When Dilip Kumar said the 'pain' he endured as the 'alienated child' helped him portray tragic roles in films

Today, Bollywood has lost a gem, a star, and an institution of acting. 98-years-old actor Dilip Kumar breathed his last at Mumbai's Hinduja Hospital in the early hours today. The legendary actor was popularly known as ‘The Tragedy King’ owing to his marvelous acting skills in the specific genre. Dilip Kumar, in his autobiography, opened up on the same and revealed how he managed to portray tragic roles in his career with such ease and perfection. He shared, 'It was the pain I endured as the alienated child in school that surfaced from my subconscious when I was playing the early tragic roles in my career'. Well, often being tagged as a method actor, he further confessed that he didn’t know how he came to be called that as he added, 'The truth is that I am an actor who evolved a method, which stood me in good stead. I learned the importance of studying the script and characters deeply and building upon my own gut observations and sensations about my own and other characters. It was always meaningful for me to study even those characters who would be close to me or opposed to me'. For the unversed, born as Mohammad Yusuf Khan on December 11, 1922, in Peshawar city, now in Pakistan, Dilip Kumar's career spans over five decades with multiple hits such as 'Mughal-e-Azam', 'Devdas', 'Naya Daur', 'Ram Aur Shyam' and many others. He was last seen in the film 'Qila'. After working continuously for several years, Dilip Kumar took a 5-year break from films in the year 1976, only to return with another hit film 'Kranti'. Well, talking about his tragic demise, the actor was admitted to the intensive care unit of Hinduja Hospital on June 29 following complaints of breathlessness. He was diagnosed with bilateral pleural effusion and was undergoing treatment for the same but succumbed to the illness as confirmed by the doctor treating the veteran actor.