08 July,2021 09:00 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu with Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan/picture courtesy: PR
Dilip Kumar's contribution to Hindi Cinema began in 1944 and continued till 1998, and in these five decades, he established his legacy that can never be paralleled. He's regarded as one of the earliest method actors of Hindi Cinema and was rechristened as the Tragedy King. His demise has left a void in the country.
Tributes poured in from all quarters and Abhishek Bachchan too penned a long, heartfelt note that had some intriguing anecdotes. The actor revealed he was supposed to make his Bollywood debut with the legend himself in a film that unfortunately never got made. He also revealed what his father Amitabh Bachchan told him about Kumar.
He wrote- "My first film was to be " Aakhri Mughal ". Dilip sahab was to play my father in the film. I clearly remember my father telling me that it took him over a decade to have the honour of sharing screen space with his idol. And here I was given that opportunity in my debut film. He told me to cherish this opportunity and to learn and observe as much as I could by watching the master at work."
He added, "A film in which I get to work with my idol's idol!! How lucky was I? Sadly the film never got made and I never had the honour of being able to say that I've been in a film with the great Dilip Kumar Ji." [SIC]
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Amitabh Bachchan also grieved the loss of one of the finest actors of the Indian film industry. Big B, on his official Twitter handle, wrote, "An institution has gone .. whenever the history of Indian Cinema will be written , it shall always be 'before Dilip Kumar, and after Dilip Kumar' .. My duas for peace of his soul and the strength to the family to bear this loss .. Deeply saddened [sic]"
Both of them attended the actor's funeral to pay their last respects. Amitabh Bachchan worked with Kumar in Ramesh Sippy's âShakti' in 1982. The two also did a photo shoot together for a magazine along with Shah Rukh Khan to celebrate the completion of 100 years of Indian Cinema.
Also Read: Dilip Kumar draped with the Tricolour, accorded a state funeral
