This seems like a more reasonable comparison, right? All three were number one actors and also the most intense actors of their generations. I thought a lot before making this comparison, since I don’t want to be partial to anyone because I belonged to their generation. However, here is a comparison that I have wanted to present since my college days.
Everyone will agree that Dilip Kumar was the most talented actor of the three. Despite being intense, he also believed in delivering controlled performances. He started acting in movies in 1944 and his career spanned a period of five decades. He acted in over 60 films and still holds the record for the top Filmfare Best Actor Awards with Shah Rukh with 8 wins. Few people in today’s generation know that he was a multi-skilled actor, and in addition to playing intense and serious roles that literally turned him on like Mughal-E-Azam and Devdas, he also successfully acted in comedies and action movies like Aan, Azaad and Ram Au Sham. Dilip-Saab, as he was popularly known, had rarely seen a box office flop in his illustrious career. I’d be surprised if anyone has a better box office record in terms of success rate than him. Amir Khan might do it, but I’m sure no one else does. The first movies that established him as the proverbial king of tragedy were Deedar, Amar, Andaz, Madhumati and Devdas. He also produced Ganga Jamna in 1961 and that is still the only production of his. David Lean, the famous British director offered him a role in the classic “Lawrence of Arabia”, but Dilip Kumar turned it down.
What’s more, absolutely no one has as good a track record as Dilip Kumar in the roles of major characters. In Bollywood, where an actor’s film life gradually declines as he ages, Dilip Kumar continued to deliver big hits into his sixties like Kranti, Shakti, Vidhata, Karma, Saudagar and Mashal. Dilip Kumar achieved several accolades including the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 and Pakistan’s highest civilian congratulation Nishan-E-Pakistan. He also received Padma Bhushan in 1997 and was Sheriff of Mumbai in 1980. In addition to winning the Filmfare Award for Best Actor 8 times, he also received 19 nominations.
Though he’s played a number of brilliant roles, my personal favorite remains Shakti, where, as a principled father struggling to keep his son in line, he put in a stunning performance and outshone his only serious competition: the biggest superstar of all time. times, Amitabh Bachchan in the role of his son. Although his role was destined to overpower that of Amitabh, he delivered a convincing performance like no other.
Shah Rukh Khan is the latest megastar to carry the torch of intense acting forward. He began his television career and made a brilliant film debut in a short supporting role in Deewana. Shah Rukh has released many commercial hits in his time and is deservedly called King Khan. Some of his blockbusters like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dilwale Dulhaniya and Le Jayenge have achieved box office records. Several of his movies made big deals abroad, making him one of the best Bollywood actors of all time.
After the magnificent debut in Deewana, he went on to make low-budget films until he scored the first of his several massive successes in Baazigar. His antihero in the movie showed his ability to play villainous roles. This ability landed him another couple of roles that were huge successes, namely Darr and Anzaam. He also played a sensitive role in a small movie called Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. Facing the nightmare of being typecast as a villain, he struck another blow as a conventional hero in Karan Arjun. Throughout his career, he had to face competition from two other Khans, namely Salman Khan and the more serious competition from Aamir Khan. Despite having several hits, it was in the late 1990s that he finally established himself as the King of Bollywood. He would be followed by a plethora of hits including Yes Boss, Dil To Pagal Hai and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. In 2002 he starred in the remake of Dilip Kumar’s classic Devdas which earned him another Filmfare Award for Best Actor. He later he also remade Amitabh Bachchan’s classic Don. His last big hit was My Name is Khan, which earned him his eighth Filmfare Award for Best Actor. Despite the upcoming challenges from younger actors, he is still the King of Bollywood.
Personally, I liked the low-budget movies he did with Aziz Mirza, like Yes Boss and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, and I think his best performance to date is still Chak De. As a tarnished Muslim Indian hockey player, he put his life on the line. the role and delivered a brilliant performance that won everyone’s hearts. The film won many awards and was a huge commercial success. In particular, he did a couple of movies with Amitabh Bachchan like Mohabbatein and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam that didn’t really start any fires, although the movies did well at the box office. Well, a few sparks in Mohabbatein but nothing like the Amitabh-Dilip Kumar comparison.
Shah Rukh also produced several movies of which Main Hoon Na and Chalte Chalte were very successful. Although you would associate him more with commercial success, he was honored with Padma Shri in 2005. He also hosted the popular TV show Kaun Banega Karodpati following Amitabh Bachchan.
The biggest superstar of all was the great Amitabh Bachchan. He was a force in Hindi movies like no other. His movies of angry young people in the seventies are classics and people still watch them in awe. I have never seen any actor in Indian cinema with such a fascinating screen presence as Amitabh Bachchan. You couldn’t take your eyes off him. Who can forget those fiery, incredibly focused eyes and booming voice? I’m not going to waste time here reciting his achievements. Everyone knows them. An actor with incredible range and the ability to play all manner of roles with authority made him an icon no one could compete with in the 1970s. He has played all kinds of roles and won all kinds of awards, but the greatest achievement of his remains his domination of the Indian film industry in the seventies. He was called “One Man Industry” at that time and no one could stand up to him. He was unprecedented and will probably never be achieved again. Those 70s revenge movies still give me goosebumps. What we’re seeing today is a much milder person and actor, although that fire and brilliance can occasionally be seen in movies like Sarkar.
The purpose of this article is not to show that other actors did not approach these three. In fact, several actors did, like Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Ashok Kumar, KL Saigal, Rajesh Khanna, Aamir Khan, etc. But the best and most successful and intense actors are these three. My verdict, at the risk of being corny, is Dilip Kumar. The actor was and still is the best actor of all, closely followed by Amitabh Bachchan.