Kumar portrayed tragic roles through the 1940s, 50s and 60s in films like “Mela”, “Devdas”, “Dil Diya Dard Liya” and others, which gave him the moniker of ‘Tragedy King of Bollywood’.
Later, he shifted to doing lighter roles in films like “Ram Aur Shyam”, “Tarana” and “Kohinoor” and showed that he is equally good at comedy.
He was last seen on-screen in the 1998 film “Qila”.
The thespian has been honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke award in 1994 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015 for his contribution to the Indian cinema.
The Pakistan government also honoured him with its highest civilian honour – Nishan-e-Imtiaz – in 1997.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Rishi Kapoor among other Bollywood celebrities took to Twitter to wish “the greatest actor” on his birthday.
