'Even actors of today have influences of Dilip Kumar'

Writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar is presenting a second season of his TV show Classic Legends. The series on the lives and careers of stalwarts of the Indian film industry is a treat for lovers of cinema.

This season, Akhtar will talk about two living legends, Dilip Kumar and Pran. The 10 others who have passed into the ages are Meena Kumari, the evergreen Dev Anand, noted film-makers Chetan Anand, Nasir Hussain and Hrishikesh Mukherji, talented actor Sunil Dutt, one of India's greatest playback singers, Mohammed Rafi, renowned lyricists Shailendra and Anand Bakshi and one of the most respected music composers of all time, S D Burman.

The weekly series will air on Zee Classic beginning Sunday, November 18, at 7.30 pm.

Javed Akhtar gives Rajul Hegde a glimpse of the show:

On Dilip Kumar

Dilip Kumar is part of our past, present, and future generations.

He is an integral part of our lives, our nostalgia.

He is not someone who exists outside us; he's not just out there.

I remember when I was admitted in class 1, in a school in Lucknow, just to celebrate my admission, my father asked me if I wanted to watch a film or go to the zoo because Lucknow has a big zoo.

I took the right decision and said I wanted to watch a film. The film was Dilip Saab's Aan. He rode horses, was swashbuckling, singing songs and saying beautiful lines.

When I was 13, I saw Madhumati. he was part of our growing up. When I was in college, I began to understand his work, analyse it.

The best part is he was an actor who started out in 1944 but whose style of working is reflected in actors working in 2012! He exists in them. Even actors of today have influences of Dilip Kumar.

So many generations have come and gone but his performances, aesthetic, sense of drama and style is still prevalent.

Actors such as Amitabh Bachchan and Naseeruddin Shah, despite being