‘The best reward of my life is the lifelong love of the people of Dhaka’: Dilip Kumar

Veteran actor and Bollywood legend Dilip Kumar who passed away today at the age of 98 has left behind a legacy that can never be replaced.

The iconic actor has a huge number of fan followings starting from India, to Pakistan and Bangladesh. And just like India, Bangladesh has been obsessed with the "Mughal-E-Azam" actor who captured the hearts of billions with his power-packed performance.

Bollywood legend Dilip Kumar visited Bangladesh and many cultural personalities have met the actor personally. Old newspaper cuttings also add to the authenticity of the news.

The actor at the peak of his career visited Bangladesh in January 1995. Back then, Dilip Kumar attended a dinner hosted by the late mayor and cultural personality, Annisul Huq, at the Sheraton Hotel, taking part in a charity event there to help artistes in distress. 'The King of Tragedy' gave a speech for about two and a half hours at the programme and answered various questions. He stood on stage in front of the mesmerized and star-struck audience, and said, "The best reward of my life is the lifelong love of the people of Dhaka."

At the event, the actor also shared the story of how he became Dilip Kumar.

Rubana Huq, president of BGMEA and wife of late mayor Annisul Haque, told the Business Standard team how Dilip Kumar was fascinated with Bangladesh and how comfortable he had felt speaking in front of a huge crowd of guests.

Rubana Huq shared some pictures and paper cuttings of that event with the Business Standard.

Actor Mamunur Rashid added that Dilip Kumar also attended a special BFDC reception in his honour.

Mamunur Rashid said, "The reception was organised a day after the Sheraton event. Director Chashi Nazrul Islam and other eminent personalities spoke at the programme. Actor Kabori presented an honourary certificate to Dilip Kumar and many filmmakers, producers, and director associations, also gave the actor prestigious crests for his contribution to movies.  Dilip Kumar also spoke at that event and told the Dhaka celebrities there, of how he blossomed into one of the most eminent stars of Bollywood.

Popular presenter and media personality Dr Abdun Noor Tushar shared another incident from 1994 when Dilip Kumar gave an interview to Humayun Faridi for Annisul Huq's Eid programme "Anandamela."

Annisul Huq wanted Humayun Faridi to participate in the Eid special programme but the prominent Dhaka actor who was a die-hard fan of Dilip Kumar said he would participate in the programme only if he could interview Bollywood legend Dilip Kumar.

Annisul Huq took the challenge, contacted Dilip Kumar and went to Mumbai with Humayun Faridi to visit the great actor.

Humayun Faridi immediately bowed down and touched Dilip Kumar's feet for his blessings. There, Faridi did a short interview of the actor and the whole thing was video recorded for the Eid programme. Later on, Annisul Huq invited Dilip Kumar and the next year he finally came to Bangladesh for the dinner event.

Abdun Noor Tushar said, "I was the one who told Annis bhai to ask actor Humayun Faridi to participate in Anandamela. Annisul Huq organised the event wonderfully and we got a tremendously positive response from the audience that year."

Magician Jewel Aich also confirmed the meeting of Faridi with Bollywood icon Dilip Kumar. The magician told the Business Standard how the actor responded to meeting Dilip Kumar.

After the program aired on TV, we would tease Humayun Faridi for the way he bowed down and fell at the feet of Dilip Kumar.

"We would say: 'you are also an actor like Dilip Kumar so why do you need to bow down like that in front of him?' to which Faridi simply replied, 'I can't even begin to tell you how  big a fan I am of Dilip Kumar."

Both Humayun Faridi and Annisul Huq have passed away and now the legendary actor has joined them in his journey to heaven.