Veteran actress Saira Banu often uses Instagram to share unknown incidents from her professional and personal lives. She shares anecdotes from her life with Dilip Kumar that will compel one to fall for old-school romance in the era of modern dating. In her latest post, Saira Banu shared about the time she was jealous of actress Vyjayanthimala as she starred opposite Dilip Kumar in Madhumati and her impulsive act on seeing them in the film magazine. This fun snippet from her life comes as Madhumati marks 65 years since its release today.
Saira Banu has a loving relationship with Vyjayanthimala now. But back in 1958, when she was not acquainted with the actress at all, Saira Banu was highly jealous as Vyjayanthimala starred in Madhumati with Dilip Kumar and major film magazines covered them. Sharing a few throwback pictures of the duo, Saira Banu wrote that during the time she lived in London, she had a habit of pasting pictures of her “favourite heartthrobs” on the wall. After the actress watched Dilip Kumar’s Aan, she added a picture of the actor alongside those of Elvis Presley, Rock Hudson, and James Dean.
Saira Banu mentioned, “My mother knew I was crazy about Indian films, so she would intermittently post ‘Filmfare Magazine’ for our entertainment.” In one of these magazines, she narrated, “There was this photo of “MADHUMATI” which was considered bold at that time where Sahib was romantically resting his face on Vyjayantimala’s forehead. It was a beautiful photo and, in my childishness, I got so jealous of Sahib’s proximity to her face that I took a pair of scissors and deftly started to snip away that portion of the photograph. Just imagine! I am hysterical with laughter when I recall this. Until then, I had never seen her in any film, and as fate would have it I grew up to meet, admire, and associate with her as a member of my family.”
Saira Banu admits that it was an act done by an individual who was not mature enough to understand the world around her. She said, “More often than not childhood and teenage memories can be so strange and rib-ticklingly funny. To me, this particular memory of 1958, when I was a young girl, is embarrassing to the tee because today.”
Saira Banu is well acquainted with Vyjayanthimala, whom she affectionately calls “Akka”. The two speak to each other frequently, and Saira Banu concludes by saying that she holds her in “high esteem.”
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