A Legend Reduced to Footnotes

While promising an extensive exploration of Dilip Kumar’s life, the biography falls short of insights, analysis, and revelation

- By SHANTANU RAY CHAUDHURI

AN shok Chopra's The Man Who Became Dilip Kumar presents itself as a deep, definitive portrait of one of Indian cinema's most enduring legends. But what it delivers is something far more underwhelming: a sprawling, repetitive compilation of magazine-style entries, loosely strung together into a 500-page volume that feels like a bound anthology of Sunday features rather than a cohesive work of biographical insight.

Chopra's premise is not without potential. The idea of tracing how a shy, young Yusuf Khan morphed into the emblematic Dilip Kumar is a fascinating one. The persona of Kumar wasn't just an acting choice; it was a cultural invention. To dissect how that evolution occurred, and what forces shaped it, would be a valuable endeavour. But instead of offering fresh archival material, Chopra chooses the path of easy collation. The book reads like a patchwork of 800-word nostalgia columns in a newspaper: a film-byfilm walk-through quoting old magazine reviews, contemporary critiques, and a smattering of personal opinion, none of which significantly elevates what is already widely known.