Born on October 13, 1911 in Bhagalpur, Ashok Kumar became one of the earliest icons of Indian cinema. He would have been 99 today. Let's look at moments from his life
Destiny had other plans for him – in 1936, Himanshu Rai was directing Jeevan Naiyya when the lead actor fell ill and Ashok Kumar was called on to step in
He then made Izzat (1937), Savitri (1937) and Nirmala (1938), all with Devika Rani. The movies were successful but it was Devika Rani who received most of the applause
But his next three films opposite actress Leela Chitnis Kangan in 1939, Bandhan in 1940, Jhoola in 1941, left a lasting impression on people about his acting skills.
Kismet set a new record by running for 3 years in Mumbai and Kolkata. Ashok Kumar's charismatic performance made the movie a runaway success and brought in more praise for his dramatic skills
In a career spanning 6 decades he earned many awards and plaudits. He won Filmfare Best Actor twice, the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995 and the Padma Bhushan in 1998
