The Kohinoor of Indian Cinema: A Tribute

It was at the peak of the Mumbai riots of 1992-1993 when my boss at The Indian Express, D. K. Raikar (now, Group Editor, Lokmat Media Pvt. Ltd.), saw that I was 'underemployed' and called me.

"Get Dilip Kumar's reactions. Quick!" he ordered softly.

With mild trepidation, I dialed Dilip Saab's number - and he personally answered. I reeled off my questions in a single breath, and he started his replies.

There was a long pause, a short sentence, another long pause, a brief reply, one more long halt and a tiny reaction, each word measured before he uttered it. And so it went on for an hour.

In between the mega-pauses, a couple of times when I couldn't even hear him breathe, I would blurt out anxiously: "Dilip Saab...?"

And he would shoot back in chaste Urdu: "Intezar kijiye. Main aapse mahve guftagu hoon!" (I am with you, please wait!). I almost fainted.

After a weary hour, the marathon call ended, and I secured five or six sentences of invaluable, well thought-out reactions.

As I replaced the warm receiver, Raikar mischievously remarked: "So, you got a full-fledged interview, huh?" I just smiled and trudged back to my workstation.

That was the legend - Dilip Kumar, who had a phenomenal rise from the son of a Pathan horticulturist to canteen manager to India's first and ever-green superstar adored across generations, besides being a shining example of a great actor, good human being and an intellectually sensitive person.