‘God snatched away…’: Saira Banu’s first words after Dilip Kumar’s death

Legendary Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar died on Wednesday at a Mumbai hospital. The news of his death was first revealed by Dr Jalil Parkar, who had been treating the actor. It was later confirmed by Dilip Kumar’s friend Faisal Farooqui, who took to the late actor’s Twitter handle to write, “With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of our beloved Dilip Saab.”

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The late actor is survived by his wife and veteran actor Saira Banu. Peeping Moon quoted Dr Parkar, who revealed what Saira Banu told him after her husband’s death. 

“God snatched away my reason for living,” Saira Banu said, according to the doctor.

“Without Sahab, I won’t be able to think about anything. Everyone, please pray,” she said.

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The couple tied the knot in 1966 when Saira Banu was 22 and Dilip Kumar was 44. They were together for more than five decades. 

Kumar had been admitted to Mumbai’s Hinduja hospital since last Tuesday. He died at 7.30 am on Wednesday.

Popularly known as the ‘tragedy king of Bollywood’, Dilip Kumar made his Bollywood debut in 1944 with ‘Jwar Bhata’. His career spanned over five decades in which he was part of several iconic films, such as ‘Mughal-e-Azam’, ‘Devdas’, ‘Naya Daur’, and ‘Ram Aur Shyam’. His last film ‘Qila’ was released in 1998. 

In early June, Dilip Kumar was admitted to Hinduja hospital after he was diagnosed with bilateral pleural effusion, which is a build-up of excess fluid between the layers of the pleura outside the lungs. He was released five days later after undergoing a successful procedure.

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However, he was admitted again later that month as his condition deteriorated. He died at the age of 98 on Wednesday.