Saira Banu on Dilip Kumar death: Legendary actor Dilip Kumar passed away from prolonged illness on the morning of July 7. The actor is survived by his wife, Saira Banu, to whom he was married for more than five decades.
The news of Kumar's passing was shared by Dr Jalil Parkar, who was treating veteran actor. According to news reports the doctor also shared Saira Banu's words when she was informed of Kumar's death. "God snatched away my reason for living. Without Sahab, I won't be able to think about anything. Everyone, please pray," she told the doctor, as per Parkar himself.
Dilip Kumar had been admitted to Hinduja Hospital since Tuesday. The actor's close friend Faisal Farooqui, who also shared the news of Kumar's demise from the actor's official social media handle, said that Kumar was admitted to the hospital for the past few days for old-age related complications and he passed away peacefully this morning in the presence of his wife and other family members and doctors.
Talking about how the former star is coping and surviving through this hard time, he noted that for more than 50 years she stood by him in all the ups and downs of life. "Rock solid, always there. I think they are the most loving couple and couple goals that you can imagine. One can learn from them," he added.
While Dilip Kumar was once engaged to Madhubala, Saira Banu was reportedly in love with actor Rajendra Kumar. Dilip Kumar's engagement to Madhubala came to an end due to his differences with the actor's father. On the other hand, Banu's mother, an actor herself, didn't approve of her affection for Rajendra Kumar- a married man with three kids. As fate would have it, Naseem Banu asked Dilip Kumar to persuade her daughter to give up on Rajendra Kumar. Eventually, Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu got married in 1966. The couple suffered a miscarriage in eighth month of their pregnancy in the 70s and remained childless. Read more about their love story here.
Social media mourns Dilip Kumar
As the news of his death spread around, fans and well wishers of the actor took to social media to offer condolences to Banu and thanked her for staying beside the much-loved actor till the very end. One Twitter user said to have always admired the love the couple had for each other. "Eternal love story," she added writing, "At his old age dilip saab only used to respond saira banu mam." Another said Banu has lost her soul mate. More here.
A third paid respect to Banu for not leaving Kumar's hand till hill last breath. In a Twitter thread, a fan wrote about the time she met Kumar 17 years ago. He was as charming off-air as he was on-screen, she stressed. While shooting with the couple, she said, she got the ultimate compliment from the man himself. "He looked at his wife, then looked at me and said that I looked exactly like Saira Banu when he first saw her," Kumar was quoted by his admirer.
Check out the tweets here:
Kumar's last rites will be performed in Santacruz later in the day, according to a statement issued on his official Twitter account. He is known to generations of film lovers as "tragedy king" for his portrayal of intense romantic in classics such as Mughal-e-Azam and Devdas.
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