Dilip Kumar's Second Wife Asma Rehman From Hyderabad

Jul 07, 2021, 12:28 IST

Legendary actor Dilip Kumar passed away on Wednesday morning at Mumbai. The 98-year-old thespian was suffering from age and health-related complications and was in and out of hospitals for minor health issues but then he would return home. But this time it wasn’t the case and he breathed his last at 7:30 am.

Dilip Saab as he was fondly known over the generations is survived by his actress-wife Saira Banu whom he was married to for over five decades. The couple had an age gap of 22 years and were married in 1966. Another interesting fact is that Saira Banu was born in the same year when Dilip Kumar made his Bollywood debut with the 1944 film Jwar Bhata.

Dilip Kumar married her after he ended his relationship with actress Madhubala which ended on a sad note.

But not many know that Dilip Kumar had a Hyderabad connection. Even when Dilip and Saira were married for 16 years the actor secretly married a lady named Asma Rehman or Asma Sahiba in 1981, after he met her at a cricket match in Hyderabad. She was said to be a socialite and the actor is said to have married her to have a child, as Saira Banu had undergone an abortion.

The news had hit headlines when it happened then. The marriage is said to have taken place in Bangalore had been kept a secret till the local tabloids splashed pictures of him holding hands with her. It was reported that he had kept Asma at his Pali Hill apartment. Later, Dilip ended his second marriage with Asma in 1983 and the actor later said that it was ‘a grave mistake’ as mentioned in his memoir.

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“Well, the one episode in my life that I would like to forget and which we, Saira and I, have indeed pushed into eternal oblivion is a grave mistake I made under the pressure of getting involved with a lady named Asma Rehman whom I had met at a cricket match in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) where she then lived with her husband. She was a mother of three when she was introduced to me as a fan and she seemed like umpteen other admirers, who were introduced to me by my sisters, Fauzia and Saeeda, at public places. She was a friend of my sisters,’’ he stated in his autobiography published in 2014- The Substance And The Shadow by Dilip Kumar.

He later divorced Asma legally and moved back with Saira Banu who has been with him through thick and thin. She has been taking care of the veteran actor with unflinching devotion and love and also updating his fans about the actor’s health through his social media handle.

'' With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of our beloved Dilip Saab, few minutes ago. We are from God and to Him we return,'' tweeted Faisal Farooqui a close associate of the actor who handled his social media handles.

With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of our beloved Dilip Saab, few minutes ago.

We are from God and to Him we return. - Faisal Farooqui

— Dilip Kumar (@TheDilipKumar) July 7, 2021