Happy b'day Saira Banu: Did you know she is London-educated? Check out Lesser-known facts!

Saira Banu studied at London's elite Queen's House before making her debut in Hindi films in the 1960s.

Shivani
Published on: 23 Aug 2021 6:14 AM GMT
Happy bday Saira Banu
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Happy b'day Saira Banu : Lesser-known facts about actor (Social Media)

The 1960s, in the history of Hindi cinema, was marked by the advent of colour and Kashmir. The films from that era saw a new definition of beauty with many films, particularly romances, being shot in Kashmir. Into this world, stepped in the beautiful Saira Banu. While scores of Indians today may be familiar with her as the wife and of late Dilip Kumar, in her heyday, she was among the most fancied leading ladies. On her birthday on Monday, here's a look at her life and career in Bollywood.

Saira Banu

Saira was the daughter of actor Naseem Bano. As per various reports, her father was film producer Ehsaan Khan, who moved to Pakistan post Partition. What many may not know is that Saira's mother Naseem was a successful film actor in the 1940s and was dubbed 'pari chehra (angel face)' for her beauty. She worked in a number of films by another stalwart of Hindi films, Sohrab Modi and his production company Minerva Movietone. Her most famous film was Pukar, in which she appeared as Empress Noor Jahan.

Naseem wanted her daughter to have a good education. Saira Banu had once revealed how her mother packed her off to London for her education. In an interview with The Hindu, Saira had revealed: "I was studying in Queen's House, an elite school in London. My mother Naseem Bano who was called the first 'Pari Chehra' or beauty queen of the film industry, had taken me to London after she saw me taking fancy to her ghaghra, lipstick and dance to the tunes of her film songs. For her, academics were more important than films. My grandmother, mother and my brother Sultan lived with me so that I could concentrate on studies."

On Saira Banu's birthday, let's have a look at some of the unknown facts about this evergreen beauty.

6 lesser known facts about the evergreen beauty

  1. Saira Banu went to London for her education. She had told The Hindu, ""I was studying in Queen's House, an elite school in London. My mother Naseem Bano who was called the first 'Pari Chehra' or beauty queen of the film industry, had taken me to London after she saw me taking fancy to her ghaghra, lipstick and dance to the tunes of her film songs."
  2. Saira Banu had said that for the first 12 years of her life, she used to think of herself as a boy as she used to hang out with boys and took part in games with them.
  3. Saira Banu wanted to be a singer. She was very close to her grandmother who used to teach her singing.
  4. Saira Banu, in one of her interviews revealed that she saw Dilip Kumar when she was 12 years old in the film Aan and instantly fell in love with him.
  5. Saira Banu had two dreams: one to become a successful actress and second, to marry the man of her dreams Dilip Kumar
  6. When Saira Banu decided to end her career as a heroine, she made her last movie with Shammi Kapoor with whom she made her first movie.

Saira went on to work in a number of successful films, such as Ayee Milan Ki Bela (with Rajendra Kumar), Shagird (with Joy Mukherjee), Padosan (with Sunil Dutt), Purab Aur Pascchim (with Manoj Kumar) to name a few.

After just about 15 years, she retired from films in 1976. She married Dilip Kumar in 1966, when she was only 22, but continued to work for 10 more years before finally calling it quits.

Here's wishing the evergreen beauty Saira Banu a very Happy Birthday!

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Shivani

Shivani

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