Anupam Kher recalls meeting Dilip Kumar at a party he gatecrashed, ‘walking behind him like a clown’
Anupam Kher recalled gatecrashing a party several years ago and meeting Dilip Kumar there. He said that he ‘must not have washed (his) hand for a long time’ after that.
Veteran actor Anupam Kher reminisced about his memories of late actor Dilip Kumar. Anupam recalled an incident from several years ago when he gatecrashed a party and ended up meeting Dilip.
Dilip Kumar died at the Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday (July 7). He had worked with Anupam Kher in films such as Karma, Saudagar and Izzatdaar.
Speaking to Times Now, Anupam said that one of his journalist friends snuck him into a party that was attended by several stars. “I was stunned. I had been in Bombay for the last two years but I was seeing all actors there. And suddenly, I saw Dilip saab coming, so I went up to him and I said, ‘Namaste, sir’,” Anupam said.
Dilip perhaps mistook him for an acquaintance whom he could not quite place, Anupam said. “Toh unhone kaha, mera haath pakad ke, aise apne bagal mein leke, ‘Bete, kahaan rehte ho? Bohot dino baad dikhayi diye’ (He took my hand and placed it under his arm. He asked where I lived and said that he had not seen me around for quite some time). Now my hand is in Dilip saab’s bagal and he is talking to everybody, and I am walking behind him like a clown.”
Anupam said that Dilip was ‘being polite’ because he could not have imagined that there would be any gatecrashers at the party. “Aur main chahta tha ki poora world mujhe dekh le iss samay ki Dilip Kumar saab ne mera haath apne bagal mein rakha hua hai (I wanted the whole world to see me then because Dilip saab kept my hand under his arm). I must not have washed my hand for a long time,” he said.
Dilip is survived by his wife Saira Banu. He was laid to rest at the Juhu Qabrastan in Mumbai with full state honours.
