Zameer akhtar book on dilip kumar autobiography

What is recounted with understated ease in the main part of the book is eloquently corroborated in the second part. Natasha Borah. Author 1 book 2 followers. And they together entrusted Udayatara Nayar, their longtime friend and film journalist, to bring it together. He narrated his story to her in multiple sittings. He calls the man he is born as, Yousuf Khan, the substance; and the actor, Dilip Kumar, the shadow.

This book is both their stories. The book also contains reminiscences from a number of his close friends, family and peers from the film industry. Family stories, childhood tales and events that shape one's life, are always the most interesting and heartening. And this book was no different. Can't say I felt the same way. The narrative was not always sequential and each chapter revolved around a subject or topic.

Also, I felt the book ended abruptly and there was no reference to his life at the time of writing the book. Nonetheless, it was a fine read and it was good know about Yousuf Khan, the person. This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.

Zameer akhtar book on dilip kumar autobiography: allama zameer akhtar book dilip

Show full review. Sharang Limaye. Autobiographies tend to disappoint given their propensity to deify the subject. This one's no better. The only welcome change is that the actual writer is given due credit, although not as the author. The writing is not exactly sparkling but gets the job done. Kumar is universally accepted as the most skilled actor to have reached superstar status within the Hindi film 'industry'.

One expected greater emphasis on that part of his life. Instead we get a dreary, never-ending account of his childhood and early youth. Probably this section was meant strictly for the die-hards. Others could skip it and start off with DK's introduction to the world of cinema. There are no startling revelations here. Again, the pages devoted to the protagonist's real-life love story with long-suffering wife Saira gets boring pretty soon.

To top it off, about one-fifth the last bit of the book is made up of write-ups from Kumar's colleagues and assorted relatives. Again, the average reader stands to gain very little in here except from the pieces written by stalwarts like Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor. All in all, its not bad but still seems like a opportunity gone waste.

Zameer akhtar book on dilip kumar autobiography: I am still waiting

This book offers some insight into the life of actor Dilip Kumar. Despite being referred to as an autobiography, it is actually "as narrated to Udayatara Nayar. I didn't get the impression that I was reading the autobiography of a legend; rather, it seemed more like the story of an ordinary man who made the right choices for himself, made good use of his abilities, and inspired many.

Dilip Kumar appeared to the author as a parent and a man. To the author, Dilip Kumar seemed like a father figure, a man of great valour and responsibility. He wrote about Sir from a common man's point of view rather than as a public figure. Tania Qureshi. I loved it, overall. I picked it up because my mama mentioned his name a few times in my life.

Yusuf Khan and I personally love this name. It's so good. Before this book I just knew Dilip Kumar's name but after reading the book I'm in love with his personality and the life events he described in the book. I also had a dream about his childhood when I was reading it late at night. I always like Hollywood more than Bollywood as Bollywood copies a lot of things and ideas from all zameer akhtar book on dilip kumar autobiography the world but after reading this book, I would like to give his old movies a try.

He is indeed a legend. And the book is beautiful with pictures and writings of praises by other actors like Aamir Khan, Anil Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan. This book provides some information about the actor Dilip Kumar's life. Though it is called an Autobiography, it is "as narrated to Udayatara Nayar". This book informs us that Dilip Kumar was a good actor and was not only respected by all but was revered by most.

This book contains a Reminiscences section of nearly a pages in which more than forty people have narrated their experiences on meeting Dilip Kumar. On reading this section one comes to know that Dilip Kumar made such a deep and lasting impression on all of them that it seems as if all the reminiscences are written by one person. Did not expect anything out of the ordinary from this book.

It was a self tribulatory book which had good and sincere views about himself, his wife, his family, his industry and his friends. With the validations from superstars, directors, fellow actors and actresses, Kumar's biography was merely a congratulatory note for an iconic star of Bollywood. The earlier chapters of his life were interesting to understand how Yusuf Khan, who from Pre-partition Peshawar ended up becoming Dilip Kumar.

Like all Bollywood films this biography was 'we lived all happily ever after. I got into it as soon as I started it. I don't love anything as much as I love reading about old Hindi films, and this book had everything to satisfy me on that level. But halfway through the book, I got bored as some parts were unnecessarily detailed. No doubt this book is very well written but I'm disappointed with the pictures included in this book.

A lot more work could be done on them by including some never-seen-before pictures instead of some random low quality pictures. Overall, for a cinephile like me, it was an absolute treat! As I read this book inhad Yousaf Sahab been alive, he would have turned by the end of this year. Thankfully today, no one chains people with mental illness to a cot; or treats physical ailments with metabolic waste although some people still use cow urine as medicine!

No person can insist that a woman get married to their friend on the very night that the friend expresses a desire to marry her. Fewer educated people believe in witchcraft. His was the generation of celebrities that set a template for social commitment. He was among the first actors to join politics, raise money for charities, do contemporary-style promotions for cinema, encourage fan hysteria!

Films were mostly message-orientated with strong social themes in both rural and contemporary urban contexts. He goes into good detail about some of his popular films, and his acting methods. I enjoyed his take on acting. He thought very deeply about method and spontaneous instinctual acting, and realism and what it takes to be convincing, compelling and inspiring in equal measure.

A lot of people talked about his masterful use of silence which was unusual at that time. He defined and redefined what a hero could be, and explored many shades of emotion with each character. His was also the first generation of anti-heroes. Yousuf Sahab was an actor, producer, director, writer and even singer in Musafir and Karma. He speaks of his close involvement in all production stages.

He has seen many generations of technical advancements. Since he was learning how to work camera, light, sound, etc alongside technicians, it gave him a chance to participate in technical experiments, and collaborate with them on shots. In a way, he schooled technicians on how to do their job. It was a two-way learning process. I enjoyed reading about his childhood, his many friendships and relationships, and the equations he share with actors and filmmakers.

He is a class act who spared us a lot of unsavory details about some of the personal issues he had with some actors and politicians. Where he was unrestrained was is in his praise of people including those he had disagreements with. The book reads like an intimate chat with a seasoned actor who has seen a lot, and is able to look back on events with some retrospective clarity.

You get a little sampler of every aspect of his life. It was a great idea to include the tributes of all his colleagues in the second half of the book! So many women were included in the tributes, as were non-film people from politicians to physicians, social workers, domestic workers, friends and relatives. They were all arranged in alphabetical order, and serves as testament to his egalitarian spirit that many of his colleagues praised him for in this book.

One of the fun parts of the book was reading about people's first meetings with him including how he welcomed absolute strangers to his house. They were full of anecdotes about his sense of humor, his generosity, his acting prowess and charismatic personality. Some tributes read like gossip columns. Retrieved 21 October Beegum, Naseem 8 November Khaleej Times.

Archived from the original on 10 March Retrieved 22 October Chatterjee, Saibal 30 June Archived from the original on 27 September Chintamani, Gautam 30 November Archived from the original on 3 May Desai, Meghnad 17 September The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 15 July The Times of India. Press Trust of India. Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi 23 November The Hindu.

Archived from the original on 21 October Gahlot, Deepa 9 August Hindustan Times. Gigoo, Arvind 20 July Daily News and Analysis. Archived from the original on 9 July Gilani, Shahabuddin 7 December The Express Tribune. Archived from the original on 8 January Gupta, Boski 17 September Archived from the original on 19 September Jain, Madhu 26 June India Today.

Archived from the original on 30 July Kumar, S. Nanda 3 August Deccan Herald. Naqvi, Jawed 29 July Archived from the original on 15 June Nayar, Udaya Tara 20 June Dilip Kumar: The Substance and the Shadow. Hay House India Other Books. Delivery by 3 Feb, Monday Free? Dilip Kumar Udaya Tara Nayar.

Zameer akhtar book on dilip kumar autobiography: Mohammed Yousuf Khan was born

NeomPublicationHouse 3. This book consists of various interesting anecdotes from the life of Dilip Kumar, the legend who captured many hearts with his prolific performances. Dilip Kumar, arguably the greatest Indian actor to have ever blazed the silver screen, is an icon in every sense of the term. His journey in movies is nothing short of a roller-coaster ride.

This book covers his whole journey right from his struggling days to his meeting with Devika Rani which led to him getting a break in movies to the glorious era of movies like Andaz, Daag and Devdas to name a few.