By
Tanveer Zaidi (Actor-Author-Educationist)
Lots and lots have been written and said in praise of Dilip Kumar aka Yusuf Khan, the legend, and if, I stand in the same queue and say that Dilip Kumar was an actor par excellence, would be to state the obvious.
Undoubtedly, He was a University in himself, one of the best actors the Planet has ever produced.
He was The Greatest Of All Time, To every performance of Dilip Kumar he added that special Midas touch (Dilip magic), making them praiseworthy.
In His films Mughal-E-Azam, Ram aur Shyam, Ganga Jamuna, Devdas, Aan, Daag, Madhumati, Mela, Azaad, Andaz, Naya Daur, Shaheed, and Kohinoor he gave his best to the characters he lived in them, winning him Billions of fans across the world.
He made every character as they were tailored for him. When he did double roles in Ram Aur Shyam it became iconic to date. In the modern film industry when double roles, with the help of computers and application software, are much easier to perform and shoot.
I had the privilege of meeting Dilip Kumar, the legend about a dozen times and whenever I met him, I was mesmerized by his charismatic persona.
The very first time we met at Jogger’s Park, Carter Road, Bandra, he was holding a stick in his hand, and jogging with the attitude of an army officer.
I was with my nephew Ali Hasni, and all of us were jogging, I went exactly in front of him on the track and interrupted his walk, he stopped and said, “Yes ?” I said, “Sir, if you allow me, I need your few precious minutes.”
“Ok”, he replied with a smile on his face, I introduced my nephew and said, ” Sir, he is Ali, he is so lucky enough that he has received a trophy from your hands when you were the chief guest at the annual function of his school recently”, Dilip sahab took a pause and asked me, ” was that Rizvi’s Spring field school ?”
And Without waiting for my reply, He continued, “Yes, yes I remember this genius and cute boy.”
..And then I properly introduced myself to him, ” I am Tanveer Zaidi, an actor, and need your valuable tips and advice to groom myself “, once again he smiled and pronounced my name.
” Tanveer,” I was thrilled with goosebumps all over my body, he said, “All right, come to my place sometime in the evening, but do not forget to inform me through a phone call before you come.”
Now it was my turn to smile, I took his phone number and kept it in my wallet, and then we started jogging once again.
The world knows that Dilip Sahab was a master at underplaying his characters. The well-known films of his second inning which I saw were Kranti, Karma, Vidhata, Shakti, and Mashaal with all the great actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar, Naseeruddin Shah, Shammi Kapoor, Anil S Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Shashi Kapoor, Manoj Kumar, Anupam Kher, and many others but Dilip Kumar won all the applause in every film.
The second time when I went to meet him, I saw that the gate of his bungalow was crowded and the watchman was busy arguing with a dozen of men and women.
I told the watchman that I had an appointment with Dilip Sahab, and the watchman went inside, probably to inform Dilip Sahab about my presence, amidst all this, people present there, came closer and told me.
They are from Pakistan and two of them are from Russia and they have come specially to meet their ideal Dilip Kumar.
I assured them to let me meet Dilip Sahab, I would convey their messages to him, meanwhile, John, secretary to Dilip Sahab came out and called me inside the bungalow.
I went in, and after walking a few steps I saw Dilip Sahab instructing his Gardener for some work, he saw me and said Hello, and he came near me.
I stretched my hand for a handshake, and he took my hand gently and held it until two chairs were brought for us to sit on.
We sat and chatted for an hour or more, he gave me many tips and advised me not to hurry, he said, “Wait until you get something very good to perform, till then groom yourself by doing some theatre activities”.
He said, “It looks like you are comfortable with English, Urdu, and Hindi and that’s very good, take time for some Radio programs, and always try to learn from the atmosphere around you, never think that you are done and now you don’t require to learn more, the process of learning should go on till our last breath,”
Dilip Sahab was speaking and I was literary mesmerized. He continued, ” Do you know I have learned many things from my Gardener, washerman, carpenter, and the people with whom I have to interact daily? “
” I have used this experience in many of my films.”
Amidst our conversation John, his secretary came and told Dilip Sahab about some phone calls and I also told him about the fans from Pakistan and Russia waiting outside since morning to meet him.
I said I was getting busy so I took permission to leave with a promise to meet him again and again.
