Adnans Father Bonds With The Big B and Shah Rukh Over Veer-Zara

The Big B’s  visit  to  Adnan Sami’s  ailing  father at the Kokilabhen Dhirubhai Ambani hospital  on  Thursday evening has  triggered  off the  industry’s A-Listers’ conscience.

On Friday  barely 24 hours after the Big B, Adnan’s father  Arshad Sami Khan  was  surprised to  see another superstar-guest walk in. It was Shah Rukh Khan whom  Adan’s father  has almost adopted as a distant son in his heart.

Explains Adnan, “Shah Rukh  resembles Dilip Kumar Saab so much.And Dilip Saab whom we call Yusif Lala   is not just  afavourite of our family but also a relative. So  to us Shah Rukh is  a direct descendent of Yusuf Lala’s  heritage.”

The frail ailing Arshad Sami could barely  speak  but  uttered  two words, “Veer Zara”. This was the former Pakistani diplomat’s way of recalling  the SRK  film  that  did its substantial bit to improve relations between  the two  countries.Says Adnan emotionally, “I missed both Bachchan Saab and  Shah Rukh by minutes. But at least my mother was there when Shah Rukh so graciously visited with his  daughter.  My father couldn’t recall the names  of all the Bachchan and SRK films he had seen except Veer-Zara.”

The  hugest  moment post- Mr Bachchan’s visit  was a call from the hero from adolescent hero Rajesh Khanna. Says Adnan, “I’ve seen  his Premanagar at least  a million times. When he called and  spoke such wonderful  words  of consolation—‘God  is there for everyone  I’m sure he’s there  for you too’—I was overwhelmed.”

The other dream come true  was a call from Saira Banu. “Mr Dilip Kumar whom I call Yusuf Lala and Sairaji are relatives.  I envy Yusuf Lala for  a wife who’s so devoted and  for so long.” The Kokilabehn  hospital is  suddenly a beehive of  Bollywood activities. On Thursday  Mr Bachchan  dropped  into see  Karan Johar’s mom who underwent  neuro-surgery, Dimple Kapadia’s sister Simple who’s critically ill,  Adnan’s father  and Prakash Mehra.In  fact   Mehra is  an  an ICU flank next to  Adnan’s father. When Adnan got to know  that the man who created some of  Adnan’s favourite childhood celluloid fantasies with thr Big B was lying ill in the room next to his father he did what any sensitive person would.Says Adnan,  “I walked into Prakashji’s ICU to  quietly take his blessings. But what do you know! He recognized  me in that condition and did  the popular hand movement  from my song Lift kara de with the Big B. It was his  utterly endearing gesture of acknowledging  me and my love for the movies that he  did  with the Big B. At times  like these, being  in the hospital is no  more an acknowledgement  of mortality. It becomes a  celebration   of life.” - SAMPURN