Dilip Kumar, popularly called the Tragedy King, was among the greatest actors ever to have graced Indian cinema. Born as Muhammad Yusuf Khan, he adopted the screen name Dilip Kumar in keeping up with the traditions of early Hindi filmdom. The iconic actor had a long and illustrious career spanning over five decades and was considered one of the foremost figures of the ‘Golden Era of Indian Cinema’. He entered the world of Hindi cinema during the 1940s when Bollywood was still in its infancy. His foray into acting was by chance—he actually started out as a canteen owner when a chance encounter with the actress Devika Rani resulted in a film offer. Even though his debut film did not do well, he soon established himself as an emotive character actor by the end of the decade. In spite of his being a versatile actor who played several different characters with the same intensity and effectiveness, he was best known for portraying tragic roles in films like ‘Jogan’, ‘Deedar’ and ‘Devdas’ which earned him the title Tragedy King. Dilip Kumar had the distinction of being the first actor to receive a Filmfare Best Actor Award, an award which he won eight times throughout his career.