Dilip Kumar, Bollywood’s Great ‘Tragedy King,’ Dies at 98

In this Sept. 2, 2008, file photo, veteran Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar, right, receives a Lifetime Achievement award at the 54th National Film Award ceremony in New Delhi, India. (AP)
In this Sept. 2, 2008, file photo, veteran Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar, right, receives a Lifetime Achievement award at the 54th National Film Award ceremony in New Delhi, India. (AP)
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Dilip Kumar, Bollywood’s Great ‘Tragedy King,’ Dies at 98

In this Sept. 2, 2008, file photo, veteran Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar, right, receives a Lifetime Achievement award at the 54th National Film Award ceremony in New Delhi, India. (AP)
In this Sept. 2, 2008, file photo, veteran Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar, right, receives a Lifetime Achievement award at the 54th National Film Award ceremony in New Delhi, India. (AP)

Bollywood icon Dilip Kumar, hailed as the “Tragedy King” and one of Hindi cinema’s greatest actors, died Wednesday in a Mumbai hospital after a prolonged illness. He was 98.

The “Tragedy King” title came from Kumar’s numerous serious roles. In several, his character died as a frustrated lover and a drunkard. He also was known as Bollywood’s only Method actor for his expressive performances identifying a character’s emotions.

Kumar was hospitalized twice last month after he complained of breathlessness, and his family tweeted “with a heavy heart and profound grief” the announcement of his passing.

“Dilip Kumar 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,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.

“An institution has gone,” Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan tweeted. “Whenever the history of Indian Cinema will be written, it shall always be ‘before Dilip Kumar, and after Dilip Kumar.’”

Kumar’s body, draped in the Indian flag, was accorded a state funeral led by a police band. He was buried in a Muslim graveyard in Mumbai city.

Major Bollywood stars, including Shah Rukh Khan, visited Kumar’s residence to pay their respects.

“It’s the end of an era,” filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar said.

Kumar was born Muhammad Yusuf Khan, a Muslim, on Dec. 11, 1922. His Pathan family hailed from Peshawar, in what became Pakistan after the Partition, and he visited his ancestral home in the late 1980s.

Kumar was hugely popular among cinema lovers in Pakistan as well. In 1998, he was awarded the “Nishan-e-Imtiaz,” Pakistan’s highest civilian honor, becoming the only Indian citizen to receive it.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was saddened to learn of Kumar’s death. “For my generation, Dilip Kumar was the greatest and most versatile actor,” he tweeted.

Khan also recalled Kumar’s generosity in helping to raise funds in Pakistan and London for a trust to set up cancer hospitals in his mother’s memory.

He changed his name as he debuted in Bollywood, the Hindi-language film industry centered in Mumbai, with “Jwar Bhata,” or “Sea Tides,” in 1944.

Kumar’s career spanned over six decades with over 60 films. His first major box-office hits were “Jugnu,” or “Firefly,” in 1947 in which he starred alongside Noor Jehan, and the 1948 film “Shaheed,” or “Martyr.”

He played a variety of characters — a romantic hero in “Andaz,” a swashbuckler in “Aan,” a dramatic drunkard in “Devdas,” a comic role in “Azaad.” But his portrayal of a Muslim prince in the historical epic “Mughal-e-Azam” cemented his popularity among the masses and catapulted Indian cinema to the world stage.

Mehboob Khan’s blockbuster “Aan” in 1952 was his first film in Technicolor and was among a string of light-hearted roles he took at the suggestion of his psychiatrist to shed his “Tragedy King” image.

He starred in many social drama films like “Footpath”, “Naya Daur” (“New Era”), “Musafir” (“Traveler”) and “Paigham” (“Message”) in 1950s.

His top female co-stars included Madhubala, Nargis, Nimmi, Meena Kumari, Kamini Kaushal and Vyjanthimala.

In 1966, Dilip Kumar married Saira Banu, who was 22 years younger than him, and the couple acted in “Gopi,” “Sagina Mahato” and “Bairaag.” They had no children.

In 1961, he produced and starred in “Ganga Jamuna” in which he and his brother Nasir Khan played the title roles. It was the only film he produced. Indian media reports say he declined the role of Sherif Ali in David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia” in 1962. The role went to Egyptian actor Omar Sharif.

He took a break in the late ‘70s but returned with a character role in the successful “Kranti,” or “Revolution” in 1981. He continued playing key roles in films such as “Shakti,” “Karma” and “Saudagar.” His last film was “Qila” (“Fort”) in 1998.

In 1994, he was given the “Dadasaheb Phalke” award, the highest honor for contributions to Indian cinema. He also served in the upper house of Indian Parliament after being nominated for a six-year term.

Kumar is survived by his wife, actor Saira Banu.



Rare Iconic Movie Posters to Be Auctioned in US

A poster for the for film “King Kong” is pictured during a press preview ahead of the Cinema on Paper: The Dwight M. Cleveland Collection Movie Posters Auction, at Heritage Auctions in London on February 27, 2025. (Justin Tallis / AFP)
A poster for the for film “King Kong” is pictured during a press preview ahead of the Cinema on Paper: The Dwight M. Cleveland Collection Movie Posters Auction, at Heritage Auctions in London on February 27, 2025. (Justin Tallis / AFP)
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Rare Iconic Movie Posters to Be Auctioned in US

A poster for the for film “King Kong” is pictured during a press preview ahead of the Cinema on Paper: The Dwight M. Cleveland Collection Movie Posters Auction, at Heritage Auctions in London on February 27, 2025. (Justin Tallis / AFP)
A poster for the for film “King Kong” is pictured during a press preview ahead of the Cinema on Paper: The Dwight M. Cleveland Collection Movie Posters Auction, at Heritage Auctions in London on February 27, 2025. (Justin Tallis / AFP)

Dozens of rare posters from some of the 20th century's most iconic films will go under the hammer this month as an American collector relinquishes some of his most precious possessions.

The 500 posters and lobby cards from classic films such as "King Kong", "Casablanca" and "2001: A Space Odyssey" have been exhibited in recent weeks in London, New York and Chicago.

Collected over half a century by real estate agent Dwight Cleveland, they are to be auctioned by Heritage showrooms in Dallas on March 27 and 28.

"I cherish every single one of them because every one of them was hand-picked," Cleveland, 65, told AFP.

"These are commercial art. They were intended to grab us by the lapels and yank us into a movie theater and say, 'See this film'."

But this was also "important art" that went beyond just advertising, he argued.

The posters and cards, which would have been displayed in cinema foyers, span around 125 years of film history. Many of the images date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

But after 50 years "it's getting harder and harder to find anything to add to the collection", said Cleveland.

"I don't feel like there's anything else I can do and give to this hobby," he added.

Some of the posters will do better at auction than others, he said, including the one for the 1933 version of "King Kong" showing actor Fay Wray in the grip of the beast.

It has an estimated guide price of $40,000 to $80,000.

- Passion -

"The selection of Cleveland's collection offered by Heritage in March represents the best of the best," said Joe Maddalena, Heritage's vice president.

"What makes me different from most collectors is that I fell in love with the artwork first," said Cleveland.

"I do not come to this from a film background."

Cleveland's interest in the subject began at school, where his art teacher displayed film posters and lobby cards in his room.

"We walked by these every day, and we kind of made fun of him, to be honest with you, because he had quite a few of them, and it was a very esoteric collection," Cleveland said.

But one day in 1977, his last year at school, he was drawn to a lobby card from the 1929 movie "Wolf Song" starring Gary Cooper and Mexican actor Lupe Velez.

He became hooked and it took him 18 months to gather enough movie items to trade for the card with his then former teacher -- sparking a lifelong love of collecting.

Cleveland's extensive collection has already been exhibited in the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida in 2019.

Other exhibitions have been held in San Diego, Los Angeles and New York.

Other rare finds going under the hammer include a 1953 Italian poster for the 1942 film "Casablanca" starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.

Most of the posters to be auctioned have estimates of between $1,000 to $2,000. Heritage has calculated that the whole auction could raise one million dollars.

After the Dallas auction, Cleveland will still own about 10,000 lobby cards and around 500 posters, which he might one day either donate or put up for auction.

"I'll be sad to see some of them go, but I'll be happy that they're going to be in the hands of other collectors to whom they'll mean a lot," he said.