His only sister, Sati Devi, a few years younger than him, was married at a very young age to Sashadhar Mukherjee and became the matriarch of a large "film family".

While still a teenager and well before he had even given thought to a career in films, the young Kumudlal was married to Shobha (a first cousin of actress Chhaya Devi), a girl of his own Bengali Brahmin community and similar family background, in a match arranged by their parents in the usual Indian way.

Through this marriage, she had two sons, Rahul and Rohit, and one daughter, the actress Anuradha Patel, who is married to the actor Kanwaljit Singh.

[10] By this second marriage, Bharati had one son, Saahil, and also acquired step-daughters, Geneviève and Shaheen, who were Hameed's daughters by his first wife Valerie Salway, a woman of Scottish, Irish, Portuguese and Spanish heritage.

Kumar reluctantly made his debut in the year 1936 with Franz Osten's Jeevan Naiya alongside Devika Rani.

[13] His breakthrough came the same year with another Franz Osten's film Achhut Kannya which was a reformist piece featuring a Brahmin boy falling in love with a girl from the so-called untouchables in Indian society.

[14] After the huge box office success of Achhut Kanya, he delivered a hat-trick of silver jubilee hits with Kangan (1939), Bandhan (1940) and Jhoola (1941), all opposite Leela Chitnis.

[15] In 1943, Ashok Kumar played the lead role in Gyan Mukherjee's drama film Kismet opposite Mumtaz Shanti.

[20] Its music, especially the patriotic song "Aaj Himalay Ki Choti Se" written by Kavi Pradeep was highly successful and played big role in making Kismet a box office sensation.

The film made Madhubala an overnight sensation and launched the career of Lata Mangeshkar who sang Aayega Aanewala, which remains popular till date.

[43] Its soundtrack composed by S. D. Burman was highly successful with a number of hit songs, including "Babu Samjho Ishaare", "Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si", "Hum The Woh Thi Aur Sama Rangeen" and "Haal Kaisa Hai Janaab Ka".

Chopra for the romantic thriller Gumrah co-starring Sunil Dutt, Mala Sinha, Shashikala and Nirupa Roy.

[66] Before the end of year, he reunited with Rajendra Kumar in H. S. Rawail's muslim social Mere Mehboob, co-starring Sadhana and Nimmi.

[73] The same year, Kumar also appeared in Brij Sadanah's Afsana which was a box office failure, but won him Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.

[75][76] Both the films proved to be critical and commercial successes with Kumar getting applauded for his performances in them and receiving a nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor category for the latter.

[89] In 1970, he played important roles in two directional ventures of Asit Sen, Sharafat co-starring Dharmendra, Hema Malini and Safar which also had Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, Feroz Khan in the lead.

[90][91] Both the films emerged superhits and received big thumbs from reviewers, especially Safar which won Sen his first Filmfare Award for Best Director.

[92] He also collaborated with Manoj Kumar for his second directional, the patriotic drama Purab Aur Paschim, which proved to be a blockbuster in India as well as overseas.

[95][96] In 1972, he starred in Kamal Amrohi's magnum opus Pakeezah which had Meena Kumari as the eponymous lead, alongside Raaj Kumar.

[97] Despite getting mixed reviews and being a slow starter, it went on to become a massive blockbuster and also the final film appearance of Kumari who passed away few weeks after its release.

[19] That same year, he reunited with Rajesh Khanna for Maalik and Dil Daulat Duniya, but contrary to expectations, both the films flopped commercially.

[107] He received his fifth and final nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor category for his heartfelt portrayal of a retired colonel in Chhoti Si Baat.

[108] His other successful films of the decade, include Dream Girl (1977), Anand Ashram (1977), Safed Jhooth (1977), Chala Murari Hero Banne (1977), Dil Aur Deewaar (1978), Anpadh (1978) and Khatta Meetha (1978).

[109][40][110] Kumar began the next decade with supporting role in four hit films, including Khubsoorat, Jyoti Bane Jwala, Sau Din Saas Ke and Judaai.

[112] He then played the lead role in Basu Chatterjee's comedy drama Shaukeen (1982), which was a commercial as well as critical success and is now considered a cult classic.

[114][115] The following year, Kumar made his television debut with the soap opera Hum Log, which was telecasted on Doordarshan and presented the story of an Indian middle-class family from the 1980s and their daily struggles.

[116][117] Every episode ended with the Kumar in a sharp suit and dark glasses explaining the theme of the day and prodding viewers to think about what they had just watched.

[128] The same year, he reunited with Dev Anand and Dharmendra for Return of Jewel Thief, which was highly anticipated before release, but ended up as a flop venture.

[129] Kumar quit acting after making an appearance in Ashim Samanta's romantic drama Ankhon Mein Tum Ho (1997) starring Sharad Kapoor, Suman Ranganathan and Rohit Roy.

[132] He was a pioneering actor who introduced natural acting to Hindi cinema and the distinctive style and mannerisms that he adopted in his later career still remain extremely popular among mimicry artists.