selectvenue Did you know, before establishing as a legendary actor, Dilip Kumar had a successful business of sandwiches?
When the Second World War was looming, a young guy from Peshawar was wooing English men and their spouses in Pune with his alluring personality and, of course, his enticing sandwiches. Well, we’re discussing none other than the late actor Dilip Kumar here!
He founded a sandwich shop in Pune before beginning his acting career as a result of his disputes with his father, Lala Ghulam Sarwar Khan, whom he called Aghaji.
‘Dilip Kumar: The Substance and the Shadow’, his autobiography, quotes him as saying: ‘My sandwich company opened quite successfully. The latecomers were upset when they learned that the sandwiches were delicious and that they had lost the opportunity to taste them because all of the sandwiches were quickly sold out.
Dilip Kumar was a perfectionist, a superb actor, and a consummate professional because he managed to balance success and quality in his life.
Not only is he recognised for being a master actor, but also for living out his roles. His eyes can be viewed as speaking a thousand words even when he doesn’t say a single word. He used the method to act.
Indeed, it is interesting to see how an actor of his stature was so successful as a businessman. He also discussed his disagreements with his father in the autobiography: “I don’t recall exactly when, but I was in my teens when I rashly left Bombay for Poona (now Pune) after a minor argument with Aghaji. We didn’t argue or use other harsh language. He lost his cool over a little problem, and I’m still not sure what made him angry. On that fateful day, I made the quiet decision to leave home, feeling more hurt and embarrassment than wrath or vengeance.
Though he had no argument, the young boy was determined to prove himself. He left with 40 rupees. “I left home with just forty rupees in my pocket, boarding a train to Poona from Bori Bunder station. I found myself seated amidst all sorts of men and women in a crowded third-class compartment,” the thespian recalled.“I had never before travelled third class and I hoped no one known to Aghaji had seen me at the railway terminal boarding that compartment because he was always one to give his sons the best in everything and all of us had first-class passes for our local travel.” Though, he decided to do it to save money.”
Later in Pune, Dilip Kumar went to an Iranian cafe for tea and some biscuits and asked the owner about work, and from there he got an opportunity to start his business.“In retrospect, I think I was really adventurous to leave home and head for a city where I knew no one and had no idea of employment opportunities there. In Poona, I went first to an Iranian cafe, where I ordered tea and crisp khari(salty) biscuits.”
Later, he spoke to the Iranian owner of the cafe in Persian about some work for a shop assistant or something and he asked him to go to a restaurant owned by an Anglo-Indian couple. “It was my habit to walk briskly, so I reached the restaurant in no time. It was a quaint restaurant with its doors open for people who came there regularly, I guessed for a good English breakfast,” Dilip Kumar recalled.The owner of the restaurant suggested him to meet the army canteen contractor who was a native of Peshawar and there was an apprehension in Dilip Kumar’s mind: “Anyone from Peshawar would know Aghaji and that would lead to trouble for me and the news would reach him about my job hunting in Poona.”
He went the next morning to the office of the canteen contractor where he met Taj Mohammad Khan and his elder brother Fateh Mohammad Khan OBE (Order of the British Empire).”There was no sign of recognition when I introduced myself rather vaguely as a job seeker from Bombay.”While serving the officers, he got a new name ‘Chico’, which he mentioned later was also used by his wife and veteran actress Saira Bano. “They were all very fond of me and called me Chico – a name my wife Saira still uses when she wants to flirt with me in her won refined manner … I learned that Chico in Spanish meant a youngster or a lad.”However, making an independent name in the sandwich business happened when the regular chef was absent and he had to make sandwiches for the officers along with tea and was given the order to use ‘fresh bread and butter.’
“Fortunately, the sandwiches were a hit. The guests of the Major General praised the manager, who received compliments smiling broadly. That was when the idea occurred to me to request him to get sanction from the contractor and the club’s office bearers to let me set up a sandwich counter at the club in the evenings.”This is how Dilip Kumar established himself in the sandwich business and wrote a telegram to his family about making his name independently.
“I am well and working in the British Army canteen,” wrote Dilip Kumar, the actor par excellence in his telegram to his family.
