Amitabh Bachchan has famously said that, “the history of Indian cinema shall always be reckoned as before Dilip Sahab and after Dilip Sahab because of his impeccable presence.” Dilip Kumar (Yousuf Khan) made his screen debut in the mid 40’s and became an actor and star to reckon with by the end of that decade. The audience of that era had grown up on high voltage melodrama, high pitched dialogues accompanied by lots of gesticulations. Motilal and Ashok Kumar and (later Balraj Sahani ) had begun the process towards a more natural form of acting. However, it was Dilip Kumar who carried the torch and made it the norm.

Satyajit Ray called him the ‘Ultimate Method Actor.’ Javed Akhtar went a step further and called him the first method actor in the world even before the Hollywood great Marlon Brando burst on the stage and screen. The Indian screen icon has publicly spoken of his admiration for the craft of Brando and Paul Muni.

In lay terms, in order for actors to create natural performances they needed to tap into personal experiences in order to imagine how their characters are feeling. They would use their own memories and relate these emotions to the portrayal of a character. This is the essence of Method Acting although there are many more dimensions to it. In his autobiography ‘Dilip Kumar- the Substance and The Shadow’ the thespian reveals to the narrator Udayatara Nayar, “that the epithet was used to describe me before Brando. I am an actor who evolved a method which stood me in good stead. I learned the importance of studying the scripts and characters deeply and building upon my own gut observations about my own and other characters. It was always meaningful for me to study even those characters that would be close to me or opposed to me.” Thus began a legend’s life- long obsession with immersing in the character and inhabiting the role.

In doing so he changed the very concept and grammar of acting. He redefined the meaning of acting. If the dialogues were potent the acting had to be understated. It was not necessary to shout to be heard. A nuanced body language and even silence conveyed more through the camera lens than a plethora of theatrical gestures. Indeed, this actor had the gumption to enact critical scenes with his back to the camera letting his voice envelope the audience. Remember ‘Ram aur Shyam’ where the quivering voice of the nervous, timid Ram resonates through the halls – of how he has been bullied and beaten into submission by Gajendra babu (his screen brother in law- Pran). He played out the entire gamut of emotions brilliantly from the heartbreak and sorrow of ‘Jogan’ and ‘Devdas’ to the lively fun characters of ‘Kohinoor’ and ‘Ram aur Shyam’. It was no longer taboo for the hero to do comic sequences. Dilip Kumar gave a polish and finesse to acting which till then had been largely confined to self-conscious histrionics.

But a career of almost 5 decades, embellished with many memorable performances, did not just happen. Dilip Sahab imbibed quickly that the art and quality of film-making depended heavily on team-work. He understood the importance of not only the director, co-actors and cinematographer but even the value of a lightman and every member of the set crew, His commitment was not only to his role but to the film itself. Listen to Yash Chopra, third assistant to his brother BR Chopra during the making of ‘Naya Daur,’ “Dilip Sahab spent an entire month with Akhtar Mirza, the writer, and Chopra-saab at his Juhu shack. He would take up each scene with the dialogues and enact it with the drama, pathos, sentiment, humour and deep emotion and render us speechless. He would show us variations in the enactment and enthral us. He not only dwelt upon the moulding of his character but also the character played by Ajit. He made sure that Ajit’s part (a critical character) was equally strong and sensitively written. And the climax of the film was a challenge for Akhtar Mirza. How could a horse-driven tonga beat a motor vehicle in a race. It was Dilip Kumar who gave the writer the idea of the tonga taking a short-cut- something that was logical and convincing.” [Excerpt from ‘Dilip Kumar- the Substance and The Shadow’]

The immersive performance in ‘Devdas’, a man driven by unrequited love to become a complete drunkard. Recall that his eyes are hazy and glazed throughout the film, the spoken word is oft slurred and the silences are melancholic. Film-lore had it that Dilip Kumar got so much into the skin of the character that he had to seek the help of a Harley Street psychiatrist to come out of the depression. And per his advises went on to do some light-hearted roles in ‘Azaad’ and ‘Kohinoor.’

‘Ganga Jamuna’ is considered to be his greatest performance. The ‘Method Actor’ in him made him run all around the studio premises to the point of exhaustion in order to get the right look and feel for the death scene in the film. The rustic dance with a folk flavour to the song ‘Nain Lad Jayi Hai’; a sublime collaborative effort with choreographer Hiralal and team brought out and captured the simple, cheery spirit of that moment. In his movies, songs were in-built into the story and drove the narrative forward. And, speaking the Purbi/Avadhi dialect impeccably after learning from the dialect coach Kumud Tripathi. Actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Naseeruddin Shah who hail from the State of UP have been bowled over.

Dilip Sahab’s voice modulations enhanced his performances. His considered pauses added weight to the delivery. He did not rely only on the spoken word to act. His mere presence in a frame made the scene come alive. And he brought in the subtle art of listening. Listening to what the other character was saying brought realism and involvement to the scene. Then reacting with a mere glance, a half-smile or furrowed eyebrows. Amazing! The audience was sucked into that moment itself.

His dedication was legendary. His quest for perfection was clear. He learnt to play the sitar for months from Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan .  All for a song ‘Madhuban me Radhika’ in the film ‘Kohinoor.’ He could have faked it as many of his contemporaries did. But his desire to get the positioning of the instrument and his hand movements right added credibility to the performance.

The under-stated role of Prince Salim in ‘Mughal-e-Azam’. A lesser actor would probably have gone toe-to-toe with Pruthviraj Kapoor’s grandiose Emperor Akbar. The high-pitched dramatic acting, deep throated dialogues and flamboyant style. Dilip Kumar chose to strike a contrasting note. Emoting with his eyes and saying the graceful words in a soft, refined voice. His smile, his walk and the overall demeanour added to the aura of a romantic prince. The ‘Master at Work’ image is further highlighted by a sequence where as an actor he had nothing to do and nothing to say. The interest and emotion he evokes in the viewer as Prince Salim as his lover Anarkali performed the provocative ‘Jab Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya’ number. The prince had to maintain his royal composure even as the Emperor was about to lose his through a series of eruptions. It is very difficult for an actor to make an impact by doing nothing but Dilip Kumar pulled it off.

Let’s move to the heart-rending late -night scene in ‘Mashaal’. Where he is the helpless, elderly man begging for help from nearby residents and passing motorists to take his dying wife to a hospital. Where he is callously pushed by a passing vehicle on to the rain-drenched street. As he screams for help his voice becomes more desperate and hoarse and plaintive and cracks. The scene is numbing and gives us goose-bumps. The consummate actor drew from sad memories of his brother’s death and the anguish on his father’s face in the emotional scenes in ‘Mashaal’ and earlier in ‘Shakti.’

In a career spanning almost 50 years, Dilip Sahab acted in less than 60 films. It must have taken tremendous guts and self-belief to do so. He has himself said in interviews that he had avoided over-exposing himself to the audience. Plus the decision to only work on one film at a time underlined his confidence in the content of these films and his complete dedication to them.  He showed courage in the choice of scripts and roles that were varied and different. He moved from being ‘the Tragedy King’ to swashbuckling action to fun and comedy with flair and success. He imbued some characters with gravitas. He took conscious risks with his screen image breaking all the unwritten rules for stars of his era. In ‘Aadmi’ his character is mostly confined to the wheel-chair, a jealous, possessive man with a murderous streak. Much earlier he had played the blind young man in ‘Deedar’, playing the character with his eyes open. And a small aside. Be it the dapper suited gentleman in ‘Andaaz’ or Prince Salim in Mughal regal finery (Mughal-e-Azam) or the dhoti-kurta wearing villager in ‘Ganga Jamuna’, Dilip Kumar donned the role and stepped into the character.

No surprise that he is regarded as the gold-standard of film acting across India. His recent demise has brought heartfelt and glowing tributes from the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Manmooty, Chiranjeevi and many many others. He was the first leading man of cinema to build the bridge across talent-acting-stardom. He had total grasp of the medium of cinema and that it worked only as a collaborative effort. Kamal Haasan has remarked that, “Only after watching his classics he understood the meaning of subtlety; the eloquence of cinema where a mere look or sheer silence can convey so much, so powerfully.” [Excerpt from ‘Dilip Kumar- the Substance and The Shadow’]

The ability to understand a character and react to and from its innate nature was what set Dilip Sahab apart. Let’s have the last take from the legend himself, “Attempts should always be to make films with good stories, sound conflicts, characters that make it real and entertaining. I do not like films with a lot of lectures.” Dilip Kumar has left his indelible imprint on Indian cinema and on a vast global audience. His stellar performances will continue to inspire generations of actors and film-makers to raise the bar for their art, craft and work.