Ashok Kumar (English: Ashok Kumar, born: October 13, 1911, Bhagalpur, Bihar; death: December 10, 2000) was a famous actor, producer-director of Hindi films. Ashok Kumar was honored with Padma Bhushan in the field of arts by the Government of India in 1999. Kumud Kumar Ganguly alias Ashok Kumar, the pioneer of Hindi cinema, is remembered as an actor who ended the theater style prevalent at that time and gave naturalness to acting and thrilled cinema lovers with his excellent work for six decades.[1] Ashok Kumar’s real name is Kumud Ganguly. He is known as Dada Muni. Ashok Kumar acted in more than 300 films.
Ashok Kumar was born in a middle-class Bengali family of Adampur locality in Bhagalpur city of Bihar. Ashok Kumar was the eldest among all the brothers and sisters. His father Kunjlal Ganguly was a lawyer in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh. Singer and actor Kishore Kumar and actor Anoop Kumar were his younger brothers. In fact, both of them got inspiration to enter films from Ashok Kumar. Ashok Kumar received his primary education in Khandwa city of Madhya Pradesh and later Ashok Kumar completed his graduation from Allahabad University. Ashok Kumar ignored the prevalent styles of acting and developed his own natural style. He was never afraid of taking risks and played the role of an anti-hero for the first time in Hindi cinema.[1] Ashok Kumar worked as a laboratory assistant in New Theater in 1934.
Ashok, Anoop and Kishore Kumar worked in ‘Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi’. Ashok Kumar played the role of elder brother in this comedy film also. Madhubala also worked in the film. Kishore Kumar had admitted in many of his interviews that he got inspiration not only for acting but also for singing from Ashok Kumar because Ashok Kumar had instilled in him the values of singing through children’s songs in his childhood.[2]
The beginning of the acting journey of Ashok Kumar, popularly known as Dadamuni in the world, was no less than a film story. In 1936, the actor of Bombay Talkies Studio’s film ‘Jeevan Naiya’ suddenly fell ill and the company was looking for a new artist. In such a situation, studio owner Himanshu Rai noticed the attractive personality laboratory assistant Ashok Kumar and proposed him to act. His acting journey started from here. His next film was ‘Achhoot Kanya’. Devika Rani was his heroine in the film Achhut Kanya, released in 1937. This film was successful and established Dadamuni in the category of big stars. This was an important film for that time and with this, films based on social problems started. He did many more films with Devika Rani including ‘Izzat’, ‘Savitri’, ‘Nirmala’ etc. After this he was paired with Leela Chitnis.[1]
Ashok Kumar’s image as a star was established with the 1943 film ‘Qismat’. Ashok Kumar, blowing cigarette smoke on the screen, took the risk of playing the character of an anti-hero through this film in the era of heroes having the image of Ram. This risk proved to be extremely beneficial for him and the film created many records of success. In the same decade, his another film Mahal came in which Madhubala was in the lead role. The thriller film Mahal also became a huge success. In later days, when the popularity of the trio of Dilip, Dev and Raj was at its peak in Hindi cinema, their acting continued to impress people and their films continued to be successful. Along with other actresses of his era, Ashok Kumar also acted with Meena Kumari in many films which include Pakeezah, Bahu Begum, Ek Hi Raasta, Bandish, Aarti etc.[2] The discussion of Ashok Kumar’s acting will remain incomplete without his film Ashirwad. In this film he played a completely new type of character. The song Railgaadi Railgaadi.. sung by him in this film became quite popular.
Ashok Kumar started playing character actor roles in later life. Ashok Kumar acted lively in these roles also. Ashok Kumar was an expert not only in serious acting but also in comedy acting. Be it the film Victoria No. 203 or Shaukeen, Ashok Kumar tried to create something new in every character. As he grew older, he started playing supporting and character actor roles but the freshness of his acting remained intact. Such films include Kanoon, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Chhoti Si Baat, Mili, Khoobsurat, Gumrah, Ek Hi Raasta, Bandini, Mamta etc.[1] He also played the role of a villain. He played the role of a villain in Dev Anand’s Jewel Thief.
After separating from Bombay Talkies in the fifties, he started his own company and also bought Jupiter Theatre. He first produced the film Samaj under the banner of Ashok Kumar Production, but the film failed miserably at the box office. After this he also made the film Parineeta under his banner. After about three years, he closed his production company due to losses in the film production sector. During the production of the film ‘Parineeta’, released in 1953, he had a falling out with the film’s director Bimal Roy. Due to which he stopped working with Bimal Roy, but on the insistence of actress Nutan, Ashok Kumar once again worked with Bimal Roy in the film Bandini released in 1963. This film is still counted among the classic films in the history of Hindi films. The audience got to see a new form of Ashok Kumar’s acting in the film ‘Jewelthief’ released in 1967. In this film, he appeared in the role of a villain for the first time in his cine career. He entertained the audience a lot through this film also. To avoid uniformity in acting and also to establish himself as a character actor, Ashok Kumar presented himself in different roles. Among these, the film ‘Aarshiwad’ released in 1968 is especially notable. He was awarded the National Award for Best Actor for his outstanding performance in the film. The song sung by him in this film Rail Gaadi-Rail Gaadi became very popular among children.
Ashok Kumar, popularly known as ‘Dadamuni’ meaning elder brother, was an excellent painter, chess player, a homeopath and knowledgeable in many languages. He also sang songs himself in many films. Not only films, Ashok Kumar also worked in TV. He played the role of Sutradhar in India’s first soap opera ‘Hum Log’. As Sutradhar, Ashok Kumar became an integral part of ‘Hum Log’. The audience would wait for his last comment as he would repeat the comment in a different way each time. Apart from this, he also played an excellent role in the serial based on the life of the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar.[2]
Ashok Kumar was awarded many awards in his film career and thrilled the audience with his unmatched acting for almost six decades.
Dadamuni Ashok Kumar, who thrilled the audience with his incomparable acting for almost six decades, said goodbye to this world on 10 December 2001. He may not be among us today but he has left behind a legacy of around 275 films which are enough to make the audience think, tickle and thrill forever.[1]
