Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah revealed in a new interview that Bollywood’s cinematic legend Dilip Kumar was not all too excited about Naseeruddin stepping into the film industry. According to the actor, Dilip had advised him against pursuing acting.
Naseeruddin shared that Dilip once told him that “people from good families” don’t act in films. The screen legend died last week at 98.
While talking to author and critic Saif Mahmood for Link Legal’s Beyond Law, Naseeruddin further recalled the late actor’s words to him and said:
"I think you should go back and study. People from good families should not try to become actors," he said, and continued with a laugh, "I didn’t ask him how he’d become an actor in that case."
When he was asked if he ever brought up the incident with Dilip again, Naseeruddin replied, “I didn’t have the courage, I was too awed by him, like every other actor in India. He was above all.”
Both of them were Bollywood’s finest actors and had the opportunity to work together in Karma. While recalling the film days, Naseeruddin added: "That's the only time I think I have been nervous while acting in my life. Most of the time, I was too terrified to even approach him, apart from greeting him in the mornings."
Call it fate but the two were admitted to the same hospital in Dilip Kumar’s last few days on the planet. However, they didn't meet.
