When the car zoomed on to the Pedder Road, he asked his driver to stop. “My destination is on the right” he said, “Thank you for your company”. Still frozen into inaction, I stopped on the road unable to determine if what had just occurred was real or hallucination! Today, when I am older, I look back on the episode with enchantment. Superstars are human beings too. They respond to people and situations instinctively. Did Dilip Kumar mistake me for someone else or did he connect me with the previous day event? Was he always so sensitive to newcomers at media events or was my tryst with him a case of serendipity?
Two decades passed by. I was now editor G Magazine and one day, director Subhash Ghai invited a few of us to witness history. Dilip Kumar and Raj Kumar shooting on the sets of Saudagar. As I walked towards the set, I noticed Dilip Kumar a few steps ahead of me. He was about to make an entry when he realized the camera was rolling and stepped back. I realized for the first time that an actor at work is forever in character and when he is caught in process unaware, he feels vulnerable and exposed! When Kumar looked back and caught me staring at him, he stiffened.