October 13 is the birth anniversary of Ashok Kumar, a film actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema.
He was honoured in 1988 with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national award for cinema artists, by the Government of India and also received the Padma Bhushan the same year in 1998 for his contributions to Indian cinema.
He is considered to be one of India’s finest ever actors, playing leading, negative and character roles with equal panache. He was born in 1911.