|
|
|
|
|
|
Ashok Kumar |
|
 Ashok Kumar’s rise to superstardom reads no less than a bizarre Bollywood drama. The tumultuous affair of a leading actress of a leading Film Company with her lead man proved to be this humble laboratory assistant’s ticket to fame. The actress was caught and taken back but not the lead man who was unceremoniously dismissed. The company’s search for a new hero stopped at him. And thus began an extremely successful acting career that lasted six decades.Ashok Kumar or Dadamoni, as he was fondly called by his colleagues, was born Kumudlal Kunjilal Ganguly in the small town of Bhagalpur. He spent most of his growing years in Khandwa. He was the eldest of the Ganguly brothers, all of who went on to become major Bollywood stars later. He dabbled with law in Calcutta, but quickly realized that his passion lay somewhere else. He decided to join his future brother-in-law Shashadhar Mukherjee at Bombay Talkies as laboratory assistant before being made its leading man. |
|
| Thereafter there was no looking back for this talented actor. His debut film was a Jeevan Naiya (1936) moderate success but he gained adulation with Achut Kanya (1936). His pairing with Devika Rani was a very successful. Izzat (1937), Savitri (1937), Nirmala (1938) among others were super hits. However she was always the bigger star and chief attraction in all those films and he was always relegated to the shadows. All these changed with his hit pairing with Leela Chitnis in three successful films - Kangan (1939), Bandhan (1940) and Jhoola (1941). Ashok Kumar had finally arrived.
|
|
| The first Indian “Film Actor” |
|
| Indian cinema was a progression of the Parsi theatre, and nothing reflected this more than the affected way of acting of the actors. The credit of initiating a more natural style of acting goes to Ashok Kumar who absorbed and learnt a lot from the Hollywood films of those days. He realized that acting is not just standing a delivering ones line with a flourish it involves reacting too. Famous director Tapan Sinha says of him- "He is the man who showed that film acting is something else. He began to speak and to behave normally." |
|
| Ashok Kumar’s Kismet |
|
| The early Ashok Kumar was the quintessential clean-cut hero but his 1943 film Kismet changed all that. The smoldering anti –hero that he played in this film left an indelible mark on the psyche of the Indian audience. This film ran for over three years in a theatre in Calcutta! Ashok Kumar was also one of the very few actors to have successfully molded his career according to the times. After his long and fruitful run as a lead hero he slowly graduated to strong character roles and most of the times very successfully overshadowed the lead actors of the movie. His later roles in films like Aashirwad and Khoobsurat were much appreciated. Ashok Kumar was indeed the most enduring actor of his times.
|
|
| « Go back |
Go to Top |
|
|
 |
|
