Dilip Kumar, the authentic heartthrob of Indian cinema, panicked everyone when he married at 44 — to the then 22-year-outdated Saira Banu. What started as a fairytale romance became rocky sixteen years later when his secret marriage to one more girl, Asma Rehman, surfaced. The revelation wasn’t made within the family, nonetheless within the newspapers — and it broke Saira.
A match made at a match?
In his memoir, The Substance and The Shadow, Dilip revealed that he first met Asma for the duration of a cricket match in Hyderabad. Originally leer, she perceived to be a married girl with three kids. Nonetheless slowly, Dilip started noticing unsettling patterns — like Asma and her husband turning up wherever he went. He later wrote, “I used to be fully unaware of a connivance that used to be being mischievously perpetuated…”
The affair that lasted two years
The connection, spanning 1981–1983, used to be one thing Dilip deeply regretted. “I will never forget or forgive myself for the wound I triggered to Saira…”
Asma’s intentions became clearer with time, and Dilip sooner or later confessed to Saira. Whereas heartbroken, the actress stood by him, nonetheless now not without him taking accountability.
A written apology, a repaired marriage
Dilip requested time to legally discontinuance his 2nd marriage. Earlier than finalising the divorce, he reaffirmed his loyalty in a written “letter of dedication” to Saira and her family, promising never to marry again.
Dilip Kumar would later portray this chapter as one orchestrated by “divine motive,” one which with regards to destroyed their marriage nonetheless finally deepened their emotional bond. The 2 remained collectively till his passing in 2021 — a like myth tarnished, nonetheless now not damaged.
