Tragic roles very similar to his role in Mela in films like Babul (1950), Arzoo (1950), Jogan(1950), Deedar(1951), Udan Khatola (1955) and Bimal Roy’s super hit Devdas. The release of a number of tragic films earned him the title of the ‘Tragedy King’ initially.

Devdas, a character who is forbidden his beloved for social reasons, and drinks his life away, is one of the key renouncer figures in modern Indian literature and cinema. When a second film version was made in 1955, it was inevitable that, of the contemporary crop of film stars, it would be Dilip Kumar who played the lead role.

The Devdas of 1955 is the Devdas for generations of Indian audiences. The tragic hero and the failed love became such staples of folklore that even today any variation on the said theme evokes a comparison with Dilip Kumar.