Ashok Kumar-Biography

Ashok Kumar was October 13, 1911. He was an Indian Bollywood actor. Ashok broke from the theatrical style then common in Indian film towards a more naturalistic method. Altogether, Ashok Kumar starred in over 275 films.



Ashok Kumar was also respectfully called as Dadamoni. Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar did a string of films after this including Izzat 1937, Savitri 1937 and Nirmala 1938. But Devika was the bigger star and Ashok Kumar was definitely in her shadow.

Ashok Kumar came into his own with three films opposite Leela Chitnis: Kangan in 1939, Bandhan in 1940, Jhoola in 1941, singing his own songs as was the custom then. Ashok Kumar acquitted himself creditably and came away with several hits including most famously Main Ban ka Panchhi.

Ashok was also not afraid to take risks and was one of the first anti-heroes of Indian Cinema with his role in Kismet in 1943. This movie went on to create a record for the highest grossing film in India at the time of its release.

He produced several films for Bombay Talkies during the final years of the company including the famous Mahal in 1949 in which he co-starred with Madhubala. In the 1950s, he played the suave cigarette-smoking criminal or police officer in several films.

In the late 1960s Dadamoni switched to character roles playing the parent, grandparent, dirty old man and suave criminal, being careful never to be typecast. He paired up 20 times with the queen of tragedy, and one of the best actresses ever seen in Bollywood, Meena Kumari, in films such as Parineeta, Bahu Begum, Pakeezah, Ek hi Raasta, Bandish, Aarti and many more.

He acted in fewer films in the 1980s and 1990s and occasionally appeared on television. His last film role was in Aankhon Mein Tum Ho in 1997. Ashok Kumar died at the age of 90 in Mumbai.