Dilip Kumar to Madhubala to Meena Kumari: 8 top Muslim actors who adopted Hindu names

Here is a list of famous Muslim Bollywood personalities who changed their names and had successful careers

First Published Jul 15, 2021, 10:58 AM IST

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Last week, Bollywood actor Urmila Matondkar slammed BJP leader Arun Yadav for belittling late actor Dilip Kumar. Yadav's tweet was  jibe at the late superstar, "The death of Mohammad Yusuf Khan (Dilip Kumar), who earned money by keeping a Hindu name in the film world, is an irreparable loss to the Indian film industry.” In reply, Urmila tweeted, “Shame on you.” 

Yes, we also second with Urmila that changing names should not be looked down upon. Not just Dilip Kumar, many other top actors changed his name before entering Bollywood.

Madhubala's real name was Mumtaz Jehan Dehlavi, born in 1933 to a Pashtun family in Swabi, Pakistan. She was also called as “The Beauty with Tragedy”.

Meena Kumari was called the Tragedy Queen. Her real name is Mahjabeen Bano. Director Vijay Bhatt renamed her in 1939 to ‘Baby Meena’ when she acted as a child star. Her name later changed into Meena Kumari.

Ajit's real name was Hamid Ali Khan. Director K Amarnath gave him the name Ajit. Ajit was famous for his villainous roles in Hindi films.

Dilip Kumar was born as Mohammad Yusuf Khan to a Pashtun family in Peshawar, Pakistan. Devika Rani, whom he met at the Bombay Talkies, requested him to change his name to Dilip Kumar.

Jagdeep's birth name was Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jaffery. He changed his name to Jagdeep, because of director Bimal Roy's request. 

Sanjay's real name was Shah Abbas Khan. He started using the name Sanjay in his films. Later he suffixed his onscreen name with ‘Khan’.

Arjun's real name was Firoz Khan, is best known for playing the character of Arjun in BR Chopra’s popular TV show Mahabharata.

Jayant was born to a Pashtun family in Peshawar. His real name is Zakaria Khan. He was rechristened by producer-director Vijay Bhatt and came to be known as Jayant. He is also the father of popular actor Amjad Khan.