Dharmendra recalls asking himself ‘Mein Dilip Kumar ban sakta hun kya’; shares video

Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, July 9 

Veteran actor Dharmendra talked about how, in his youth, he looked up to the late legendary actor Dilip Kumar. 

He remembered finding his glimpse in the film poster, and later wondering if he could be like the late actor.  

Dharmendra shared a video clip on the microblogging website days after the death of Dilip Kumar. He died at a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday morning at the age of 98 after a prolonged illness. 

In the clip, Dharmendra was heard saying: “Naukri karta, cycle pe aata jaata, filmi posters mein apni jhalak dekhta, raaton ko jaagta, anhone khwab dekhta, subah utkar aayne se puchta ‘mai Dilip Kumar ban sakta hun kya?’ (He had a job, would use a cycle for commuting, found a glimpse of himself in film posters, stay awake at night, have unique dreams, would wake up in the morning look at the mirror and ask, ‘Can I be Dilip Kumar?’.”

He captioned his post: “Dosto, Dalip Sahab ki rukhsati par … mere …aap ke runde runde jazbaat ye … uss Azeem fankar… uss neek rooh insaan ko…. ek Shradhanjali hai. woh chale gaye ..un ki yaadein na ja payegi (While we send off Dalip Sahab with our rushing emotions, I pay the artiste, the pure souled person a tribute. He left but his memories will never fade).”

After Dilip Kumar’s death, Dharmendra had shared a picture with the late actor’s body and tweeted, “Saira ne jab kaha. ‘Dharam , dekho Sahab ne palak jhapki hai’ Dosto , jaan nikal gai meri. Maalik mere pyaare bhai ko jannat naseeb kare. Dosto , mujhe dikhwa nahin aata lekin main apne jazbaat par qaaboo bhi nahin paata . Apne samajh ke kah jaata hoon (When Saira Banu told me, ‘Look Dharam, sahab has closed his eyes’, I felt heartbroken my friends! I do not know how to show off, but I cannot control my emotions. I just say what I feel like, treating everyone as my own).”

Meanwhile, Dilip is survived by his wife veteran actor Saira Banu. He was laid to rest with full state honours in Juhu’s cemetery in the evening on the same day. Actors Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor among others paid their final respects to Dilip Kumar.