Today it is hard to imagine Dilip Kumar as anything but an actor but interestingly the thespian never had stars in his Dilip Kumareyes when he was speeding through college, waiting to be asked to assist his abba with his fruit business. Handling mangoes, apples and oranges gave Yusuf Khan a strange kind of pleasure and it wasn’t long before his abba trusted him enough to let him clinch deals by himself. It was to fix one such deal that the young Yusuf went to Nainital where Devika Rani, the boss lady of Bombay Talkies, stumbled upon him, and life was never the same again.

Devika had come to Nainital to scout locations for her next film with her director, Amiya Chakravarty. Yusuf was amazed when the star handed him her card and insisted she meet him as soon as he returned to Bombay. He instinctively knew that she wanted to offer him a role but couldn’t believe that an ordinary looker like him would be given a chance to grace the silver screen. So after returning to Bombay instead of Devika Rani he fixed up a meeting with a contractor and convinced him to start a canteen in Pune which Yusuf ran efficiently and from which he made a tidy profit and kept his abba happy. But it wasn’t long before the monotony of his job began to bore him and on an impulse landed up at Bombay Talkies studio one day at 10.30 a.m. Unfortunately it was a Sunday and the office was closed.

Disappointed, Yusuf was on his way out when he saw a man nibbling raw mangoes outside the office and it wasn’t long before he was telling him about the reason for his impulsive dash to the studio. The man was S. Guruswamy, production secretary of Bombay Talkies, who urged Yusuf to return the next day and when he did, dragging his feet, rushed him into Devika Rani’s office. She asked him if he’d ever acted before. Yusuf shook his head sadly. “Would you like to join films?” she rapped out. Yusuf’s answer was a vigorous nod. There were just two other things Devika Rani wanted to know. “Did he smoke?” Another shake. “Did he speak good Urdu?” Another nod. And the interview was over.

Back home Yusuf decided she wasn’t interested and was wondering whether to start another canteen when he got a letter from Bombay Talkies. Devika Rani wanted to meet him again. Reluctantly, Yusuf dragged himself to the studios and was shocked when Devika Rani greeted him with a piece of paper that turned out to be a contract. He was being signed by Bombay Talkies to play the lead opposite a new girl Mridula in their next film, Jwar Bhata. There was only one condition. He’d have to change his name. Devika Rani had three names waiting-Jehangir, Vasudev and Dilip Kumar. He could take his pick. Without thinking Yusuf mumbled Dilip Kumar and was relieved he wouldn’t have to immediately tell abba he was acting in a film. But very soon he started running out of excuses about why he was returning home later and later everyday even though he had closed down his canteen. Finally, he confided his secret in his elder brother, Ayub Khan, who told abba that Yusuf had got a job with Glaxo. Abba was ecstatic. Now the family would get milk and biscuits for free at a time when everyone else was hungering for them. Poor Yusuf had to buy the items in black every week to keep abba from guessing his secret.

Dilip KumarJawar Bhata came and went without abba guessing that his ladla was acting in films. Dilip Kumar then shot for another film, Pratima and managed to keep even that from his father. Then one day Prithviraj Kapoor’s father, Lala Bashesharnath who was his abba’s old friend from Peshwar and whom abba had berated many times for allowing his children to act in films, strode into the house waving a newspaper. “See your son is also acting in films. Check out his photograph,” Lalaji boomed pushing the newspaper into abba’s hands. Shivering, Yusuf waited to be summoned. He was, in minutes. “Was this his picture?” Abba demanded to know. “No way,” Yusuf muttered thankful that the photograph was too hazy to be recognized. He was let off. But soon others started streaming into the house with the same newspaper. Realizing he was caught, Yusuf confessed all. Abba stopped speaking and interacting with him. For days the silence continued and then one day, he was forgiven.

After that Dilip Kumar’s luck changed. Jwar Bhata, Pratima and Milan had sunk but Mela was a superhit and so was Shaheed. And soon Dilip Kumar was a household name.