ボリウッドの「悲劇王」ディリップ・クマールさん死去　９８歳

【ニューデリーＡＦＰ＝時事】インド映画界「ボリウッド」で最も尊敬を集めるベテラン俳優の一人、ディリップ・クマールさんが７日、亡くなった。９８歳。ボリウッドや政界から別れを惜しむ声が相次いでいる。（写真はディリップ・クマールさん）
　クマールさんはデーブ・アナンドさんやラージ・カプールさんとともに、１９４０～１９６０年代のインド映画黄金時代を代表する三大俳優とされている。５０年以上のキャリアで、６０本近い作品に出演した。
　影のある美しい顔立ちと乱れた髪、低い声から「悲劇王」とも呼ばれたクマールさんは、当時のインド映画界で最も商業的成功を収めた複数の作品で主役を演じた。
　しかし、デヴィッド・リーン監督の１９６２年の名作『アラビアのロレンス』のアリ首長役を断ったことで、国際的に有名となる機会を逃したことはよく知られている。アリ首長役は、当時無名だったエジプト人俳優、オマー・シャリフさんが演じた。
　クマールさんは１９２２年１２月１１日、当時英領インドだったペシャワル（現パキスタン）で生まれ、ムハンマド・ユスフ・カーンと名付けられた。
　代表作に、ムガル帝国の一人の王子の人生を基に描かれた華麗な歴史ロマンス『偉大なるムガル帝国』がある。１９６０年に公開された同映画の制作期間は８年に及び、制作費も大きく膨らんだが、最終的にボリウッド史上最高の興行収入を記録した作品の一つとなった。
　インドのナレンドラ・モディ首相はツイッターで、クマールさんを「映画の伝説」と呼んだ。
　「比類なき才能に恵まれていた（中略）その死はわれわれの文化にとっての損失だ」【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/07/08-11:57）

Dilip Kumar, one of Bollywood's most accomplished and respected film stars, died on Wednesday aged 98, sparking tributes from across Indian and Pakistani cinema, politics, sport and even animal rights.
Alongside Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor, Kumar was one of three names who dominated Indian cinema's golden age from the 1940s to the 1960s, enjoying a career spanning more than 50 years and nearly 60 films.
Nicknamed The Tragedy King -- with brooding good looks, tousled hair, and a deep voice -- he played the lead in some of India's most commercially successful films of the period.
But he missed out on international fame after turning down the chance to play Sherif Ali in David Lean's 1962 classic Lawrence of Arabia. The part went to then little-known Egyptian actor Omar Sharif.
Kumar was born Mohammed Yusuf Khan on December 11, 1922, in Peshawar, Pakistan, then part of British-ruled India. His father was a fruit merchant who took his family to India's entertainment capital Bombay in the 1930s.
Actress Devika Rani spotted him on his father's fruit stall, leading to a part in his first film, Jwar Bhata, in 1944.
Rani persuaded him to change his name, so he chose Dilip Kumar, allowing him to hide what he was doing from his disapproving father.
Although Jwar Bhata flopped and leading film magazines criticised his performance, Kumar was undeterred and broke through with the 1946 film Milan.
One of his most memorable roles came in the lavish historical romance Mughal-e-Azam, based on the life of a great Mughal prince. It became one of Bollywood's biggest-grossing films of all time.
Kumar, who cited Hollywood greats Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper and Spencer Tracy as influences, later won acclaim in 1964 for the nationalistic Leader, screened against a backdrop of recent wars against China and Pakistan.
- Politics -
The 1970s brought fewer roles, as younger actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, now the biggest star in India's hugely prolific Hindi-language cinema industry, took centre stage.
Kumar even took a five-year break after a run of flops, returning in 1981 with the hit Kranti (Revolution) and a part alongside Bachchan in Shakti (Strength) the following year, plus a string of character roles.
Later he took up a more active role in politics, and in 1998 he worked to end the feuding between India and Pakistan.
The same year saw him receive the highest civilian honour in Pakistan, angering Hindu nationalists. Two years later he became an Indian lawmaker for the Congress party.
Kumar credited his success to his early days in Peshawar's fabled Qissa Khwani (Storytellers) Bazaar where travellers would relate their adventures.
Former Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi called his death a great loss while the country's Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was the greatest and most versatile actor of his generation. Funeral prayers were held outside his ancestral house in Peshawar.
- Baffled by success -
Unlike many actors, who appeared in hundreds of films, Kumar carefully selected roles -- which by Indian standards only increased his stature in the fiercely competitive industry.
In 2006 he accepted a lifetime achievement award at India's National Film Awards in recognition of his contribution to Indian cinema.
Yet he still admitted that he was baffled at his success.
Honestly, I've still to figure out how an intensely shy young man called Yusuf Khan became the actor Dilip Kumar, he told The Hindustan Times in an interview to mark his 85th birthday.
Kumar also filed a case in the Supreme Court in the 1990s in support of lesbian love story Fire after cinemas were vandalised by Hindu fundamentalist groups.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Kumar a cinematic legend.
He was blessed with unparalleled brilliance... His passing away is a loss to our cultural world, Modi tweeted.
Bachchan called him his idol while Anil Kapoor said he was and will always be the finest & greatest actor of our industry for me.
Salman Khan called him the best actor Indian cinema has ever seen and will ever see and animal rights group PETA India said animals everywhere have lost a great friend.
Several stars including Shah Rukh Khan and Anupam Kher visited his actress widow Saira Banu on Wednesday to pay their respects, before a small cremation service in Mumbai.
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