Bachchan Deserves An Oscar, Says Dilip Kumar

New Delhi, Dec 14: Bollywood legendary Dilip Kumar has said that the one actor in the industry who deserves an Oscar is Amitabh Bachchan.

Dilip Kumar, who has worked with Bachchan only once in 1982 release ‘Shakti', says after watching the film ‘Black' he had tears in his eyes and felt sad that the movie missed an Oscar nomination.

In his blog addressed to Bachchan, Dilip Kumar wrote, “In recent times I can remember Black and, if I remember right, Saira (Banu) and I were at a loss for words at the premiere night, after the curtain came down, to express our myriad feelings of admiration for your outstanding performance. 

“It is a pity the film missed the Oscar nomination. If any Indian actor, in my personal opinion, deserves the world's most coveted award, it is you.”

The actor, who recently celebrated his 89th birthday in presence of many Bollywood celebrities, wrote the piece after Bachchan praised the veteran actor on his own blog, calling him “my idol”.

“I am certainly privileged to know from your affectionate compliments that someone as knowledgeable and competent as you has liked my work. Yes, now that you have reminded me, I can recall the scenes that brought us together before the cameras for Shakti. I should say the respect and admiration are mutual,” Dilip Kumar added.

Following is the blog that Dilip Kumar wrote on Amitabh :

On Amitabh and my admiration

My Dear Amitabh:

With tears of pride in her eyes Saira handed over the print out of your eloquent tribute to my work in your blog. I read it once, then again and again.

As you yourself would be keenly aware, we actors are completely oblivious of ourselves and our surroundings while we perform and, even when we watch our work in the rushes shown to us, our senses and vision are trained to detect shortcomings more than accomplishments. That's the only way we know to improve and render performances that come close to our own satisfaction. And it is always the audience who have the absolute right to acclaim or reject our work, however hard we may have worked to achieve perfection and excellence.

I am certainly privileged to know from your affectionate compliments that someone as knowledgeable and competent as you has liked my work. Yes, now that you have reminded me, I can recall the scenes that brought us together before the cameras for Shakti. I should say the respect and admiration are mutual. Not just Shakti, your work in several films I have watched has been world class and inimitable. In recent times I can remember Black and, if I remember right, Saira and I were at a loss for words at the premiere night, after the curtain came down, to express our myriad feelings of admiration for your outstanding performance. It is a pity the film missed the Oscar nomination. If any Indian actor, in my personal opinion, deserves the world's most coveted award, it is you. I have heard so much about Paa which we didn't catch up with.  You know how Saira is—she never could see me die in my films and she could not muster the courage to see your death scene in Paa.

Thank you, Amitabh, for your warm love and good wishes. May God keep you, Jaya and your family happy always.

DK

Posted by Dilip Kumar at 5:09 PM 52 comments
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What Mr Bachchan tweets after reading Dilip Sahab's post:

SrBachchan Amitabh Bachchan

T 590 -My smile today has not left my face .. and my ultimate inspiration Dilip Kumar Saheb is responsible for it ..

2 hours ago 

SrBachchan Amitabh Bachchan

T 590 - Dilip Kumar my idol and inspiration writes below ... I truly need no other endorsement

2 hours ago 

SrBachchan Amitabh Bachchan

T 590 -... No critic, no colleague, no other opinion or award matters .. your endorsement, Dilip Saheb today is the ultimate for me ..

2 hours ago 

SrBachchan Amitabh Bachchan

T 590 -Dilip Saheb ! you have no idea what you have done today ! Your words for me, mean I can live and die in peace now ..

2 hours ago 

SrBachchan Amitabh Bachchan

T 590 -The one actor that has been my inspiration, one that has always surpassed my expectations of him, his talent boundless and limitless!

2 hours ago 

SrBachchan Amitabh Bachchan

T 590 - I do not care what anyone says, but this retweet of Dilip Saheb's Blog on me is beyond Godliness .. Just so overwhelmed ! No words !

2 hours ago 

 
TheDilipKumar Dilip Kumar Retweeted by SrBachchan

My Blog: Amitabh and my admiration (@SrBachchan) thedilipkumar.mouthshut.com

4 hours ago 


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Earlier…Mr Bachchan praised the veteran actor on his own blog, calling him "My Idol".
DAY 1331
Posted on: December 11, 2011 - 2:19 am

Comments: 293

Jalsa , Mumbai                                     Dec 10/11,  2011                              Sat/Sun  1:54 AM

Its a celebration for the greatest, on the eve of his birthday. He will turn 89 tomorrow, the 11th of December. Exactly 20 years older to me by birth and exactly 2000 years ahead of me in our common vocation. He is my idol and has been since the day I first saw his work. He has been an inspiration not just for me but I am certain to thousands of those that have ever dreamt of facing a camera for the art form called cinema. His presence his aura and his dedication to film shall be documented as ‘before Dilip Kumar and after Dilip Kumar'. He set fresh norms of performance in his acts of excellence, faultless and beyond any kind of improvement. His greatest quality was his connect with those that stood before him in the frame to act. His strength of delivery and his strength of connect with any character he portrayed has been unique and unsurpassable. On the eve of his birthday, I wish him good health and a long life of peace and happiness. He was the best and still is. Dilip Kumar, Yusuf Khan, Dilip Saheb … happy birthday !!

I entered his spacious home after decades. After minor cosmetic changes, it has remained the same. My visits to his place have been limited, but eventful on each occasion. A meeting of the artists and the film fraternity, a midnight informal call, a casual trip to see his excellent skills at badminton, or a shoot at his luxurious lawns during the making of ‘Zameer' with his wife and my co star Saira ji, Saira Banu ! All have been clearly etched in my mind. And why not ? He was the one actor that we as young students in University broke boundaries and hostel rules to go see his films night after night. His early films had been historic in content and repute – Aan and Shaheed – ones that I still remember seeing in the darkness of cinema halls with the barest minimum facility and comfort. For 4 annas, 25 paise, a quarter of a rupee, we would sit on wooden benches right up in front in the theaters and marvel at what our hero would enact. And among the many that we saw and enjoyed, it was for me always a Dilip Kumar that stood out. Different and distinguished. And always without fault.

And then one day I stood along with him on the sands of Juhu as the camera rolled to give the mahurat shot for ‘Shakti', the only film that we worked together in. Our first shooting scene in the film was in a jail sequence, where the police official but also my Father in film comes to visit me and tries to convince me that I was taking a wrong path in life and I disagree. Tough to stand in front of one whom you have admired for ages, and disagree with. But it happened and it kept happening day after day, till the film was complete. There were electric moments between him and me in the script, written by that incredible team of writers Salim – Javed, and each moment was filled with the distinction of great and impressive drama.

The film completed its work during the same time when I was injured during ‘Coolie' and released when I was still recovering from my ailment. The final print was shown to me on a make shift theater put up in Prateeksha, for I was still not well enough to move out of the house. Did I ever imagine many years ago, as I sat in a rather ill equipped theater in a corner of Kathmandu in Nepal, around 1954, that I would one day share the same screen space with this tremendous talent that would explode in front of me. Never ! And it still remains a illusion in my life to have actually been a part of a project which was headed by this thespian ! God has been kind, very kind !!

And in the morning at the studios of Mehboob, the photoshoot for the film ‘Department' … a cameo of small proportions .. intense and edgy as always with Ram Gopal Varma ..

Good night and may you always be blessed …

Love as ever...
Amitabh Bachchan