'We were both shattered': Late veteran actress Kamini Kaushal on parting with Dilip Kumar, her 'first love’

Mumbai: Late veteran actress Kamini Kaushal, in her memoir, reflected on her past relationship with the late legendary actor Dilip Kumar, offering a candid account of their emotional bond and eventual parting.

Kaushal wrote that the two shared a deep connection and were very happy together, but circumstances compelled them to separate. “We were both shattered. We were very happy with each other. We shared a great rapport. But that’s life,” she recalled, explaining that family obligations prevented her from abruptly ending relationships.

She acknowledged her husband’s understanding nature, saying he recognised why her situation unfolded as it did. “We were both shattered. We were very happy with each other. We shared a great rapport. But that’s life. I couldn’t dump people and say, ‘Enough now, I’m going!’ I had taken on the girls. I wouldn’t be able to show my face to my sister," she wrote. “My husband, a fine human being, understood why it happened. Everyone falls in love,” she added.

Dilip Kumar had also spoken about his affection for Kaushal in his biography, describing her as his first love. In Bunny Reuben’s book Dilip Kumar – Star Legend of Indian Cinema, the actor described their connection as a defining emotional experience. “She (Kamini) was the only one with whom I achieved total identification. I think everybody falls in love only once,” he said, recounting that period as one of “days of trance” and “nights of impatience.”

Kaushal was widely regarded as Dilip Kumar’s first love. The two appeared together in three films — Shaheed, Shabnam, and Nadiya Ke Paar. Noted writer Ismat Chughtai had also confirmed that Dilip Kumar was deeply in love with the actress.

With inputs from IANS