Dilip Kumar had deep connection with Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Indian legend star Dilip Kumar was born on Dec 11, 1922 in the Khudadad Mohallah, on the backside of Qissa Khwani Bazaar of Peshawar in the house of Lala Ghulam Sarwar.

His father moved to Mumbai with his family in 1935 for business. Ghulam Sarwar was a fruit merchant and belonged to the Awan family of Peshawar. He studied from Anjuman-e-Hamaat-ul-Islam Madrassa in Peshawar which is now known as Government Middle School Mohalla Khudadad. Dilip Kumar first came to Peshawar in 1988 and visited his house once and kissed the soil.

During the ANP tenure, the government decided to buy Dilip Kumar's house but the decision was not implemented. However, the PTI's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government decided to turn the house of great Indian film actor Yousaf Khan into a museum in 2020 under which the value of land and house wreckage was determined.

The government fixed the price of Dilip Kumar's house at Rs8 million for which sections 4, 6, and 17 were enacted under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Final notices were issued to the owners to submit objections but the owner refused to sell the house for Rs8 million and demanded Rs350 million. The owner submitted an objection but deputy commissioner Peshawar rejected all objections. Similarly, Deputy Commissioner Peshawar Khalid Mahmood had announced the award for the acquisition of ancestral houses of Indian film legend Dilip Kumar, after which the ownership of the houses has been transferred to the Director Archeology and Museum KP. The Department of Archeology and Museums had taken possession. According to Director Archeology and Museum Abdul Samad, the house will be restored to its original condition after renovation. Dilip Kumar's biography, his long association with Peshawar, film records, photographs, and other family members items will be kept at home. The government had also decided to convert Raj Kapoor's mansion into a museum, which was valued at Rs15 million but the owners had rejected the government rate and submitted their objections. However, the deputy commissioner rejected the owners' objection and announced the award, after which the Archeology and Museum Department also took possession of Raj Kapoor's house.

Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor, two great actors of the sub-continent, were close friends and both belonged to Peshawar. Both great actors of the Indian film industry first and last appeared together in the film 'Andaz' in 1949. It was the first film to be made on the formula of triangular love (one hero, two heroines). The film was directed by Mehboob Khan and the music was composed by Nowshad. The heroine of the film was Nargis. The songs of the film were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The year the film was released, it did great business and the same year Raj Kapoor's film 'Barsaat' broke its record.

The songs of the film also became very popular, especially 'Tote Na Dil Tote Na'.Dilip Kumar's memorable films include 'Andaz', 'Mela', 'Jugnu', 'Shaheed', 'Didaar', 'Babul', 'Dagh', 'Azad', 'Niya Dour', 'Ganga Jamna', 'Ram' aur 'Shyam', 'Mughal-e-Azam', 'Kranti', and 'Vidhata'.