The country was in the grip of the Emergency. Given that the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Vidya Charan Shukla, attended its grand muhurat in New Delhi, it could well have been an initiative of the government to create a narrative involving the bigwigs of the Hindi film industry that showed the Congress in a good light. Dilip Kumar was also known to be sympathetic to the Congress. Well-known producer G.P. Sippy, whose Sholay was breaking records all over, announced a cinematic adaptation of Jawaharlal Nehru’s The Discovery of India, starring Dilip Kumar. Though it is not clear what character the star would play, Trinetra Bajpai and Anshula Bajpai, in their book Dilip Kumar: Peerless Icon Inspiring Generations, mention that he was cast as the ‘main protagonist’. The most interesting aspect of the production was that it was to be scripted by Salim-Javed and directed by Ramesh Sippy! The Emergency was lifted in 1977, the Congress went out of power, and nothing was heard about the project after the muhurat.

Satyajit Ray called him the ‘ultimate method actor’. He remains the gold standard as far as film acting is concerned. In a career spanning 55 years (Jwar Bhata in 1944 to Qila in 1999), Dilip Kumar acted in a mere fifty-nine films — a testimony to his commitment to his craft. However, like The Discovery of India, there are a number of projects starring him that were announced or partially shot that never made it to the finishing line.

The Unrealised Dreams with Mehboob Khan and K. Asif

In the wake of the huge success of Mehboob Khan’s Amar (1954), the director approached Dilip Kumar for the character of Birju (eventually essayed by Sunil Dutt), one of the two sons of Nargis Dutt in Mother India. Dilip Kumar turned down the offer.

After Mother India, the director began work on his pet project based on the life of Habba Khatoon, the sixteenth-century Kashmiri poet. A few posters of Mother India also announced Habba Khatoon, starring Dilip Kumar, as the next Mehboob Productions’ venture. The actor was to play Yousuf Shah Chak, a ruler of Kashmir and Habba Khatoon’s husband.

However, the film failed to take off, probably because Dilip Kumar did not like the negative traits of the character he was playing. Like Chanakya, which has been a jinxed subject for Hindi filmmakers, Habba Khatoon too seems to be a long-standing jinx. In 1988, Muzaffar Ali’s version of her story, titled Zooni (starring Dimple Kapadia and Vinod Khanna), was aborted after ten reels were shot and ten songs recorded by Khayyam. There was another version that B.R. Chopra had planned, with Saira Banu and Sanjay Khanna, that came to a halt after Mohammad Rafi had recorded a song, ‘Jis raat ke khwaab aaye’, composed by Naushad.

Another unrealised film with Mehboob Khan that Dilip Kumar spoke of with great fondness was Hamara Watan. Starring Rajendra Kumar, Raaj Kumar and Saira Banu, with music by Naushad and lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi, the project was conceptualised by Mehboob Khan after the failure of his Son of India (1963). The director’s death in 1964 brought the curtains down on the film.

K. Asif and Dilip Kumar created magic with Mughal-e-Azam. However, other projects involving the director and actor never went beyond the basic announcements and planning. In 1946, Asif launched Janwar with Dilip Kumar and Suraiya. After a muhurat, a few reels were shot but the director pulled the plug on the film soon after. Asif also planned Aakhri Mughal (based on the life of Bahadur Shah Zafar) and Taj Mahal with Dilip Kumar in the lead. The director’s last film, Love and God, which started shooting in the 1960s had Dilip Kumar as the hero to begin with. However, following a tiff with the director, Dilip Kumar opted out and Sanjeev Kumar filled in. The project eventually released (incomplete) in 1986 around the time Sanjeev Kumar passed away.

Other Shelved Films of the 1950s and ’60s

Mahesh Kaul, who made Gopinath, starring Raj Kapoor and Tripti Mitra, in 1948, announced a film called Har Singaar with Dilip Kumar and Madhubala. Anil Biswas was to compose the songs. A few reels were shot before the film was called off. The same fate befell a film called Faasla, produced by Dr V.N. Sinha, who had also produced Kohinoor, which too starred Dilip Kumar. The film, also starring Madhubala, was to be directed by Zia Sarhady of Footpath (1953) fame, one of Dilip Kumar’s most memorable performances. As the director migrated to Pakistan, the film did not go beyond the muhurat.

Shikwa, starring Nutan opposite Dilip Kumar, was abandoned after more than 10,000 feet of edited footage had been canned. The film, directed by Ramesh Saigal, who also made Phir Subah Hogi, was based on a story written by K.A. Abbas and featured Dilip Kumar as Ram, a pacifist army officer who is court-martialed. His wife (played by Nutan) strikes a deal with the commanding officer of the court-martial (played by the director himself), agreeing to marry him to save Ram. It is said that the producers launched a film called Anarkali (also written by Ramesh Saigal) just when the shooting of Mughal-e-Azam had been revived, thus upsetting Dilip Kumar and Kamal Amrohi (who was writing both Shikwa and Mughal-e-Azam).

Ramesh Saigal was also to direct a film called Kala Aadmi, based on the life of coal miners. A lot of research and preparation went into the film, with the director and star visiting the coal mines in Dhanbad and Jharia. Madan Mohan was to score the music for the film. However, the demise of Dilip Kumar’s elder brother Ayub Khan, who was supposed to be part of the film, halted work. Madan Mohan was also unlucky that another film starring Dilip Kumar for which he composed the music did not get off. The film, titled Bank Manager, starred Meena Kumari and Dilip Kumar, was to be produced and directed by R.C. Talwar.

When Bombay Talkies shut down in 1953, its workmen founded a new studio called Bombay Talkies Workers’ Industrial Cooperative Society, which produced Baadbaan (1954), starring Ashok Kumar, Dev Anand, and Meena Kumari among others. The film was directed by Phani Majumdar. Buoyed by its success, the Society launched a bigger film titled Samandar which brought together Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Ashok Kumar, Meena Kumar and others. However, nothing came of it after the announcement.

Sohrab Modi’s Pukar Remake

In the 1970s, Sohrab Modi announced a remake of his 1939 classic. The dream cast included Dilip Kumar as Emperor Jahangir, Saira Banu as Noor Jehan, Raj Kapoor as the washerman, Shashi Kapoor as Sangram Singh and Rakhee as the washerwoman. Two songs written by Jan Nisar Akhtar and composed by Naushad – ‘Teri nazron se dhobaniya’ (Mukesh) and ‘Toray kurte se tora badan jhalke’ (Mukesh-Asha Bhosle) – were recorded. But after a few scenes featuring Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu were shot, the film was shelved.

Dilip Kumar as Chanakya in a look test for Chanakya Chandragupta.

Dilip Kumar as Chanakya, Dharmendra as Chandragupta Maurya, Hema Malini as his Greek wife Helena and Salma Agha! This was the dreamchild of Kishore Sharma, a barrister who specialised in ancient Indian history. He wanted to produce the film, scripted by Satish Bhatnagar and directed by B.R. Chopra, under his own banner.

London-based make-up artist Annie Spiers and legendary Indian make-up man Pandhari Juker worked to create the looks for the major characters, including Dilip Kumar as Chankaya. Naushad composed and recorded a song, ‘Dil kiska pyaar nibhaye’, penned by Indivar and sung by Lata Mangeshkar. The muhurat was scheduled for November 1977. However, all preparations came to naught as Kishore Sharma passed away before the muhurat.

Zabardast

Around the same time, producer-director Nasir Husain, fresh from the success of Hum Kisise Kum Nahin (1977), announced what would be the grandest film of his immensely successful twenty-year career thus far. The film, to be shot in Cinemascope and stereophonic sound, scripted by Sachin Bhowmick, with music by R.D. Burman and lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri, was to star Dilip Kumar, Dharmendra, Asha Parekh, Sharda, Rishi Kapoor, Zeenat Aman, Tina Munim, Raj Kiran, Kajal Kiran and Amjad Khan. No wonder it was titled Zabardast. As Aamir Khan mentioned in his interview to Akshay Manwani in the book Music Masti Modernity: The Cinema of Nasir Husain, ‘It was the biggest film of the time. All territories were closed at Rs 75 lakh per territory minimum guarantee. Overseas rights were sold at Rs 1.25 crore. And this was on announcement.’ The shoot began in right earnest but soon came to a halt following differences between the director and Dilip Kumar. Mansoor Khan, son of Nasir Husain, said in the same book, ‘They were different personalities who came from different schools of filmmaking… they were not compatible. My dad liked to shoot scenes in his own way and Dilip Sa’ab had his own way. After some time, dad felt he had no control. I don’t think they even met to discuss the way forward. It just shut down.’

Masterji

Chandra Barot (of Don fame) launched this under his own banner. An adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, the film was to star Dilip Kumar as Professor Higgins and Saira Banu as Eliza Doolittle. The project, however, did not proceed beyond a shooting schedule at Juhu beach. Interestingly, Dilip Kumar’s long-time friend and colleague of the 1950s and ’60s, Dev Anand, went on to play Higgins in Basu Chatterjee’s adaptation of the play, Man Pasand.

Majnoon

Full-page advertisement in Screen magazine announced this ambitious film produced by Rajesh Khanna under his own banner, Aashirwad Films. The ad mentioned Rakhee, Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor as the other stars. Rajesh Khanna roped in Kamal Amrohi as director and a muhurat was held at which the film’s first sequence was shot on Raj Kapoor. Composer Khayyam recorded its title music and a couple of songs, written by Naqsh Lyallpuri, were picturised. Surprisingly, Dilip Kumar ran another ad in the same magazine a few days later denying he had signed the film. And with that Rajesh Khanna’s grand obsession died a premature death.

Other Films of the 1970s and ’80s That Were Never Made

There were a number of projects announced with Dilip Kumar in the 1970s and ’80s that brought together the biggest stars of the era. Ramanand Sagar announced Sanam, starring Mithun Chakraborty and Rakhee, sometime in the early 1980s. But reeling from the debacle of his Dharmendra-starrer Baghavat (1982), the director shelved the film. In 1987, he announced yet another film starring Dilip Kumar and Mithun Chakraborty, along with Sridevi and Anupam Kher. The film was titled Raasta, but the road came to an end after a few reels were shot.

Tanvi Ahmed and Jhamu Sugandh pulled off a major casting coup with Adaa, an epic story spanning four generations. The film was to feature Dilip Kumar with Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan, with music composed by A.R. Rahman. The film, however, never took off. Subhash Ghai’s Homeland, starring Dilip Kumar with Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, met the same fate.

Dilip Kumar’s Own Dream Projects

After the stupendous success of Ganga Jumna, Dilip Kumar wanted to produce a script titled Kaar Begaar, based on the lives of weavers who help an industrialist set up a factory only to be cheated by the businessman. Starring Saira Banu, Dilip Kumar wanted to produce this under his banner, Citizen Films.

Another of his dream projects was Oh Baba Jaan. Dilip Kumar is reported to have written nine different versions of the film that dealt with schizophrenia. He met Marathi filmmaker Jabbar Patel several times to discuss the project about a schizophrenic banker’s plan to rob his bank. But like a number of his other projects – Kaali Sarson, Banmanas and Satya – this too remained only a dream.

Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri is a film and music buff, editor, publisher, film critic and writer.