Described as an actor par excellence who sailed throughdiverse roles with equal elan, be it the suave upper class barrister, thecigar-smoking detective, the ugly deglamorised talented singer or theiconoclast-hero, for Ashok Kumar, acting came effortlessly.
Respectfully addressed as 'Dada Moni', by both theyoung and old in Bollywood, the legendary artiste carved a niche for himself onthe silver screen as a versatile actor, who could fit into the boots of anycharacter with ease, doing equal justice to every role.
The eldest of three brothers, Ashok Kumar made a forayinto the film industry in the black and white era with his first film JeevanNaya in 1936, produced by Bombay Talkies.
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An actor by default, Ashok Kumar, a law graduate fromKolkata, went on to become a name to reckon with after he was forced to act byveteran director Himanshu Roy, when the original leading man of the film fellill.
The shy and reserved hero, hailing from a zamindarfamily from Bengal made a faux pas when he was asked to jump on the back of thevillain at a given cue, but inadvertently jumped on him before time, leaving thevillain with a fractured leg.
The next film Achhut Kanya, which starred him inthe role of a Brahmin boy in love with an untouchable girl, played by DevikaRani, went on to become an epoch making movie, earning rave reviews from filmcritics.
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Born at Bhagalpur in Bihar in 1911, Ashok Kumar withhis strong screen presence, broke one of the strongest taboos of the Hindi filmindustry by opting to play an anti-hero in the highly successful Kismet.
The actor enacted role of the dark complexioned buthighly talented singer in Meri Soorat Teri Aankhen, his home production.The movie ran to packed houses and its songs including, Naache Man Morabecame a rage.
His versatility again came to the fore in thethough-provoking film Bandini and in Samadhi, where he enactedrole of a patriot. It was his highly subtle acting style be it the role of apained grandfather in Ashirwad, 'wolf in sheep in clothing' villain in Returnof Jewel Thief or the doting father in Milli that helped him not tobe typecast.
The 'grand old man' of the Indian celluloid screen inhis hey days won female adulation as he played roles with the famous Hollywoodtouch. The cigar-smoking, suave hero, impeccably dressed in a western suit in HowrahBridge, being seduced in the hit song, Aayeeye Meherban, made him oneof the most photogenic faces of the 1940s-50s.
