DILIPKUMAR VS SURAIYA

DILIPKUMAR VS SURAIYA

Dilip Kumar and Suraiya’s fans must have thought at some point , why Dilip Kumar and Suraiya never worked together? Recently, a book by senior journalist Zakhmi Kanpuri has been published from Karachi. He tried to shed some light on this issue. I am posting the translation here

“This incident dates back to the time when Suraiya’s career was at its zenith. Whenever a film producer used to visit Suraiya’s residence to sign her for his film, Suraiya’s mom used to say with pride “Give one Jubilee (hit film) to him too!”. Dilip Kumar was an upcoming star at that time. His friendship with K.Asif was legendary and he had already worked in K.Asif’s Hulchul (1951). 

Therefore, Dilip requested K. Asif to sign him opposite Suraiya, and K. Asif obliged by producing a film with the name of Jaanwar. According to the requirement of one of the scenes, Suraiya gets bitten by a snake on her shin, and Dilip has to suck the poison from her leg. This scene was rehearsed continuously for 4 consecutive days. Suraiya got suspicious and was quite convinced that Dilip Kumar was doing this to satisfy his urges and K. Asif was his partner in crime. Suraiya discussed this matter with her mom, and her mom brought this matter to Zahoor (Suraiya’s Uncle) attention. Next day, when the same thing happened, Suraiya pulled her leg and started to cuss at Dilip Kumar. 

Zahoor tried to attack Dilip, but Asif came in between and tried to cool him down. After this incident, Suraiya immediately refused to work in this film. Asif said to her “Who will pay for the loss?”. Suraiya wrote a check and left the sets immediately. Hence, the film was never completed and the two great legends were never paired again.”