‘Thespian’ of Indian Cinema Dilip Kumar Turns 89

The veteran actor, who retired from silver screen in 1998, is best remembered for his variety of roles in ‘Andaz’, ‘Aan’, ‘Devdas’, ‘Azaad’, ‘Mughal-e-Azam’, ‘Ganga Jamuna’ and ‘Naya Daur’.

In 1976, Dilip Kumar had a five-year break from films. In 1981, he returned with a character role in ‘Kranti’ and continued his career playing central character roles in movies such as ‘Shakti’ (1982), ‘Karma’ (1986) and ‘Saudagar’ (1991) his last film was ‘Qila’ in 1998.

He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 1991 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994.

Bollywood celebrities took to Twitter to wish Dilip Kumar:

Amitabh Bachchan: “History of Indian Cinema when documented shall always record ‘before Dilip Kumar, after Dilip Kumar’…an immeasurable yardstick.”

Shah Rukh Khan: “Sat with Dilipkumar sahib…it was his birthday…sairaji…amazing songs so much love…my parents would be so happy. Allah has blessed me.”

Javed Akhtar: “Saalgiraah mubaarak Dilip saheb. Sir, you are the ultimate. Mera aqeedat bhara salaam qubool kijiye.”

Farhan Akhtar: “Happy Birthday to Dilip saab… truly the greatest ever. An actor can learn so much from watching his films.”

Mahesh Bhatt: “Dilip Kumar enters his 90th year tomorrow. It will be our collective failure if we do not honor this ‘last Mogul’ with a Bharat Ratna.”

Shabana Azmi: “Saalgirah Mubarak Dilip Saheb.For all d pleasure u have given your chahnewalas thru myriad roles a heartfelt thank you. Aap apni misaal hain.”