Saira Banu has recently joined Instagram and has been sharing lovely old pictures and stories on the platform since then. Saira Banu and the late Dilip Kumar are referred to as the ‘IT couple’ in Bollywood. Their affection and connection has been a role model for many. Currently, the veteran actress is in the news for her constant updates on social media. She has been sharing some lesser-known anecdotes about her and Dilip Kumar’s life. And recently, the actress has again shared a post and revealed why the film Gopi also starring Dilip Kumar in the lead role was a dream come true for her.
Saira Banu recalls working with Dilip Kumar for the first time in Gopi
On August 28, 2023, Saira Banu took to her Instagram handle to share stills from her film Gopi. Sharing the pictures, the actress shared her experience working in the film and penned a long note along with it. She wrote, “When I talk about ‘GOPI’, for me it is like a dream come true. I think the whole world knows by now that I have been madly in love with Sahib since I was a twelve-year-old girl when I first saw him in ‘AAn’ at a special screening in London, and then I had the good fortune to repeatedly see him in person at venues and functions in Mumbai.”
Further, the actress also spoke about her debut in the film Junglee and how she could not work with Dilip Kumar. She wrote, “Soon after schooling, when I joined the film industry with ‘JUNGLEE’, the roaring success of the film gave me many opportunities to work with the choicest stars, but since Sahib was a family friend and he had seen me growing up, he emphatically refused each film he was offered with me, saying that “She is too young and I have seen her growing up”, the last film he refused working with me was ‘RAM AUR SHYAM’.”
On the same note, she added, “On that magical evening of August 23, 1966, my birthday, he especially flew from Madras for our House Warming Party. He walked across, shook hands with me, looked into my eyes, and said, ‘You have grown up into a beautiful girl’ Thereupon we were blissfully married and the offer of ‘GOPI’ came about and I was working with Sahib! God be praised!”
Saira Banu calls Dilip Kumar the ‘Shahenshah of Acting’
The veteran actress continued the note and wrote, “In our first shot together, I felt that the earth would part and the sky would shake with thunder, the way I was nervous. Something was not going right for me with my performance and soon Rajenderji called me over, made me sit, and said ‘Beta you are doing very well and you are Saira Banu, you try and be yourself when you say the dialogues. You are standing in Dilip Kumar’s shadow, trying to deliver your lines like him. Don’t do that, relax your shoulders and be yourself! Act as your own self!’”
She finally added, “’GOPI’ will always be special to me all my life.”
For the unversed, the duo met when Saira was only 12 years old. She was a huge fan of Dilip Kumar. After leading 55 years of a happy married life, their companionship ended when Dilip Kumar passed away on July 7, 2021.
