1. Legend beyond legends, Dilip Kumar has worked with every major filmmaker in Mumbai. But somehow he never got around to working with the greatest filmmaker of India Satyajit Ray who was very keen to work with the Thespian .When Waheeda Rehman was working with Ray in Abhijaan he sent a message to the Thespian asking for a meeting , which never happened.Wonder if Yusuf Saaf got the message!
2. Waheeda Rehman was among the number of actresses who keenly wanted to marry Dilip Kumar. Others in the list were Nalini Jaywant, Madhubala,Vyjanthimala. But he chose Saira Banu a privilege that he never allowed her to forget.
3. Guru Dutt had finalized Yusuf Saab for Pyaasa. But just hours before shooting was to begin Dilip Saab opted out saying the character’s dark melancholic shades were too similar to what he was playing in Devdas. Panic-striken Guru Dutt had no choice but to put on the costumes and play the role himself.
4. This complete actor never had a craving to look for fame outside his home domain. If Yusuf Saab had no interest in working with Satyajit Ray he also said no to the mighty David Lean for Lawrence Of Arabia. Omar Sharif’s role was first offered to Yusuf Saab. He turned it down arguing it was a supporting role, “Why should I play a supporting role in the West when I don’t do so at home?” he told me. Are Anil Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra listening?
5. You always thought he had never worked with Gulzar, right? Wrong! Yusuf Saab made a guest appearance as himself, the mighty Dilip Kumar in Gulzar’s Koshish. He featured in a sequence where Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri dial a wrong number. The “wrong number” turns out to be Dilip Kumar.
6. Dilip Kumar sang a duet with Lata Mangeshkar in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Musafir. Before the recording of the song Lagi nahin choote rama (composed by Salil Chowdhary) Dilip Kumar requested his ‘Choti Bahen’ Lata Mangeshkar to keep in mind that he was not a professional singer. But after the recording he felt she had completely out-sung him. He didn’t speak to her for months.