20 interesting facts about life of legendary actor Ashok Kumar fans should know

Ashok Kumar was a legendary actor who was known for his versatile roles and acting. He did many antagonist roles and has been regarded as one of the best actors of Bollywood by many scholars. In 1988, Ashok Kumar was also honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national award for cinema artists by the Government of India. Take a look at some interesting facts about his life: 

Ashok Kumar's facts

1. Ashok Kumar's real name was Kumudlal Ganguly and he was also fondly called Dadamoni. 

2. Ashok Kumar was the eldest of his four siblings. 

3. Ashok Kumar's father wanted him to become a lawyer and Ashok even went to law college, according to reports by Rediff and Cinemaazi.

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4. Ashok Kumar used to work as a lab assistant at Bombay Talkies.  

5. Ashok Kumar got into acting by accident. Many reports indicate that the lead actor Jeevan Naiya in 1936 ran away, which led the director to give the role to Ashok Kumar. 

6. A Filmfare report mentioned that Ashok Kumar got married to Shobha when he was very young. The marriage was an arranged one.

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7. Ashok Kumar was also very well versed with homoeopathy. Many media outlets like Hindustan Times and The Telegraph mentioned that he understood the system of alternative medicine quite well. 

8. Ashok Kumar went on to play the first anti-hero in the Indian Film Industry. The movie was Kismet (1943). 

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9. Ashok Kumar gave Dev Ananad his first big break. The film was Ziddi (1948).

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10. Ashok Kumar was first awarded the (1959) Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and his last award was (2007) "Special Award" by Star Screen Awards. 

11. Ashok Kumar's first movie was Jeevan Naiya (1936) and his last movie was Beqabu (1996). 

12. Ashok Kumar was also seen in a few television shows. His show Hum Log was very popular. 

13. Many reports indicate that Ashok Kumar used to paint. He loved painting and took it up as a hobby.  

14. Ashok Kumar won 4 Filmfare award in his career. The first was  Filmfare Best Actor Award for Rakhi, second was Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Afsana, third was Filmfare Best Actor Award for Aashirwaad and fourth was Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. 

15. In 1969, Ashok Kumar won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his role in the film Aashirwaad. 

16. Ashok Kumar had one son and three daughters. His son was named Aroop Ganguly, and the daughters were named Bharati, Rupa and Preeti. 

17. Only one daughter of Ashok Kumar ventured into the film industry - Preeti Ganguly. Preeti Ganguly was seen in many movies. 

18. Ashok Kumar died at the age of 90 in Mumbai on 10 December 2001 due to heart failure. 

19.  Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee also gave his deep respect to Ashok Kumar at the time of his death. 

20 Many scholars consider Ashok Kumar to have been a pioneer and an actor who gave birth to many different kinds of roles and acting styles. 

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