MERA UNSE KOI RISHTA TOH NAHI THA, LEKIN WOH KOI RISHTE SE ZYAADA RISHTA RAKHTE THE . MERI MAA UNKI MUREED THI, MERE WAALID UNKA BAHUT KADAR KARTE THE By Team Bollyy 23 Jul 2021 | Updated On 23 Jul 2021 14:15 IST in Ali Peter John New Update He was not related to me in any way , then why did I, my father and my mother have such a fond , amazing and unbelievable relationship with him ? - Ali Peter John I was 10 years old when I realized what the greatness and the power of Dilip Kumar was . I lived in an area where his photographs were framed and placed on the walls of homes which were mostly huts and chawls where some of the most ordinary and simple people lived and he was worshipped by the people living in the compound called Latif Abdul Cyclewala Compound. There were people of all communities, but when it came to Dilip Kumar, they were all like one family. There was an uncle who used to work as an assistant director in flims who used to tell stories about the magic of Dilip Kumar and we all used to gather around him in the evening to listen to him talk about the actor . The man was such a dedicated and devoted follower of Dilip Kumar that if anyone even said a word against the actor , he would go back to his "kholi" and cry bitterly till someone went and consoled him , said sorry to him and brought him back and he resumed telling his stories about " Yusuf Sahab". My mother used to finish all her work for the day by 7 pm just to be in time to listen to the stories about Dilip Kumar. The day of the release of any of Dilip Kumar's flim was like a festival in the compound. It was like a holiday and we all walked to the nearest theaters (and some even travelled to the theaters in bullock carts ) . My mother used to lead the devotees of Dilip Kumar to the theaters and even spent her own money to buy tickets for those who couldn't buy them and even bought ice cream for the entire crowd. I have never seen anyone celebrating a star or an actor like the way my mother did . My mother made it a point to see that she saw all the flims with Dilip Kumar as the hero. I don't remember her seeing any other flim of any other star , except for Raj marketeer selling tickets and bought three tickets from him out of paying him hundred rupees which was a very big amount in 1960 . She was so delighted seeing the flim that she went out of the theatre during the interval and came back with three packs of Kwality ice cream for us . Her excitement mounted when she saw the confrontation scenes between Emperor Akbar and Prince Salim (Prithviraj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar). It was difficult to believe even for a ten year old boy like me to see how my mother had forgotten all her problems and worries of the world and get lost in the world of romance and history without looking at anyone else and without uttering a word till the very end and when she came out of the show, she vowed that she would see the flim many more times. Lekin yeh ho naa saka because my mother started falling ill . But she was fit and fine when she knew that Dilip Kumar's Ganga Jamuna was about to be released. 'Ganga Jamuna' was to be released at the small and dingy but still the oldest theater in the suburbs, the Usha talkies in Andheri, which was like the Mecca and a popular pilgrim centre for the next many years till it was demolished to make way for a brand new theatre called Pinky . It was like a repeat of the scene when we had gone to see Mughle e Azam. Again, there was a huge crowd and tickets were not available for any class. And again my mother was not in a mood to give up and bought tickets in the black market. And again she sat in silence throughout the flim and her eyes were focused only on Ganga ( Dilip Kumar) . She believed that the' kabbadi' match was an actual match and not a scene from the flim. We were treated to the best biryani at the near by Moti Mahal restaurant and the same Kwality ice cream at the nearby Ideal Railway Restaurant. On our way home in a taxi , she had a very important question to ask me . She asked, " yeh hero log ke jab maa ho sakti hai , toh baap kyun nahi hote ?" It is a question I have asked my self many times. The next time my mother was excited about seeing Dilip Kumar was when his flim 'Ram Aur Shyaam' was to be released and she was doubly excited when she was told that Dilip Kumar had a double role in the flim . But destiny had other cruel plans for my mother . My elder brother who was in the Indian Air Force was given up for missing and a telegram to my mother confirmed the news about his not being found . The news shattered my mother . She was declared a patient of high blood pressure and she had a red clot of blood in her right eye which refused to leave her . She kept talking about seeing Ram Aur Shyam, but her condition kept worsening and on November 29 , 1965 she left this world right before my young eyes and I knew life was not going to be the same for me and brother again . We were forced to starve many times, so where was the question of seeing flims whether the films of Dilip Kumar or any other Kumar ? My father , Haroon Ali was a quiet admirer of Dilip Kumar and my uncle , Dr. Salim Ali , the well known bird- watcher was a neighbour of the actor and was so involved in watching birds and their behavior that he had no time to even think of watching flims , not even of his illustrious neighbour, the one and only Dilip Kumar . RISHTE KAISE BANTE HAI , YEH HUMNE AAJ TAK NAHI JAANA . LEKIN JAB BHI MAIN MERA AJEEB RISHTA DILIP KUMAR KE SAATH KE BAARE MEIN SOCHTA HU , TAB SOCHTA HU KI RISHTON MEIN KUCH TOH BAAT HOGI , NAHI TOH YEH DUNIYA KAISE CHALTI AUR KAISE AAGE BADHTE. YEH BAAT DILIP KUMAR NE JAATE JAATE HUM SAB KO SIKHLAAYA . Related Articles Latest Stories Read the Next Article