Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who essayed the iconic character of Devdas in a 2002 remake, now feels he was a fool to try and step into the shoes of Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar had played the same role in 1955, in the film directed by Bimal Roy.

"I was a fool to say I will do Devdas, I feel I shouldn't have done it. I have a very deep regard for the fact that my parents loved Devdas. I was young and it was very stupid of me to do it. But I had the blessings of Dilip Sahib," Shah Rukh said here last night after launching the book The Dialogue of Devdas.

"As I am getting mature, hopefully more intelligent, I would have not been able to do it at this point of time....I think Devdas did great for me. It was made so beautifully that whoever would have done it would have looked good." The book has the complete dialogue of Bimal Roy's film, written by Rajinder Singh Bedi. When asked if he tried to copy Dilip Kumar, Shah Rukh said, "You can't imitate Dilip sahib. No one can dare copy him and whoever does so, are idiots like me."

"Like every Indian mother, my mother also thought I look like Dilip Kumar...only a mother can say this. I cannot become like Dilip sahib and can't even think of it. But now I feel at least her soul would be a bit at rest with my presence here," he said. Shah Rukh, on this occasion, also read out a letter from Dilip Kumar, who couldn't attend the function because of ill-health.