Dilip Kumar laid to rest with full state honours

Dilip Kumar laid to rest with full state honours

Bella.Jaisinghani@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:08.07.2021

Dilip Kumar, the Aakhri Mughal of Hindi cinema, was laid to rest at Santacruz Kabrastan Wednesday evening. Friend Faisal Farooqui, who runs the actor’s official Twitter handle, said, “Sahab’s lungs had become very weak and he suffered multiple age-related ailments. On Tuesday night, his blood pressure dropped and it then became difficult for doctors to remove the excess fluid from his lungs.”

Dilip Kumar was awarded a state funeral. Police draped his remains in the tricolour and the marching band performed at his Pali Hill residence in Bandra before the coffin was led to Santacruz. The bier was lifted by nephews Rehan, actor Ayub Khan, Imran and Saqib, and Farooqui. The last rites were completed at 5pm.

Santacruz Kabrastan is where the family graves are located. It is also the resting place for most of Hindi cinema’s yesteryear celebrities. Saira Banu’s mother, veteran actress Naseem Bano, her grandmother and other family elders are buried here along with Madhubala, Mohammed Rafi, Sahir Ludhianvi, Naushad, Ali Sardar Jafri, Talat Mahmood, K A Abbas, Parveen Babi and Tahir Hussain. In fact, Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu had requested the government to grant the trust a neighbouring plot to accommodate more graves.

On Wednesday a stream of dignitaries from Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, his son Aaditya, film celebrities Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi, Shah Rukh Khan, Vidya Balan, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Ranbir Kapoor and Subhash Ghai went to offer condolence to the family at the bungalow. Amitabh Bachchan and son Abhishek visited the gravesite. A sea of blue ticks offered tribute on Twitter, from President Ram Nath Kovind and PM Narendra Modi to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and South superstars Mammooty and Chiranjeevi.