Birthday Special: 10 Lesser known facts about Dilip Kumar that proves he's truly the living legend of Indian Cinema

Dilip Kumar is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors to have graced our Bollywood industry. The actor who straddled Hindi cinema for many years and continues to reign the heart of cinema lovers with his stellar acts turn 94 today. In order to honor the iconic actor for his incredible work, we thought to treat his fans with some amazing but lesser known facts about him. Check it out! 

1: Much before he joined the film industry, Dilip Kumar used to sell fruits with his father who was a fruit merchant in Pune. 

2: Dilip Kumar’s real name is Mohammad Yusuf Khan. His on-screen name ‘Dilip Kumar ‘was given to him by Devika Rani of Bombay Talkies. 

3: Playing lead roles in tragic love stories (which further turned out to be blockbusters) such as Nadiya Ke Paar (1948), Mela (1948), Andaz (1949), earned him the title of 'The Tragedy King' in Bollywood. 

4: He married Saira Banu at the age of 44 while she was only 22. Dilip Kumar also married a Hyderabadi girl- Asma in 1980. However, his second marriage didn’t last long. 

5: He was the first actor to have bagged the Filmfare best actor award. He won this for the movie Daag. Dilip Kumar has won 8 Filmfare awards and has been nominated for a total of 19 times there. 

6: Dilip Kumar was romantically involved with renowned actress Madhubala who he'd met on the sets of Tarana. They were rumored to have got engaged only to part ways later, since Madhubala's father didn't approve of their relationship. 

7: Dilip Kumar had found a mentor in Ashok Kumar and it was only after his recommendation that he got his first break in Jwar Bhata. 

8: Dilip Kumar refused to work with Nargis in Mother India. While the film became one of the most memorable ones in the history of Indian cinema, he felt his role would have been an incongruous casting after all the romancing they had done in their earlier films together.

9: Legendary director Satyajit Ray named Dilip Kumar as the ‘best method actor’. 

10: Dilip Kumar convincingly donned the role of Prince Salim in the historical drama film Mughal-e-Azam. The movie remained to be the second highest-grossing film in the history of Indian Cinema till 2008.

Here's wishing our most celebrated actor- Dilip Kumar, a very happy birthday! You too can write-in your wishes in the comments below.