MUMBAI: Legendary Bollywood actor and veteran star Muhammad Yusuf Khan, better known as Dilip Kumar, is all set to enter a new, religious phase in his life. The nonagenarian thespian and hero of yesteryear superhits like ‘Devdas’, ‘Ganga Jamuna’ and ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ has undertaken, at the ripe old age of 90, an arduous pilgrimage of Umrah.

The superstar had celebrated his 90th birthday just recently at a lavish birthday bash thrown by his loving wife Saira Banu (see pictures here).

On Wednesday evening, Dilip Kumar was seen at the airport with Saira Banu and a few attendants, leaving for Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah. The couple will reportedly be accompanied by a few relatives.

Dilip saab, as he is fondly known, took to Twitter early on Wednesday, to express his genuine joy at performing the Umrah pilgrimage, “Allah has been kind that he’s given me the strength to go on Umrah (pilgrimage) with Saira, Asif, Faisal… My doctor friends, few relatives are also accompanying me to Umrah. Keep me in your prayers.”

Umrah is a holy pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, undertaken by Muslims and can be performed at any point in time of the year. In Arabic, Umrah literally means “to visit a populated place”.

Confirming the veteran actor’s travel plans, Dilip Kumar’s manager revealed to BusinessOfCinema: “He is going for the pilgrimage with his wife, some close friends and relatives. They have their flight Wednesday evening and will stay there for 10 to 15 days.”

After Aamir Khan’s Hajj visit earlier last year went off so smoothly, we pray that Dilip Kumar too has a successful and peaceful Umrah.