes were conceived and shot and I admit I felt really uncomfortable performing them in my initial days.

With the advent of serious directors like Mehboob Khan, Bimal Roy, Zia Sarhadi and Hrishikesh Mukherjee, cinema took a better turn towards reality in the 50s. I was able to develop a distinct acting style and so did my illustrious contemporaries, Raj and Dev. “Jogan”, “Aan”, “Babul”, “Deedar” and “Sangdil” helped me to rise to peaks. I will specially mention “Footpath” as my truly memorable film before “Devdas” where stark reality was mingled with thought-provoking romanticism. I still love my lines in “Footpath”, “Ghoshbabu, main wakai hi gira hua insaan hoon.” In “Footpath” I first adopted a natural style with traditional method acting to make my character convincing and appealing. In the past six and half decades I have acted in 62 films. But, “Jwar Bhata” and “Footpath” have a special place in my heart even today.

RANJAN DAS GUPTA

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