Dilip Kumar, one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema, was also considered one of the most eligible bachelors of his time. He remained so till the age of 44 after which he got married to fellow Bollywood actress Saira Banu, who was only 22 years old at the time. Despite being in love for many years, 16 years into their marriage, the couple went through a major heartbreak when Dilip Kumar secretly married another woman named Asma Rehman. Dilip Kumar always regretted this decision and could never forgive himself for the pain he caused his wife Saira Banu. Sadly, Saira Banu got to know the news of Dilip Kumar's second marriage through the newspapers. Though she did not believe it at first, soon the truth came to light and left her heartbroken.
In his memoir The Substance And The Shadow: An Autobiography, Dilip Kumar candidly spoke about this period in his life and revealed that he first met Asma Rehman in Hyderabad, at a cricket match. Initially, they only met as a superstar and fan, but soon Dilip Kumar got to know that there was a hidden motive behind this meeting. Dilip Kumar was introduced to Asma Rehman through his sisters. She was presented as a married woman with three children. Dilip Kumar shared that soon he began to notice that Asma and her husband were spotted everywhere he went. "I was completely unaware of a connivance that was being mischievously perpetuated and a situation being cleverly created by vested interests to draw a commitment from me."
Then in 1982, Dilip Kumar married Asma Rehman and the news of it shook Saira Banu's world. "I can never forget or forgive myself for the hurt I caused to Saira and the shattering of the unshakeable faith she had in me," Dilip Kumar wrote.
Dilip ultimately confessed his “grave mistake” to Saira Banu and asked time from her to legally divorce Asma Rehman. "Saira stood by me when I admitted the grave mistake and asked her to give me some time to undo the wrong through proper legal processes and restore the sanctity of our marriage of sixteen years. I requested Saira to give me some time to sort it all out,” he wrote.
He also signed a "letter of commitment" to Saira Banu and renewed the promise he had made to her parents that he would never consider a second marriage.
Dilip Kumar believed that he had been a “victim of a situation that was set to precipitate a deep crisis in my marriage with Saira.” However, as fate would have it, this incident only made Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu's bond stronger. The evergreen couple remained together until his death in 2021.
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