Peshawar     -   After demands by the Peshawarites for years, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has finally decided to preserve the homes of famous Bollywood stars Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor.

Peshawar had been an ancestral city of several Bollywood legends. The ancestral home of known Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan is also located in Shah Wali Qatal street, a few meters from Kapoor Haveli. Similarly, the house of Bollywood king Dilip Kumar is located in Mohallah Khudaad, the other side of Qissa Khwani Bazaar.

According to the laws, a house cannot be demolished if it is 100 years old or more. Speaking to The Nation, Spokesman and Deputy Director of the Archaeology, Tourism and Sports Department Abdul Latif said that not only the houses of Bollywood starts would be preserved, but archaeology department had started efforts to identify in Peshawar all those structures, which are 100 years old or more, with an aim to preserve them.

“Museums would be set up at the houses of Dilip Kumar and Kapoor family while the ancestral house of Shah Rukh Khan and other buildings would also be seen. After their preservation, art galleries would be set up there,” he added.

He said in the future, the cultural events like rubab music and other folk music programmes would also be arranged there and the places would be open for tourists and other visitors.

It may be mentioned here that Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor had been born in Peshawar while Shah Rukh Khan’s father Mir Taj Muhammad had also been born in Peshawar and migrated to India in 1947. Shah Rukh was born in India. Shah Rukh along with his father once visited their Peshawar home in 1978. Raj Kapoor’s sons Randhir Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor also visited their Peshawar residence in 1990. Similarly, Dilip Kumar also visited his ancestral home in Peshawar in 1988 and recalled his memories of childhood.

Though Dilip Kumar and Kapoor’s relatives do not live in Peshawar, the family of Shah Rukh Khan’s uncle Ghulam Muhammad Gama is settled in Shah Wali Qatal street.

Javed Khan, a cousin of Shah Rukh Khan, told The Nation that they do not have frequent contacts with the Bollywood king Shah Rukh Khan but said that their recent contact with Shah Rukh’s family was when his (Javed’s) sister Noor Jehan died in January 2020. Noor Jehan had visited Shah Rukh Khan several times in India. The late Noor Jehan had been elected as councillor in the local government elections and was affiliated with the Awami National Party. Her home even today is decorated with the photos of Shah Rukh Khan with her.