LEGENDARY actor Dilip Kumar, who was admitted to a hospital in New Delhi due to complications resulting from a urinary infection, is now back home. In a statement on Wednesday, his actress wife, Saira Banu, said: ‘We are now back in Mumbai and happy as we always have been. Sahab (Dilip Kumar) is well now and recouping steadily,' she said. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award winning actor was admitted to Apollo Hospital Sep 25. He was discharged from the hospital Oct 3. The thespian was in the capital to receive the National Award. The doctors have advised the octogenarian actor complete rest. He is not yet receiving visitors at his house in Pali Hill in northwest suburb of Bandra in Mumbai. Saira Banu expressed regret that she and her husband couldn't be in Mumbai during Eid. ‘It has been our good fortune to receive friends and well-wishers in our home and exchange warm greetings with them on occasions like Eid, Diwali, Christmas, New Year's Day, our wedding anniversary on Oct 11 and Sahib's birthday on Dec 11. All these occasions make our lives a little more special than usual,' said Saira Banu. While Dilip Kumar is known for memorable peformances in classics like ‘Mela', ‘Andaz', ‘Madhumati', ‘Devdas' and ‘Mughal-E-Azam', Saira Banu featured in hits such as ‘Junglee', ‘Ayee Milan Ki Bela', ‘Shagird' and ‘Jhuk Gaya Aasman'. The actor began his journey in life as Yusuf Khan, born in 1922 to Mohammed Sarwar Khan and Ayesha Begum. He ran an army canteen for British soldiers in Pune and also sold fruit to supplement his meager income of Rs 36 a month. He came to Bombay to make it in films, not as an actor however, but as a writer. He came to Bombay Talkies looking for work and was spotted by Devika Rani. What followed was history. He landed the lead role in a film called Jwar Bhata in 1944 for a princely sum of Rs 1000 a month. Incidentally, Devika Rani was instrumental in even getting Ashok Kumar to face the camera for the first time as a leading man for Bombay Talkies. Yusuf Khan then changed his name and became Dilip Kumar. The options before him were Jahangir, and Vasudev. Again, it was Devika Rani who was instrumental in finalising the name for him. Jwar Bhata was not a hit, for that he had to wait for two more years when his film Milan, directed by Nitin Bose became a hit. Along with the likes of Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand, he formed the triumvirate which ruled Hindi cinema in the Fifties. All three of them had their own separate identities and carved a niche for themselves. If Raj Kapoor was the Chaplinesque common man and Dev Anand the suave, debonair, urbane gentleman, then Dilip Kumar took on the crown of the romantic hero. Unfortunately most of those films ended with him dying, or the heroine dying, or some major tragedy befalling the lovers. The three heroes of that time never came together on screen, though Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor did work together in Andaaz, a triangular love story also starring Nargis. It is believed that the actor was advised by psychologists to stop playing tragic roles as they were adversely affecting his mental health. The actor proved his versatility by turning in a class act in lighthearted comedies like Kohinoor and Azaad.
