MUMBAI: Legendary actor Dilip Kumar, popularly known as Tragedy King, was cremated with state honours on Wednesday evening.
For his huge body of work and remarkable contribution to Indian cinema, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray laid out special arrangements for the late actor’s funeral.
Wrapped in tricolour, Dilip Kumar’s mortal remains were buried at Mumbai’s Juhu Kabristan. He also received a gun salute at his funeral.
Dilip Kumar’s spokesman Faisal Farooqi even shared a video of police personnel draping the evergreen star in Indian Flag.
Several videos and pictures of Dilip Kumar’s last rites have been doing the rounds on the internet, wherein we can also see several mourners gathered to catch a glimpse of the iconic actor for one last time.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, his son Abhishek Bachchan and director-producer Subhash Ghai were present at the cremation to pay their last respects to Dilip Kumar, who passed away today after prolonged health complications.
Also, earlier in the afternoon, several Bollywood celebrities, including Shah Rukh Khan, Anil Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor and Karan Johar, arrived at Dilip Kumar’s residence to offer their condolences to late actor’s family members, especially his wife Saira Banu.
Since Tuesday, Dilip Kumar was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Hinduja Hospital, a non-COVID-19 facility, after he complained of breathlessness. “He passed away due to prolonged illness at 7.30 am,” Dr Jalil Parkar, who had been treating the actor, told PTI.
Faisal Farooqui, a family friend, shared the news from the actor’s Twitter handle: “With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of our beloved Dilip Saab, few minutes ago. We are from God and to Him we return.”
In the last one month, the “Devdas” actor had been in and out of hospitals and the family was hoping he would get better.
As soon as the news broke, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to his Twitter handle to mourn the loss of the legendary actor. The PM called the unfortunate demise of Dilip Kumar a loss to the cultural world and wrote, “Dilip Kumar Ji will be remembered as a cinematic legend. He was blessed with unparalleled brilliance, due to which audiences across generations were enthralled. His passing away is a loss to our cultural world. Condolences to his family, friends and innumerable admirers. RIP.”
Among the first to reach the residence were Shabana Azmi, Vidya Balan and husband Siddharth Roy Kapur and Dharmendra who was seen sobbing like baby after seeing Dilip Saab’s frail shrunken body.
Apparently the religious clerics were not allowing Dilip Saab to be shaved (as it is against the religion) whereas some of those close to the departed icon insisted that the national hero go out for the last time looking his best.
The entire area around Dilip Kumar’s bungalow was cordoned off. The police bandobast was irreproachable. Fans thronged beyond the cordoned area in thousands. Maharashtra Chief Minister Udhav Thakrey’s office shared a Tweet stating that the veteran thespian would receive a state funeral later today, “Chief Minister Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray has instructed that the funeral of veteran actor Dilip Kumar will be held in a state funeral.” Confirming the same, Aditya Thackeray too posted, “Paid our respects to the legend, Dilip Kumar Saheb. He will be accorded state honours today.”
PM-Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the demise of legendary actor Dilip Kumar, who breathed his last on Wednesday morning. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi remembered Dilip Kumar as a ‘cinematic legend’.
“Dilip Kumar Ji will be remembered as a cinematic legend. He was blessed with unparalleled brilliance, due to which audiences across generations were enthralled,” the tweet read.
“His passing away is a loss to our cultural world. Condolences to his family, friends and innumerable admirers. RIP,” the tweet further read.
PM Modi also spoke to late star Dilip Kumar’s wife and veteran actor Saira Banu to convey his condolences.
Dilip Kumar, who is survived by his wife Saira Banu, died at Mumbai’s PD Hinduja Hospital. He was admitted on June 30 after he complained of breathlessness.
Confirming the news of Dilip Kumar’s demise, his spokesperson Faisal Farooqi tweeted earlier, “With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of our beloved Dilip Saab, few minutes ago. We are from God and to Him we return.”
Remembering Dilip Kumar, one can never forget his remarkable contribution to Indian cinema. His career had spanned over six decades. He acted in over 65 films in his career and is known for his iconic roles in movies like ‘Devdas ‘(1955), ‘Naya Daur’ (1957), ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ (1960), ‘Ganga Jamuna’ (1961), ‘Kranti’ (1981), and ‘Karma’ (1986). His last film was ‘Qila’, which was released in 1998. (ANI)