Bollywood Flashback: ‘Age No Bar’ – Dilip Kumar & Saira Banu’s Love Story Stands Testimony To The Fact!

Age is just a number for true lovers and when we talk about the age-defying love birds of Bollywood, Saira Banu and Dilip Kumar would certainly offer this statement more weight than anyone else. At a time when Bollywood is witnessing the turbulence of ‘happily never afters’, Dilip-Saira’s endless devotion to each other rightly adheres to the notion of ’till death do us apart’.

As we saw Saira Banu escort her loving husband out of Lilavati hospital recently, where the veteran actor was being treated for a chest infection, we got reminded of the wonderful and loving journey that these two have travelled so far.

In this segment, we take a trip down the memory lane and revisit an unparalleled world of this inseparable couple’s eternal love story.

Jab They Met:

Daughter of a notable actress of sixties- Naseem Banu- Saira Banu was smitten by the charming personality of Muhammad Yousuf Khan-aka Dilip Kumar at a tender age of twelve, after watching his film Aan. This bubbly girl during the premiere of the blockbuster Mughal-e-Azam went to Maratha Mandir to catch a glimpse of the actor only to return heartbroken by his absence there. Later on, when she finally got to meet him, the moment only turned surreal. As the former actress recalled the first encounter with the superstar in an interview, “When he smiled at me and remarked that I was a pretty girl, I could feel my whole being taking wing and flying rapturously. I knew somewhere deep within me that I was going to be his wife.”

It was no surprise that Saira, who hailed from a filmy background, went ahead to join a filmy career after completing her schooling in London. This breathtakingly beautiful actress made her debut with the 1961 hit Junglee opposite Shammi Kapoor. What is interesting is that, Dilip Kumar, despite of being aware of Saira’s ‘crush’ on him, irked her by refusing to work with her. Apparently, he felt she was too young to pair with him on screen.  He even went a step further and advised Saira’s mother to not let her work in films.

When Love Happened: 

Initially, Dilip Kumar did not reciprocate Saira’s feelings, as at that time he was not keen on getting involved with any girl and was rather living a life of solitude.

But then, love happened and they tied the knot in 1966. And why not? After all, Saira Banu like an electrified admirer did all it took to woo the man of her dreams. So much that she even found a teacher to learn Urdu and Persian to impress Kumar. She had also got to know about his likes and dislikes. The actor was ‘pleasantly amused and delighted’ but never gave any importance to her crush. Also, one can’t ignore the efforts of Saira’s mother- Naseem, who played cupid between Saira and her childhood crush Dilip. She got them closer, thanks to which love blossomed between the two. Dilip eventually proposed which was an offer Saira couldn’t refuse. And the two got married on October 11,1966. He was 44 and she was barely 22.

Summing up in her own words, Saira had quoted, “I was not just another girl smitten by Dilip Kumar. For me, it was no castle in the air because I had given my dream the strong foundation of faith- faith in myself and faith in God.”

Kumar too vividly recalled the day he fell in love with Saira during a party thrown to celebrate her birthday and the house warming of their new bungalow. In his autobiography, ‘The Substance And The Shadow’ he has beautifully penned, “When I alighted from my car and entered the beautiful garden that leads to the house, I can still recall my eyes falling on Saira looking breathtakingly beautiful in a brocade sari. I was taken aback, because she was no longer the young girl I consciously avoided working with because I thought she would look too young to be my heroine. She had indeed grown to full womanhood and was in reality more beautiful than I thought she was. I simply stepped forward and shook her hand and for us time stood still. For once, she looked straight into my eyes and it did not take more than an instant for me to realize that she was the one Destiny had been knowingly reserving as my real-life partner while I was refusing to pair with her on screen!”

After marriage, although Saira Banu continued with her film career and mounted the steps of success, she became quite selective in her choices. By 1976, she completely stopped taking on any scripts and immersed herself wholly in the role of being a doting wife and homemaker.

Pyaar mein twist:

With the age gap raging for as long as 22 years, understandably many eyebrows were raised and people were quick to detect a failed marriage. However, it’s been 49 years and the two have stuck by each other through all the thick and thins. But it is also notable that the path to their successful marriage was not a rosy one. Like any normal couple, they too have had their share of troubles and sorrows. Crowned as the tragedy king of Bollywood for playing a doomed lover in films like Andaaz, Mela, Deedar, Dilip Kumar got muddled in a controversial love affair with Asma, a Pakistani lady. However as the axiom goes, Dilip-Saira’s marriage was destined to work together. Hence, Dilip broke up with Asma and the duo triumphed over the thorny trails of umpteen hurdles.

Saira, being the brave-fierce lady that she is, had once quoted, “Ours has been as good and enduring a marriage as so many marriages that have survived the ups and downs for decades. No marriage is perfect. How can it be, when as human beings we are not perfect? It is mutual love, respect and adoration that keeps a marriage ticking.”

Years passed by, love remains: 

The Saira Banu-Dilip Kumar story is undisputedly what Bollywood films are instrumental of – nearly 5 decades of togetherness and getting better with time. When asked if the relationship has undergone any changes, the loving wife Saira had once said in an interview, “He never allowed me to hold his hand in public but many years of marriage have changed many things”. Talking further she revealed, “I fell in love with Dilip saab when I was 12 years old. Beyond my own romance, I can’t see anything. I am still head over heels in love with my Kohinoor, Yousuf Sahab, the way I was when I first felt attracted to him “. As for Dilip Kumar, who seldom speaks- has got all the lovely things to talk about his wife. His Twitter account bears the testimony to it where he once tweeted: “My queen, the love of my life, Saira. Even a moment without her by my side is painful.”

Love triumphs…. indeed!!

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