Dilip Saheb : Closure of an era of splendid film acting
Obituary
The legendary actor Sri Dilip Kumar ( nee Yusuf Khan ) passed away in the morning of 7 July 21 at Hinduja hospital Mumbai . That brings to closure of an era of splendid film acting in India shared by the trio of late Raj Kapoor & Dev Anand.
Dilip Saheb was very kind to my family & me . I met him for the first time in 1990s at Lucknow when he was invited by Sri Athar Nabi to his OBCs conference at Safed Baradari Qaiser Bagh .
He stayed at Raj Bhavan & I spent lots of time with him . Meanwhile Sri Mahmood Haleem ( Mammu Miyan ) dropped from Kanpur . Dilip Saheb picked him in his arms & raised him up saying affectionately Arrey Miyan tum to mujh se pahle buzurg ho gae ! ( you aged before me ! ) Mamun Miyan was a close friend of Dilip Saheb ‘ brother Mr Nasir Khan & had started balding.
That evening there was some pain in the ear of Dilip Saheb & due to sedation of pain killers he was feeling sleepy . But he narrated lots of stories of his childhood at Peshawar ( his native city , now in Pakistan )
Courtesy : Mr Idris Ahmad of Kanpur
One incident related to his participation in a march against British Govt where police used force & gun shots to disperse the protesting mob . As a child he rushed to a shop ‘s wooden platform to save himself .
My second meet was again courtesy Athar Nabi when Dilip Saheb stayed at hotel Taj . Asma Hussain & her students of Asma Hussain Institute of Fashon Technology called on Dilip Saheb at his hotel suite & got us photographed . In a foolish moment , I mentioned that my wife carried the same name as his Hyderabadi friend ( who he was reported to have married ). Mr Hasan Kamal noticed my stupidity & gestured to me to shut up . Although Dilip Saheb fell silent at my comment but he did not say anything unpleasant to me.
Later I did an article on his life & contribution to Indian films . Perhaps it was published by monthly Naya Daur
May god rest him in peace .
He is a major slice of the history of Indian film industry . He will always live inshaAllah
-Dr Anis Ansari IAS (rtd)
