Exactly two decades ago in November 2004, Goa was hosting the International Film Festival of India for the first time and I was brought in as the key organizer just a few weeks earlier when things didn’t seem to be working out. From my North American base, I invited my friends in LA and NYC to come to Goa – consequently, Mira Nair’s film Vanity Fair opened the festival and Oliver Stone’s Alexander was the closing film. Among other sidebars there was a tribute to Satyajit Ray with Derek Malcolm and Amita Malik, a rerun of digitally remastered David Lean’s classics (courtesy Paramount) plus a retrospective of 5 Hollywood films produced by Ashok Amritraj.

By the time the festival took off almost the entire Indian film industry had descended on the tiny Taj Aguada hotel, as it was the designated festival hotel. One would bump into Indian celebrities including Yash Chopra, Shyam Benegal, Javed Akhtar, Subhash Ghai, Mani Ratnam, or Aamir Khan whenever one walked into the lobby.

An early riser, I walked into the absolutely empty lobby of the Taj Aguada hotel in the morning to get some fresh air before the frenzy of the festival took over. After a sizzling inauguration ceremony on the opening night with A R Rahman providing a sneak preview of Subhash Ghai’s next film Kisna’s soundtrack and Mira Nair presenting Vanity Fair as the opening film, it seemed that morning the entire film fraternity was fast asleep.

The moment I walked past the reception area of the hotel, I saw the figure of the festival’s chief guest, the famous living legend Dilip Kumar (Yusuf sahib) gently sauntering into the lobby barefoot. His hair was undone, he was unshaven and still dressed in his night suit. I immediately recognized that being in his early 80’s, he was in all likelihood a bit disoriented. Before anyone could react he had settled into one of the cushy sofas. He seemed to be appreciating the morning calm and the splendid view of the Arabian Sea.

I cautiously approached him and wished him “a very good morning, Sir”. He greeted me with his charismatic smile that had won the hearts of millions. Not really knowing what to say next I enquired if he “needed anything?”

“A cup of tea with milk and sugar would be appreciated”, the legendary actor responded, now probably mixing me for a hotel staff member. As I turned around he added, “with some cookies”.

The Taj management is normally quite courteous but on this occasion, the duty manager flatly refused and claimed, “We don’t serve tea to the guests in the lobby of the hotel, he can proceed to the coffee shop and we will serve him anything he wants”

I was forced to instruct the manager, “this is not just ‘a guest’ – this is the Dilip Kumar sitting there – if he wants to have tea in the lobby of the hotel then tea better be served right here and right now.”

The manager luckily understood the gravity of the situation and proceeded to do the needful. Tea and cookies arrived quite promptly and were served with the characteristic elegance that has made the Taj Group of Hotels world famous.

As the hot tea was being poured, Yusuf sahib asked me to join him. I had met him on few other occasions at film industry gatherings in the past and even had dinner with him, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, and Yashji on one occasion where he entertained us by insisting on speaking only in Punjabi. Another time I spent hours with him at a Subhash Ghai’s Pardes event during TIECON in Delhi in January 2003 but this was unique – it was just the two of us having a relaxed and casual chat. In his soft voice and finely cultivated Urdu, he answered many of my questions about his work.

Soon the morning newspapers arrived carrying front-page headlines and photos from the previous evening at the festival inauguration, where the legendary Dilip Kumar, speaking with grace and dignity, had said that it was fitting that Goa had snatched the prize and it was a natural choice as a permanent venue for the International Film Festival of India. This choice, he said had received national attention and international approval.

By now, a few other guests had woken up and sought to get their photos taken with the icon. I could sense his discomfort considering he was not dressed for the part. Under the circumstances, I did my bit by requesting his numerous fans to come by later. Soon his minders realizing that he was missing suddenly arrived in the lobby and took charge of the situation. He slowly got up and in a class act individually thanked all the members of the Taj staff attending to him looking directly in each person’s eye. Then he turned his attention towards me, warmly shook hands, looking at me with his expressive eyes and went off to his suite with his attendants to emerge much later immaculately dressed in a dark blazer joyfully dancing to the music being played in the lobby by the Goan musicians.

And I just stood there frozen – looking at him and watching him in awe as he treated every individual he met with equal respect.

That’s why Dilip Kumar will remain etched in my memory till the end. His passing in 2021 after years of suffering from age related issues made one feel as if one has lost a family member. Dilip Kumar’s films have made him immortal. And to live on in the hearts of those left behind is not to die…