Reexaming Dilip Kumar’s film especially his last film, the misconceived Quila, which the actor said at the time he would like to forget, that released 27 years ago
The mythical Meena Kumari’s last film was not the timeless Pakeezah but an atrocity named Gomti Ke Kinare where she looked ill at ease, and not only for health reasons. And India’s biggest celluloid superstar Rajesh Khanna’s swan song was the terrible Riyaasat.
Hard to believe that Dilip Kumar’s career as an actor ended with Quila in 1998 …or did Dilip Kumar end his career prematurely because of Quila, a purported suspense thriller where everything that could possibly go wrong, did go wrong, leaving the Thespian’s farewell performance more than a tad misconceived.
Why did the great actor, perhaps the most accomplished actor in Indian cinema, agree to be part of a film so infuriatingly infantile? When I asked the Thespian this question, he smiled and held his silence.
He then said, “One makes mistakes, and one learns from them. Shooting for this film was a nightmare I would like to forget.”
In Quila, which was released on 10 April 1998, Dilip Kumar was cast in a double role for the first time since the blockbuster Ram Aur Shyam in 1966. In-between, he did a triple role in the disastrous Bairaag. Quila was directed by Umesh Mehra, whose track record was no great shakes.
Dilip Kumar’s co-star in Quila was Rekha, who also starred with Dilip Kumar in the unreleased Aag Ka Dariya. The film directed by S V Rajendra Singh Babu never made it into theatres. There was some talk of restoring and releasing the film some years ago. Providentially, all such talk died a quiet death.
The same is true of Kalinga, the film that Dilip Kumar was officially directing in the 1990s. Unofficially, he directed several of his films, including Ganga Jumna, Dil Diya Dard Liya. Kalinga cost its poor producer Sudhakar Bokade all his wealth, savings, and property. This was also the last film that Raj Kiran shot before he disappeared.
A few years ago, the nation woke up to the jolting news that Kalinga would be dusted off the shelf and released. The brainwave proved abortive. In fact, posthumous releases must be legally banned. You can’t do an Om Prakash Zindabad to Om Puri after he is no more.
