Ashok Kumar the successful anti-hero

mumbai: years before megastar amitabh bachchan and shahrukh khan rose to stardom by portraying anti-heroes, ashok kumar, the grand old man of bollywood, had set the trend of heroes playing characters with negative shades. kismet, in which ashok kumar played an anti-hero, was the earliest hindi film to have run continuously for more than a year. prior to that ashok, not bothering about his image and advice by industry people, had done roles with negative shades in aarti and ustadon ke ustad. industry sources said ashok was warned against playing negatives roles which could mar his image, developed through performances in films with social messages like acchut kanya and bandini. however, the legendary actor went on breaking conventions and even played a villain to perfection in jewel thief, a blockbuster of the late '60s.