Ashok Kumar was born on 11 October 1911 at Bhagalpur , Bihar. He was oldest among his three brothers and one sister. He was never allowed to read a play, he could see no stage show or films, even if the rest of the family enjoyed it. It was dinned into his ears that his family expected him to be a scientist. During his student days legendary actor Ashok Kumar hobby was photography. Ashok Kumar is often called first superstar of Indian. He was known for his dapper good looks and stylish dialogue delivery much before such things became a norm in our industry. Ashok played the hero from the 1930s to ’60s and had the masses rooting for his charm throughout. He was first natural actor who learnt the nuances of acting on the job and made every scene count. He could always be counted to give a memorable performance in each of his outings.
His acting career started purely by accident. Shooting was already underway on the Bombay Talkies production Jeevan Naiya in 1936, when the male lead, Najm-ul-Hassan, eloped with his co-star Devika Rani, who happened to be the wife of Himanshu Rai, millionaire owner of Bombay Talkies. Rani subsequently returned to her husband who, out of spite, dismissed Hassan and summarily ordered Kumudlal to replace him. This he did against the advice of director Franz Osten, who reckoned that the young man did not have the good looks needed for an actor.Himaanshu Rai husband of Devika Rani performed the muhurat shot of Jeevan Naiya with Kumud as a hero. From then on his family name Ganguli, receded into the background and come to be known as Ashok Kumar to millions in India. This is how Ashok Kumar got Jeevan Naiya.
Jeevan Naiya 1936 was a box office hit but Ashok Kumar become star all over with his very second film Achhut Kanya which turned to be an all time blockbuster hit and created all-time records at the box office and ran for 60 weeks all over the india which was very rare feat then and broke the record of KL Saigal's Devdas and Achhut Kanya also become the biggest box-office grosser of the decade.
Achhut Kanya was followed by smashing back to back hits in a row like Janmabhoomi, Vachan, Savitri, Prem Kahani, Izzat, Nirmala and interestingly all these films had Devika Rani as female lead who was Box-office queen then. And all these hits in back to back in a row cemented Ashok Kumar-Devika Rani as the most popular jodi of that era. Though Devika Rani was a bigger star than Ashok Kumar then.
He started emerging a superstar from Devika Rani's shadow owing to pairing opposite Leela Chitnish, another actor who was senior to him in age. They both paired in Kangan (1939) which ran neck to neck with KL Saigal's Pukar. Kangan was one of the biggest blockbuster of 30s decade and missed HGOTY by very thin margin of 2% to KL Saigal's Pukar. Kangan was the last film of Ashok Kumar in 30s decade and with none of his films underperforming and all being hits , he become the 3rd most successful star of 30s decade behind KL Saigal and Master Vitthal.
His second film with Leela Chitnish was Bandhan which become the biggest grosser of all-time then and the biggest blockbuster hit of 1940 . His another film that year Azad too was a hit and these films success capitulated Ashok Kumar finally to no. 1 position and his popularity reached new dizzy heights and become the most popular superstar of that era.
In 1941 Naya Sansar was superhit all-over India but his Anjaan flopped and interestingly it was the first flop of Ashok Kumar after back to back smashing 11 hits. The failure of Anjaan at the box office brought an end to the Ashok Kumar-Devika Rani , the most popular jodi of that era.
With Jhoola (1942) breaking all previous records and becoming the biggest grosser of all-time as well as biggest blockbuster hit of 1942. Ashok Kumar become the Heartthrkb of everyone in India. The mega success of this capitulated Ashok Kumar to Mega-stardom and he was given the title of "Prince Of All Male Stars' .
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With Kismat (1943), Ashok Kumar become the first ever Indian Actor to play Anti Hero role and it was well received by all. The film smashed all existing records and turned out to be the biggest blockbuster hit of 1943 as well the biggest blockbuster hit of entire 40s decade. It was also the first film to collect Rs. 1 Crore benchmark at the domestic Indian box office . The film ran for 196 weeks at Roxy, Calcutta which is record itself. With the success of this film Ashok Kumar become no.1 to no. 10 superstar of that era. Kismet was followed by another blockbuster Najma directed by Mahboob Khan, which is referred as first social-muslim blockbuster film.
Such was his popularity at the time that, in the words of Manto, "Ashok's popularity grew each passing day. He seldom ventured out, but wherever he was spotted, he was mobbed. Traffic would come to a stop and often the police would have to use lathis to disperse his fans."
Ashok Kumar continued to deliver hits like Humayun and Shikari in 1945 and 1946 respectively. But in this period his much hyped Chal Chal Re Naujawan underperformed . His first directorial assignment 'Eight Days' flopped at the box-office. He accepted a contract under India's reputed director Debuki Bose in 'Chandra Shekhar'. The film was such a miserable flop that it threw Ashok Kumar temporarily out of the market.
But he bounced back with the Sajan , a hit of 1948 despite the arrival of Dilip Kumar mania and blockbuster Mahal in 1949 which is also referred as first horror film of Indian Cinema. And with Sajan and Mahal he become the second biggest star after the current heartthrob of then Dilip Kumar.
But without any doubt the 40s belonged to him.
Despite the arrival of Dilip Kumar - Raj Kapoor - Dev Anand trinity in 50s , Ashok Kumar continued to score high at the box office.
His 'Samadhi' in 1950 turned out to be the biggest hit of the year while Nishana too did above average business at the box office. In 1951 he starred with Dilip Kumar in "Deedaar" which turned to be second biggest blockbuster hit of 1951 behind Awara. It music was very popular which gave it uplift and the performance of both superstars Dilip Kumar and Ashok Kumar was very appreciated in the film. The very same year Sangraam too was big hit despite the fact that it was banned in most of the circuits after 15-16 weeks despite running to packed houses all over India. Afsana too was a hit at the box office. He also acted with Dev Anand for the first time in 'Tamasha' which did hit business in Bombay (now mumbai) but it flopped in other parts.
1952 was a dull year for bollywood and most of the films underperformed in 1952 but it was Ashok Kumar who ended the dull phase of 1952 with 'Nau Bahar' a silver jubilee hit of 1952 which also gave major uplift to Nalini Jaywant career. Poonam too that year was a smash hit while Jalpari was an above average runners. He also appeared with Raj Kapoor in 'Bewafa' though the film barely managed to scrape out at the box office but the performance of Ashok Kumar was appreciated in the film.
In 1953-1955 Ashok Kumar appeared in hits like Parineeta and Bandish. Though his other starrers didn't do well but in a survey of 1954 by industry peoples and distributors, Ashok Kumar was the second biggest crowd puller behind Dilip Kumar. 3 of his films 'Kismet', 'Mahal' and 'Deedaar' were among top ten biggest box office grossers of all time then (1954).
1956 was a bumper year for Ashok Kumar and Ashok Kumar once again roared after dull 1954-1955 with Highest Grosser Of The Year "Ek Hi Raasta" And hits like "Bhai Bhai" And "Inspector that year. The success of these films made Ashok Kumar a big hot proposition once again.1957-1958 he starred in blockbuster "Chalti Ka Naam Gadi" and hits like "Howrah Bridge" And "Ek Saal" as well as above average runner like "Night club". Interestingly it was last year for Ashok Kumar in which he delivered hits as a main lead. Later on after that he played central roles in hits of 60s and 70s like 'Mamta', 'Bandini', 'Kanoon', Rakhi', 'Gumrah etc. And also played central roles in blockbusters like 'Aarti', 'Mere Mahboob', 'Victoria No. 203' , 'Chor Machaye Shor' and many more superhits and hits of that era.
Ashok Kumar continued to play central roles till 1981 and played character roles successfully till 1997. In the career span of over 61 Years , Ashok Kumar achieved all the box office feats.
He is most successful superstar of his era and probably the fifth most successful superstar of all-time after Dilip Kumar, Salman Khan , Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan
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