Dilip Kumar's house declared national heritage by Pakistan

Amritsar, Jul 14: A house lost in the narrow alleys of the bustling city of Peshawar in Pakistan will soon command undivided attention from both sides of the border. After bestowing him with Nishan-e-Imtiaz in 1998, the country's highest civilian award, Pakistan will give a new life to the site where all-time great actor Dilip Kumar was born as Mohammad Yousaf Khan in a Pashtun family of 12 children on December 11, 1922.

Manzoor Ali Memon, spokesperson of Pakistan high commission in New Delhi, told TOI over phone that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has declared the ancestral house of the actor in Qissa Khawani Bazaar in Peshawar as national heritage.

Incidentally, Sharif's ancestral house is located at Jatti Umara, near Amritsar.

Memon said the government would convert the house into a museum, showcasing the journey of Dilip Kumar from Peshawar to Mumbai. A gallery would also be dedicated to the actor.

He said the Pakistan government would extend an invitation to Dilip Kumar for the inauguration ceremony. Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit had even met the actor in the first week of June.

"The PM's decision is testimony to the enormous importance Pakistan attaches to promoting art and culture and paying tribute to living legends like Dilip Kumar, whose contributions to the sub-continent cinema are unparalleled," said Basit.

Kumar's father was a fruit merchant and owned large orchards in Peshawar and Devlali in Maharashtra near Mumbai. The family relocated to Mumbai in 1930s and in the early 1940s Yusuf Khan moved to Pune and started off with his canteen business and supplying dry fruits. He made his debut in Jwar Bhata in 1944.

Theatre director Kewal Dhaliwal told TOI, "It's a great news. I think Pakistan has given his due to Dilip Kumar, but I would appreciate if the Central government also rise to the occasion. The theatre community extends our best wishes to Kumar sahib."

Dilip Kumar was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1991 and Dadasaheb Phalke award in 1994 for his services to the Indian film industry.