Read two beautiful couplets that summed up the legend that Dilip Kumar was :

The first one celebrates Dilip Kumar, the evergreen romantic, who is seen expressing his feelings to that eternal beauty Madhubala in a scene from all time classic Mughal-e-Azam. It reads:

کوئی آیت ایسی مل جائے میں ورد کروں تو مل جائے
کروں جو تجھ سے بے رخی اک اہ پہ میرا دم نکل جائے

______________________

कोई आयात ऐसी मिल जाऐ
में विर्द करुं तुं मिल जाऐ __

करूं तुझसे बे_रुखी एक आह
पर मेरा दम निकल जाऐ ..!!

Aayat is verse from holy Quran and vird is recitation. Berukhi is callousness, avoidance. So the above is loosely translatable as:

When I recite holy scriptures

You are my only ask;

If I ever avoid you

Let that be my day to be last!

Leave apart onscreen chemistry between Dilip and Madhubala, more so in the roles of Salim and Anarkali, the two were madly in love with each other in real life and if destiny was to be kinder, we would have had a made for each other couple that’s seldom seen. But in this matter, thespian’s tragedy King image overruled his romantic King image. And this is not to take anything away from Saira Banu, whose love for her “ Sahab” was pristine and who took his great care till he breathed his last. With Kamini Kaushal he had the first serious fling and as he revealed in an interview, Asma was his mistake. Rest of his so called affairs could be publicity gimmicks but did not seem to be very serious.

The second one aptly describes the actor par excellence, the best ever, and reads:

दफ़्न करने से पहले, जरा नब्ज जाँच लेना,
उम्दा अदाकार था, कहीं किरदार में न हो… 💐💐

Before you bury him

Don’t fail to read his pulse

A thespian was he

Could be into his role like no one else!

He literally lived his characters. When he failed in love, you empathised, when he met with a tragedy, you cried with him and you laughed with him and danced with him. Such was his power and connect. He died so many times on screen and it all looked so real that when the actual death came knocking at his door, it was natural for his fans to presume him to be acting, waiting for him to get up and play his next role!

There will be superstars and megastars. There will be natural actors and method actors. There will be talent not seen hitherto , but Dilip Kumars come once in centuries and we all should consider ourselves lucky to be born in a century that had the thespian illuminating it with his sheer presence.