Remembering
the
impact
Dilip
Kumar
had
on
his
generation
of
cine-goers,
veteran
actor
Manoj
Kumar
on
Wednesday
said
the
screen
icon
inspired
him
to
become
an
actor.
Manoj
Kumar's
love
affair
with
cinema
started
when
he
watched
Dilip
Kumar's
Shabnam
as
an
11
year
old.
Such
was
the
magic
of
the
screen
icon's
performance
on
the
young
Harikishan
Giri
Goswami
that
he
decided
to
adopt
the
name
of
Dilip
Kumar's
character
from
the
1949
film
as
his
screen
name.
That's
how
Harikishan
Giri
Goswami
became
Manoj
Kumar
when
he
joined
the
movies
in
the
late
'50s.
Manoj
Kumar,
now
83,
said
it
is
the
end
of
an
era
with
the
passing
of
his
idol
and
co-star
Dilip
Kumar.
"Ashok
Kumar,
Raj
Kapoor,
Dev
Anand
and
now
Dilip
Kumar
passed
away.
It
is
the
end
of
an
era.
They
all
will
not
come
back
again.
But
their
legacy
will
remain
for
years
to
come," he
told
PTI.
Shabnam
follows
the
story
of
Shanti
(Kamini
Kaushal)
and
Manoj
(Dilip
Kumar),
refugees
of
the
1942
Rangoon
war,
who
fall
in
love
while
on
the
way
to
Bengal.
While
Manoj
is
wooed
by
a
gypsy
woman,
a
landlord
is
smitten
by
Shanti,
thus
leading
to
misunderstandings.
"I
remember
the
time
when
I
went
to
watch
Dilip
Kumar
sahib
in
Shabnam
which
was
released
in
1949.
It
is
because
of
him
that
I
became
a
fan
of
cinema.
I
fell
in
love
with
his
character
in
the
film
whose
name
was
Manoj.
I
must
be
11-year-old
then
but
I
instantly
decided
that
if
and
whenever
I
become
an
actor
I
will
keep
my
name
as
Manoj
Kumar," he
said.
Years
later,
Manoj
Kumar,
star
of
several
films
like
Woh
Kaun
Thi?
and
Purab
Aur
Paschim,
landed
an
opportunity
to
share
screen
space
with
Dilip
Kumar
and
direct
him
in
the
1981
film
Kranti.
His
joy
knew
no
bounds
when
Dilip
Kumar
boarded
the
period
drama
in
an
instant,
he
said.
"We
only
had
Dilip
Kumar
in
mind
for
Kranti.
When
I
told
him
the
story
of
Kranti,
he
said
yes
in
two
minutes.
I
was
overjoyed.
Working
with
the
legendary
star
in
"Kranti" was
a
"dream
come
true
moment
for
me",
Manoj
Kumar
said.
"I
would
keep
looking
at
him,
observe
how
he
would
be
on
sets
and
how
he
would
perform
so
effortlessly.
Working
with
Dilip
Kumar
sahib
I
observed
that
he
was
not
someone
who
would
be
happy
with
flattery.
He
only
liked
good
and
honest
people,"
he
recalled.
Kranti,
also
produced
by
Manoj
Kumar,
was
penned
by
Salim-Javed,
and
marked
the
return
of
Dilip
Kumar
to
films
after
a
five-year
hiatus.
The
film
also
starred
Shashi
Kapoor,
Hema
Malini,
Shatrughan
Sinha,
Parveen
Babi,
Sarika,
Prem
Chopra,
Madan
Puri,
Paintal
and
Pradeep
Kumar.
Kranti
was
a
huge
blockbuster
as
it
had
a
golden
jubilee
run
across
many
centres
in
India.