Shabana Azmi on Dilip Kumar: 'Thank you for the movies, for the language, for the dignity'
Tweeting about Dilip Kumar, Shabana Azmi also addressed herself as 'your Eklavya', implying thereby how she learnt from him.
Mourning the loss of screen legend Dilip Kumar on Wednesday, veteran actor Shabana Azmi said she has been an ardent student of his life and films.
Dilip, 98, died following prolonged illness on Wednesday morning. He was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Hinduja Hospital, a non-Covid-19 facility, last week.
Besides his filmography, Shabana said she admired Dilip Kumar, a private person, for the life he lived off-screen.
Shabana gave the example of Eklavya, the Nishada prince from the epic Mahabharata, who considered Dronacharya his guru and practised archery in front of his statue, to show her respect for the late star.
"Adieu Dilip Saab. Unknown to you I have been your Eklavya. Thank you for the movies. Thank you for the language. Thank you for the dignity. Thank you for being socially responsible. Thank you," she wrote on Twitter.
Dilip, born Yousuf Khan and often known as the Nehruvian hero, did his first film Jwar Bhata in 1944 and his last Qila in 1998, 54 years later.
The five-decade career included Mughal-e-Azam, Devdas, Naya Daur, and Ram Aur Shyam, and later, as he graduated to character roles, Shakti and Karma.
