Going back on his earlier plans to celebrate his 90th birthday, thespian Dilip Kumar has cancelled his birthday celebrations that fall on 11 December in the wake of the death of Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray. The veteran actor, who is already grieving the death of Yash Chopra, Rajesh Khanna and Dara Singh said in a statement, “We have yet to recover from the shock of the passing away of my dear friend Yash Chopra who was by my side when I blew away the candles on my birthday cake last year. Rajesh Khanna, who was also with us at our party last year, is no more with us. Dara Singh too is not with us anymore.” “We are deeply grieving the passing of Balasaheb Thackeray who I always thought was not a Tiger but a Lion. He had the virtues of a lion. We will cherish in our memories the lively evenings at his home when we smoothened out our differences over cups of strong masala tea. I found him extremely sensitive on occasions, especially during the days Sunil Dutt was going from pillar to post to get justice for his son Sanjay.” This year has been a year of grieving for the yesteryear actor. Noted the veteran, “A friend, I am missing is NKP Salve, a stalwart of the Indian National Congress, who shared my love for the game of cricket and initiated me into the legalities of taxation with his command over Law and Accountancy. With so many dear friends gone this year, how can we even think of a celebration?” he sighed.