Lord Meghnad Desai, a self-confessed Hindi movie buff, couldn’t have asked for a better rollcall of dignitaries at the launch of his new book on Dilip Kumar. The evening, which saw the unveiling of Desai’s ,i>Nehru’s Hero: Dilip Kumar In the Life of India, also brought about the reunion of a star pair that dominated cinema in the ’50s.With a select crowd including table maestro Zakir Husain, INTACH’s Tasneem Mehta and filmmaker Ismail Merchant in attendance, it was time for Tragedy King Dilip Kumar and former co-star Vyjayanthimala Bali to take centrestage, exchanging notes on the ‘‘old times’’ and paying mutual compliments.Sharing memorable experiences from the time spent in the company of the film icon, Vyjayanthimala recalled how he ‘‘taught me how to deliver dialogues in Bhojpuri for Ganga Jamuna.’’Desai’s book looks at the Nehruvian era (1947-1964) through the works of Kumar. Desai, who could only meet his subject briefly during the writing of the book because of ‘‘different engagements’’ that both had, said: ‘‘I adored Dilipsaab, saw his films first day first show.’’The star too paid a tribute to the writer saying, ‘‘Only he could have done this. I don’t have words to express my gratitude to him. An actor like me owes a great deal to an admirer like him.’’
