Mujhe to hosh nahin aap mashwara dijiyey
Kahan se chedoon fasana kahan tamaam karoon….”
Saira Banu had been in love with Dalip Kumar since she was all of 12 years. Dalip Sahab took time to respond, but it happened one day while strolling at a beach. Both of them were listening to the gentle sound of waves when Dalip Kumar looked at her and said: “Saira, you are not the kind of girl I want to drive around with or be seen around with…I would like to marry you…will you be my wife?” Saira was only 22 and Dalip Kumar 44 when they got married on October 11, 1966. It’s a real love story, one that only embellishes the fact that true love can never be overrated. A true story of love and truth beyond time.
While reading Dalip Sahab’s autobiography “The Substance and the Shadow”, it reminded me about the 2008 movie “Sorry Bhai”. “Love can never beoverrated. Either you have never been in love or you are too much in love and it is driving you nuts,” lead actor Chitrangada Singh (playing the role of a teacher) had said while answering a student who said love was overrated in classic Hollywood movie “Casablanca”. This accidental watching of “Sorry Bhai” evoked the urge in me to watch “Casablanca” and I had to shelve out 750 rupees to procure the original VCD of the movie as Google search engine failed to fulfill my hunger for an unedited version of the classic. After watching Casablanca, I could easily relate to the statement that love can neverbe overrated and yes, Dalip Kumar’s movie “Mughal-e-Azam” falls in the same class. That was the caliber of Dalip Kumar.
“The Substance and the Shadow” presents Dalip Kumar, an institution in himself, in the true light and dispels many notions about his life which have been hitherto reported, the biggest being on his relationship with Madhubala. This nearly 500 pager is replete with details about his magnetic personality, status, hard work, style of functioning and nature which is a clear reflection of the respect that he gets from everyone in the industry.
Bringing to you interesting facts from the book:
On moving to Pune…
Dalip Kumar’s family hailed from Peshawar and was into the business of fruits. Though they enjoyed a good economic status, the family saw rough times during the Second World War. To beat the financial odds, Dalip Kumar moved to Pune to work as an assistant to manager at Army Club. Going was so rough that he even sold sandwiches outside the club. But things looked up due to this sandwich business and he managed to earn an amount of five thousand rupees in those days within a small period.
Accidental Actor Dalip Kumar…
It can surprise many that Dalip Kumar had no inclination or ambition to become an actor and his first break was an accidental one. It all happened when he came to Mumbai from Pune looking for a job and this one incident changed his life entirely. One morning, he was waiting at Church Gate for psychologist Dr Masani, who had once given a lecture on vocational choices for arts students at Wilson College, to discuss his job prospects. Dr Masani took Dalip Kumar to Bombay Talkies studio and introduced him to Devika Rani, the owner of the studio. This meeting proved to be a turning point not only for his life but for the entire Bollywood industry. She offered him a salary of 1250 rupees per month – an amount hard to believe in those days and rechristened him Dalip Kumar from Yusuf Khan. His first movie was Jwar Bhata in 1944 and the rest as they say is history. He never looked back and went on to give us great movies like Devdas, Kohinoor, Naya Daur, Mughal-e-Azam, Ram Aur Shyam, Ganga Jamuna, and later, blockbusters like Shakti, Kranti and Saudagar.
On his teacher…
It was Devika Rani who taught Dalip Kumar the nuances of acting. She had pointed out that a director may be satisfied with the shot an actor has given, but it is for the actor to discern for himself whether he had really given his best. The actor, she told me was within his rights to request for another take if he felt he could do better…This lesson helped Dalip Kumar reach the heights that he did in the Bollywood industry.
On team work…
“If coordination is well orchestrated, it shows in the final product. If not, it shows equally in the frayed look of the product. Film making, unlike some other art forms like painting or writing poetry, for instance, has a great deal to do with communication. Communication between actor and the director, between the director and the cameraman and the art director, between the director and the editor, between the artiste and the cameraman and so on.”
On actor’s instincts…
While explaining a particular situation that every actor has to go through, Dalip Kumar mentions that: “I became aware that an actor needed to strengthen his instincts because the duality between the real and unreal cannot be sorted out by the mind, which is more concerned with truth and logic in any normal situations. The mind will always tell you this is nonsense.”
On Madhubala…
While commenting on the break-up with Madhubala, Dalip Kumar says that: “I did feel sorry for Madhu and wished she had the will to protect her interest at least on the professional front without thoughtlessly bowing to her father’s wishes all the time. Such submission had an adverse impact not only on her professional reputation but also on her health. He also said that parting of the ways did not affect me as was concocted by writers in the media. Journalists were not as rash as they are now but they were just unmindful of factual accuracy when they wrote about actors.”
Dalip Kumar proved that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. The clear message that Dalip Kumar has tried to give through is autobiography is to the youngsters – to never give up under any circumstances. He has shown by example that you must find new ways and methods to overcome crisis in your life rather than giving up… Wherever he was and whatever he did, he did whole heartedly with innovative ways. That’s why today, he is an institution in himself.