India, April 21 -- If the three Khans - Shahrukh, Aamir and Salman - are considered the reigning kings of Bollywood today, there was another generation where a triumvirate was the unchallenged supremos: Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand. While there are challengers to the Khans today - Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh and Akshay Kumar - in the 1950s and 60s, and even until the mid-70s, there was no actor, except perhaps Rajesh Khanna, who could unseat the golden trio.

Much has been written about who was the most popular or the most successful. Everyone seems to have a favourite. It is, indeed, a difficult choice to make, but the best way to remember them is not by comparison, but by what they were in terms of their style, acting methodol...