IN PICS! When superstar Dilip Kumar met JRD Tata on a flight

Veteran Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar is currently in the spotlight due to his autobiography. The actor recalled an interesting in-flight encounter in his biography and you would not believe whom it was with - JRD Tata!

While Dilip Kumar is a big shot within the Indian film industry, JRD Tata is a business tycoon responsible for Tata Group's valuation at $5 billion. And surprisingly enough, despite being so celebrated within their respective fields and more so within the country, the two failed to recognise one other.

In his biography Dilip Kumar: The Substance and the Shadow, Dilip Kumar recalled that there was a time when he was in a flight, seated with a rather elderly person who did not seem to create a fuss about sitting with an actor.

Picture this, you are sitting quietly, enjoying your window view and suddenly an actor comes and sits next to you, how would you react? Well, JRD Tata acted just the opposite, he sat there indifferently.

Dilip Kumar recalled the encounter and wrote: "We got talking and I brought up the subject of cinema and movies and asked, 'Do you watch films?' The man replied, 'Oh, very few. I did see one many years ago.' I mentioned that I worked in the movie industry. The man replied.." oh, that’s nice. What do you do?' I replied I am an actor."

JRD Tata did not question him beyond this and when the two landed and exchanged a handshake, Kumar told him his full name. That did not seem to surprise Tata who then revealed his name and left.

The legendary actor revealed that he learned after the incident that one may be a big name, but there is always someone bigger.

"I learned on that day that no matter how big you think you. are, there is always someone bigger than you", wrote the Mughal-E-Azam actor.

While recalling this incident, Dilip Kumar also mentioned that he met JRD Tata when he was at the peak of his career and known to cine buffs across the country.

He also added that at first, the business tycoon seemed to him like a middle-class man, dressed in a simple suit. As they say - don't judge a book by its cover!