Bollywood's reigning superstar Shah Rukh Khan had a special attachment with Dilip Kumar. In fact, Dilip Kumar, whose real name is Yusuf Khan,could be rightly regarded as the first Khan of Bollywood.
Interestingly, SRK’s father, Taj Mohammad Khan, was born and raised in the same street of Peshawar where Dilip Kumar's ancestral house is located. Taj had moved to Delhi later.
It so happened that SRK himself revealed once and explained how he has been close to Dilip Kumar ever since from the Peshawari days.
In a throwback interview with Filmfare magazine, SRK said, “I knew Dilip saab as a kid. Dad knew him. They used to live in the same galli in Delhi. I’ve met Dilip saab many times in my childhood. We have been to his place often.”
He further said, “Actually, Sairaji (Saira Banu) doesn’t remember this but her medicines used to be sent by my aunt from London. Years later, when I was working with Ketan Mehta, I saw a picture of Dilip Kumar in his office and I was like "Oh! That’s me". He looked so much like me in that picture. Or rather I looked so much like him.”
“But my relationship with Dilip saab goes beyond films. Dilip saab and Sairaji have always thought of me as their son,” said SRK.
Recently, Saira Banu too spoke about SRK and said “I love Shah Rukh as a beta (son) absolutely. I touch his hair with affection.”
The superstar has been spotted multiple times paying a visit to the yesteryear star’s place.
Coincidentally, Shah Rukh Khan stepped into Dilip Kumar's shoes when he played the role of Devdas. Dilip Kumar played Devdas in the Bimal Roy-directed 1955 film while SRK was featured as Devdas in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 2002 film. SRK and Dilip Kumar also share the record for the most Filmfare Best Actor wins.
In one of his previous interviews to news agency PTI, Shah Rukh had said that Dilip Kumar is the 'pillar of the film industry.'
