Ashok Kumar (13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), born Kumudlal Ganguly was also fondly called Dadamoni, Altogether, he starred in over 275 films.
In the mid 1930s, he started off as a laboratory assistant in Bombay Talkies, one of the biggest film studios of that era. Kumudlal Ganguly was happy working as a laboratory assistant, when his acting career started purely by accident. Shooting was already underway of the Bombay Talkies production Jeevan Naiya in 1936, when the male lead Najmul Hassan eloped with his co star Devika Rani, who also happened to be the wife of studio head Himanshu Rai. Rani subsequently returned to her husband who, out of spite, dismissed Hassan and called upon Kumudlal Ganguly to replace him. Ganguly was given the screen name Ashok Kumar. His subsequent venture with Devika Rani in Achhut Kanya the same year was one of the early blockbusters of Hindi cinema. The runaway success of Achhut Kanya cemented Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani as the most popular on-screen couple of that era.The two did a string of films thereafter, including Janmabhoomi (1936) Izzat (1937), Savitri (1937), Vachan (1938) and Nirmala(1938).
Then he was paired with Leela Chitnis, another actress who was senior to him in age as well as stature. Back to back successes with Kangan (1939), Bandhan (1940) and Azad (1940) saw Ashok Kumar emerge as a popular actor in his own right. The success of Jhoola (1941) established him as one of the most bankable actors of the era.
Gyan Mukherjee directed 1943 movie Kismet, featuring Ashok Kumar as the first anti-hero in Indian Cinema, smashed all existing box office records, becoming the first Hindi movie to gross 1 crore at the box office. The success of Kismet made Ashok Kumar the first superstar of Indian cinema. Post Kismet, Ashok Kumar delivered a succession of box office successes with movies like Chal Chal Re Naujawan (1944), Shikari (1946), Sajan (1947), Mahal (1949), Sangram (1950) and Samadhi (1950). Ashok Kumar appeared in several movies opposite Meena Kumari and Nalini Jaywant in the 1950s.
As producer with Bombay Talkies, Ashok Kumar gave Dev Anand his first break in Ziddi (1948), which also established Pran as one of the leading villains of the era. The 1949 film Mahal, starring Ashok Kumar and made under his watch at Bombay Talkies launched the career of Madhubala, one of the leading actresses of the 1950s. Ashok Kumar gave B.R. Chopra (then a film critic and unsuccessful filmmaker) his first break as director with the 1951 film Afsana. Ashok Kumar also played mentor to Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Shakti Samanta who went on to become great directors of Hindi cinema.
He was honoured in 1988 with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national award for cinema artists, by the Government of India and also received the Padma Bhushan in 1999 for his contributions to Indian cinema.
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