Dilip Kumar birth anniversary: What’s the special bond he shared with Shah Rukh Khan?

When the legendary actor, Dilip Kumar, breathed his last this year on July 07, he left a void in our hearts. The 98-year-old actor had passed away due to age-related health issues at a private hospital in Mumbai. Born as Yusuf Khan, the actor changed his name to ‘Dilip Kumar’, and was fondly known as ‘Dilip Saheb’. When he passed away, not just the film industry, but the entire country had mourned his death including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, one sight that still flashes in front of the eyes after all these months is when Shah Rukh Khan reach Dilip Kumar’s residence after his death and his (Dilip Kumar) wife cried as Shah Rukh held her in his arms. There has always been a special bond between Dilip Kumar and Shah Rukh, and we wish to take you through some of the many beautiful aspects of their bond.

There are many commonalities between the two actors – the most obvious being ‘Devdas’. While Dilip Kumar was the original Devdas, Shah Rukh played the same character in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film. However, a rather unknown fact about them lies in modern-day Pakistan. Dilip Kumar was born on December 11, 1922, in Peshawar while, as per a report, Shah Rukh’s ancestral home was barely within a 200-meter radius of Dilip Saheb’s residence.

Another similarity was once pointed out by Shah Rukh himself, and later by Saira Banu too. Khan, in an old interview, recalled when he visited Ketan Mehta’s office and saw Dilip Kumar and Mehta’s photo hanging there. Looking at that picture, SRK realized how much he resembled Dilip Kumar from the latter’s younger days. Once, Shah Rukh had also mentioned that his mother was in awe of Dilip Kumar and thought that he also resembles the ‘Andaz’ actor. Shah Rukh had also confessed that Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu considered him as their own son. In fact, Saira Banu had also said in an interview that the couple has always thought of him as their ‘muh bola beta’.

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Shah Rukh often went to meet an ailing Dilip Kumar, especially in 2016. One of his pictures of kissing the latter had melted the hearts of many. Shah Rukh, in fact, had also taken her daughter Suhana Khan to meet the couple.

In another interview, Saira Banu had remembered the first meeting with Shah Rukh at the muhurat of Dil Ashna Hai, Hema Malini’s directorial debut. She said that she always felt if they had a son, he would have looked like Shah Rukh, adding that both Dilip Kumar and Shah Rukh looked similar, as well as had the nearly same hair. She would often run her fingers through SRK’s hands for the same reason.

Shah Rukh had once taken Dilip Kumar’s autograph on a life-size poster of him and Madhubala from Mughal-E-Azam. The autographed poster is said to be mounted at SRK’s screening theatre.

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