On Wednesday, Dilip Kumar breathed his last at Mumbai’s PD Hinduja Hospital. In a conversation with Pinkvilla, Farhan Akhtar remembered the late actor. “He honestly was an incredibly fine actor. It's rare when your finest actor is also your biggest star, it's a rarity and he had both those things. He had the charm, the flamboyance, magnetism, charisma and the appeal of a star, and at the same time had the absolute ability to have a nuanced performance like a seasoned actor,” says Farhan.
Farhan further adds, “He knew the craft inside out. How? I don't think anyone will be able to understand, because it's not that things were accessible to you back then to be able to read and watch somebody else and learn, it just wasn’t. He was an original, and has created many Xerox copies and many other actors like him. You know when you speak about somebody, and you say that someone is an institution unto themselves, honestly as far as acting goes I don’t think there is anyone but him, who we can say honestly was an institution unto himself."
Talking about his first meeting with Dilip Kumar, Farhan says, “He used to come home to meet with dad, and I do remember taking his autograph when I was a kid, and I do remember meeting him. But I have no memory of what he had said. Honestly you are so scared and embarrassed to meet somebody who is like this massive personality as kids, that you want to be in and out of the room as quickly as possible. He had an aura, you can’t take that away. You know I used to meet him once in a while at a club in Bandra, that he was also a member of. So once in a while when I was there, I would see him sitting there, and go up and say adaab. There was a glow, he had a certain aura about him. He was just an incredible actor.”