Saira Banu: 'Engagement ki news se dhoom machh gayi thi'

She was the ldquochand ka tukdardquo next door eversoravishing and loved her figurehugging salwar suits beehive bun with a slight fringe and the acting calibre of a veteran He was the sombre legend who was two decades her senior But no one batted an eyelid when super stars Saira Banu and ldquosaabrdquo Dilip Kumar said they were made for each otherA yearandahalf after he passed away following a prolonged struggle with prostate cancer the Film Heritage Foundation FHF is celebrating 100 years of Dilip Kumar on his birth anniversary todayldquoIt was a marriage of 56 yearsrdquo she tells us over the phone apologising for not being able to meet in person Banu 78 is nursing a cold and busy with the centenary preparations but there is an eagerness in her voice to talk about her eternal love ldquoThere was a great understanding between us as husband and wife Relationship is liye chali ke shuru se hee duniya jaanti hai I was madly in love with him And he gave me so much love in returnrdquoSaira Banu and Dilip Kumar at a function in Mumbai 2005 PicsGetty ImagesShe is able to paint a vivid picture of her first sighting Kumar when she was 12 ldquoI was schooling in Londonrdquo she says in between sips of water ldquoand my mother Naseem Banu was invited as guest of honour to the La Scala theatre in London for the premiere of saabrsquos film Aan I was in pigtails but the moment I saw him I plummeted into loverdquo The Mehboob Productions 1952 film says Banu was the first Dilip Kumar film she watched ldquoMy mother knew that if I ever were to marry it would only be him So in some way our relationship goes back 66 yearsrdquoKumar though considered her a ldquobachchirdquo ldquoWe were family friends so hersquod visit our home and treat me like a child In fact even after I tasted stardom with my debut film Junglee in 1961 he refused to act with me in several filmsrdquoHad it not been for Kumarrsquos refusal to work with Banu she would have been one of the female leads in Vijaya Productions Ram Aur Shyam in place of Mumtaz or Waheeda Rahman ldquoI was informed that saab had refused to work with me saying I would look very young opposite him on screenrdquoSaira Banu during the unveiling of Dilip Kumarrsquos mural on his 99th birthday in 2021 a few months after the actorrsquos deathFive years later in October 1966 they were married She was 22 and he 44 It is said Banursquos mother played cupid ldquoDhoom machh gayi thirdquo she recalls of the time their engagement news leaked in the press ldquoPeople had never seen us together on screen and now we were to get married It was something out of the ordinaryrdquoAn outdoor shoot in Kolkata had to be wrapped up and reshot at an indoor studio in Mumbai because it was getting impossible to shoot among fans ldquoJust before we were to marryrdquo she remembers ldquowe happened to be in Kolkata I had to do an outdoor shoot and saab was finishing some script work When we landed there was a huge crowd of fans waiting at the airport At that time we werenrsquot surrounded by security and fans had gathered on the tarmac Some had found their way inside the airplane too It became impossible for the shoot to continue so we had to pack up and return to BombayrdquoItrsquos what led the couple to get married in a hurry minus preparations wedding cards or wedding dress ldquoHe said letrsquos just go to Bombay and exchange wedding bands in a simple ceremony It was all done in five daysrdquo Banu who was a glamorous dresser missed having an elaborate wedding dress Her mother had to get the tailor to stitch a brocade gharara in haste ldquoSaab got himself a Jodhpuri suitrdquo she adds ldquoIt was unplanned and unusual and still we had thousands barge into the garden venuerdquoA photo of Dilip Kumar from Saira Banursquos photo collection at their Pali Hill bungalowInterestingly Banu herself decided she would no longer act Kumar didnrsquot stop her He had not watched any of her films ldquoHe saw some rushes of Shagird 1967 and told me that it would be unfortunate if he stopped me from working He said the love I had for my art and how good I was at it was visible on celluloid He could not take that away from merdquoThe 1968 hit film Padosan produced by comedian Mehmood and Purab Aur Paschim 1970 by actor director and writer Manoj Kumar were written with Banu in mind ldquoBoth of them came to saab and asked for ijazat to cast me as lead If they couldnrsquot theyrsquod shelve the filmsrdquoThe love and respect is palpable in the melancholia Banu enveloped herself in after his death Within a month she fell violently ill ldquoI could barely breatherdquo she remembers of the time she was rushed to intensive care ldquoI have not stepped out of the house since barring visits to the hospital and doctorrdquoThis is atypical for someone who was out and about and loved to go on long drives with Kumar ldquoMy family and staff sometimes insist that I step out Sitting in his car for the first time after his death was traumatic Bahot dil kharab hua tha bahot rona aaya tha Sometimes I do take a short drive along Carter Road in his car and reminisce about the times hersquod be by my siderdquoFHF is preparing to screen four of Kumarrsquos iconic films Ram Aur Shyam Aan Devdas and Shakti for the Hero of Heroes celebrations scheduled for this weekend across PVR cinemas in 20 cities Banu is going to make an exception and step out of their Pali Hill home ldquoIf I can I will stay back to watch Aan but I know it will be hard Even today when I see him on television mujhse bardasht nahin hotardquoThis celebration is special for more reasons than one That itrsquos an effort to restore classics of Indian cinema makes it an important one for Banu ldquoItrsquos a pity that studios are being brought down and the classics are biting dust We can only watch the old films on television FHF should be applauded for bringing some of these back to the big screenrdquoHad Kumar been alive the house like with every birthday would have been flooded with flowers says Banu Theyrsquod receive so many blooms from well wishers friends and fans that theyrsquod distribute them across various hospitals ldquoHe was not the ordinary celebrityrdquo Banu says adding ldquoHe was a humanitarian From when he was as young as 25 he started working for the blind and physically disabled Together with industry veterans hersquod drum up support from the industry to help those affected by famine and flood Wersquod ride on trucks to collect money and clothes for the poorrdquo