Dilip
Kumar's
father
was
no
fan
of
the
arts
so
much
so
that
he
slapped
his
son
after
seeing
him
on
his
first
film's
posters
and
almost
threw
him
out
of
the
house,
says
a
new
book
on
the
legendary
actor
who
passed
away
on
this
day
last
year.
In
"Dilip
Kumar:
In
the
Shadow
of
a
Legend," MouthShut.com
founder
and
CEO
of
review
and
rating
platform
Faisal
Farooqui
through
informal
conversations
and
witty
exchanges,
tries
to
capture
the
private
side
of
the
man
who
ruled
the
Hindi
cinema
world
for
years.
"I've
tried
to
portray
his
love
for
others,
his
childhood,
his
stubborn
nature
and
his
need
to
do
good
for
the
underprivileged,"
the
author,
who
knew
Kumar
for
over
30
years,
says.
In
one
of
the
anecdotes,
Farooqui
cites
Kumar's
debut
film
Jwar
Bhata
of
1944.
Kumar
was
then
known
by
his
original
name
Yusuf
Khan.
The
film's
promotional
poster
read:
'Jwar
Bhata.
Starring
Dilip
Kumar'.
Kumar's
father
Lala
Ghulam
Sarwar
Khan
was
returning
home
one
day
with
his
good
friend
and
Raj
Kapoor's
grandfather
Dewan
Basheswarnath
Kapoor
when
they
spotted
one
of
these
posters.
He
could
not
believe
his
eyes
and
wanted
to
hear
about
this
from
his
son.
When
Kumar
went
to
meet
him
after
reaching
home,
his
father
told
him:
"Something
strange
happened
today.
I
am
a
bit
worried."
Kumar,
clueless
about
why
his
father
was
so
serious,
tried
to
meet
his
gaze.
After
another
brief
moment
of
silence,
his
father
continued,
"I
was
with
Lala
on
the
tonga,
and
on
the
way,
I
saw
a
film
poster."
Kumar
felt
his
shoulders
tense
up
and
his
hands
clench
behind
his
back.
He
was
so
sure
they
wouldn't
find
out
about
his
little
secret.
"There
was
some
boy
named
Dilip
Kumar
on
the
poster.
I
swear
by
Allah,
he
looked
exactly
like
you,"
Khan
said,
adding,
"Was
that
you
on
that
poster?"
Kumar
couldn't
move,
couldn't
look
at
his
father,
and
couldn't
find
the
voice
to
answer
him.
"Answer
me.
Isn't
that
you
on
that
poster,"
his
father
asked
again.
Kumar
finally
looked
at
his
father
and
in
a
quiet
voice,
said
"yes".
"What
followed
was
a
loud
crack
that
sent
Yusuf's
head
spinning.
The
next
thing
he
knew,
he
was
on
the
floor,
his
palm
on
his
cheek,
rubbing
the
unmistakable
sting
of
a
slap,"
the
book
says.
"Get
out
of
this
house!"
his
father
ordered
Kumar.
"It
was
the
first
time
Aghaji
had
raised
his
hand
on
me,"
the
book
quotes
Kumar
as
saying.
"I
had
never
seen
him
angrier.
If
it
wasn't
for
Amma
and
Sakina
Aapa,
he
would've
kicked
me
out
of
the
house
that
day."
Khan
didn't
watch
his
son's
movies
for
the
first
two
years.
Despite
living
under
one
roof,
they
would
avoid
each
other
as
much
as
possible.
Eventually
though,
Khan
warmed
up
to
his
son
upon
the
intervention
of
a
dear
family
friend,
Professor
Dar
of
Ismail
Yusuf
College,
the
book
says.
Kumar
himself
had
never
dreamt
of
becoming
an
actor,
it
adds.
"Neither
had
I
imagined
a
career
in
films,
nor
was
I
a
fan
of
any
movie
star.
I
would
see
my
mother
and
father
struggle
every
day
to
put
food
on
the
table.
Amma
would
save
whatever
little
money
my
father
got
home.
Despite
her
frail
health,
she
would
scurry
from
one
room
to
the
other,
cook
food,
get
the
children
ready
for
school,
manage
the
home.
When
I
was
offered
an
in-hand
salary
of
Rs
1,200
a
month,
I
had
to
take
it,"
the
book
quotes
him
as
saying.
When
Kumar
had
gone
to
Devika
Rani
for
the
job,
he
was
expecting
a
desk
job,
with
a
pay
somewhere
around
Rs
200-300.
"Maybe
Rs
350
a
month
if
I
got
lucky.
I
was
shocked
at
the
offer
they
gave
me.
And
humbled
at
the
salary,"
Kumar
told
the
author.
"At
a
meeting
at
Bombay
Talkies,
Rani
offered
Yusuf
Khan
a
chance
to
select
a
stage
name
for
himself.
The
options
given
were:
Vasudev,
Jahangir
Khan
and
Dilip
Kumar.
Yusuf
required
a
stage
name
only
because
he
didn't
want
his
father
to
find
out
about
his
acting
career,
so
he
told
the
production
house
that
he
was
all
right
with
any
of
the
names
suggested,"
the
book
says.
The
author
says
the
decision
to
write
this
book
was
not
an
easy
one.
"Dilip
Kumar,
Dilip
Sahab
or
simply
Sahab,
as
all
of
us
would
address
him,
narrated
an
autobiographical
account
between
2004
and
2006.
After
that
he
stopped
dictating
and
the
manuscript
which
Udaya
Tara
Nayar
completed
was
put
on
hold.
Finally,
the
task
of
finalizing
a
publisher
was
assigned
to
me
and
in
June
2014,
the
autobiography
was
released,"
he
says.
But
friends
and
family
complained
that
there
was
so
much
to
Kumar
than
what
was
written
in
the
autobiography
and
thus
the
idea
of
this
book
came
to
Farooqui.
The
book
is
published
by
Om
Books
International.