Randhir Kapoor calls Dilip Kumar the greatest actor, says ‘My father Raj Kapoor's close friend is gone’

New Delhi: Raj Kapoor’s eldest son veteran actor Randhir Kapoor is dejected at legendary actor Dilip Kumar’s death. On Wednesday (July 7), early in the morning at PD Hinduja Hospital, Kumar passed away after suffering from prolonged health-related issues due to old age. The thespian was 98 years old.

In an interview with ETimes, Randhir called Dilip Kumar the ‘greatest actor’ and shared, “The greatest actor Dilip Kumar is no more. The biggest personality has left us. My father Raj Kapoor's close friend is gone.”

Reminiscing his father, filmmaker-director and actor Raj Kapoor’s collaborating with Kumar, for the 1949 film Andaz, Randhir says, "It was such a nice movie”.

The only surviving son of Raj Kapoor talked about Kumar visiting Raj Kapoor in the hospital before the latter's death. “I recall Dilip Kumar was very sad then. Actually, whenever my father and he met, there were strong emotions between them”.

Contemporaries Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor shared a friendship that dated back to childhood. The film legends were neighbours in the Peshawar region (now in Pakistan) of undivided India.

Both their families migrated during the partition. The two made a career in the Hindi film cinema around the same time and their contribution to the world of cinema is said to have set the path for the entertainment industry for the years to come.