LIVING LEGENDS

Dilip Kumar -Saira Banu has been a married couple for the last 51 years, though Bollywood is notorious for its break ups. Like Jeetendra-Shobha Kapoor (almost 40 years) Manoj Kumar-Shashi (married for over 50 years), it is a marriage that has stood the test of time, says JYOTHI VENKATESH

 

As far as the Dilip Kumar- Saira Banu prem kahani is concerned, it wasn’t exactly a kissa of boy meets girl: He was the intractable tragedy king. She was the sassy Kashmiri lass in Junglee. Heart-broken after his failed affair with Madhubala, Dilip Kumar fell for Naseem Bano’s daughter Saira Banu. The wedding bells rang on October 11, 1966, when most of the teenyboppers’ hearts were broken when they came to know that their favorite actor Dilip Kumar, who had shot to dizzy heights of fame with the success of his romantic films like Devdas and Mughal E Azam, had married Saira Banu. Saira was literally the flavor of the season in the 60’s with hit films like Junglee, Purab Aur Paschim etc.

Born on Dec. 11, 1922, in Peshawar, Yousuf Khan joined the film industry in 1944. He is rightly considered as the subcontinent’s first method actor and an inspiration for generations of filmstars. Yousuf Khan has been an inspiration behind many generations of actors. His dialogue delivery, flawless Urdu and acting abilities have all endeared him to his fellow actors and fans. In his days, he was the king of Indian film industry and his dialogues in the film “Mughal-e-Azam” — a true love epic — was on the lips of every moviegoer and literature lover. In one of his famous observations, director Mahesh Bhatt says, “Where would Indian cinema be without Dilip Kumar’s heart-wrenching performances in Mughal-e-Azam? The wells from where we drink water were dug by this giant called Dilip Kumar.”

Born on August 23, Saira Banu was the hottest actress in Bollywood in the 60’s and early 70’s when she was the epitome of what is called the look of ‘studied artificiality’ that characterized the bouffant and color blitzkrieg look of that era. Her most famous and enduring roles were those of the blonde NRI in Purab Aur Pachhim and the mermaid in Padosan.

It was the most sensational ever marriage way back in 1966 when a young 22 year old Saira Banu who was the dream girl of every young man in town proposed to the matinee idol Dilip Kumar and got married too. Like today Salman Khan at 52 is, at 44, Dilip Kumar was the most eligible bachelor boy around at that point of time when every other top actor whether it was Raj Kapoor, or Dharmendra or Sunil Dutt or for that matter, Manoj Kumar was hooked, booked and married. Post-honeymoon, they made appearances together in Gopi and Sagina and, Ramesh Talwar’s Duniya. Their marriage has been free of scandal, except when he briefly married Asma. This hardly caused a stir, as Dilip gained much sympathy for his desire to father an heir.

“Not many are aware of the fact that Dilip Kumar had also released his second home production in Bhojpuri titled Ab To Ban Ja Sajanwa Hamaar starring Ravi Kishen, Naghma and Mona Thiba.”

Not many are aware of the fact that Dilip Kumar had also released his second home production in Bhojpuri titled Ab To Ban Ja Sajanwa Hamaar starring Ravi Kishen, Naghma and Mona Thiba and directed by Arshad Khan under the banner of Sharp Focus. Dilip Kumar’s official attempt at directing a film called Kalinga for producer Late Sudhakar Bokade did not bear fruit and sadly, the film couldn’t be completed.

In spite of having been in the industry for so long, there remain certain underlying facts unknown to most. Saira reminisces how, as a graduate from London University, she had cherished dreams of meeting Dilip Saab during her childhood days. “I had to brush up my Urdu and leave no stone unturned to learn the depth of the language as I heard Saab was too good in Urdu. I am in love with the man right from the beginning. He is a linguistic, I am very lucky to have been with him. In fact all my dreams and aims have been not only fulfilled but have been achieved to the fullest,” the blushing Saira Banu used to gush.

“Way back in 1962 I had actually launched a film titled Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein with my mother and brother. Since we were new to production, everything went well except the dates of the stars and finally the project was shelved. Sometime back, with Saab, we established our own production banner Sharp Focus which has produced content-oriented stuff for television too. Bhojpuri has been used in films during 60’s also and I and Saab have done a lot of films that had an essence of Bhojpuri language. We like this language so I thought of producing a Bhojpuri film. If you remember our earlier films together as a star pair, especially Bairaag and Sagina Mahato also had the flavor of Bhojpuri. Though I have no intention to stage my come-back as an actress as my dream was to produce films written by Dilip Saab, “if only Saab’s health permits him and he agrees to my proposal of acting in any of these films”.

“Today, Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu are an inseparable entity, accorded much respect and adulation in the industry.”

Saira Banu and Dilip Saab were against making remakes and remixes of any kind, as a producer. “Can you make any yesteryear films as they were made then at that point of time? You will not believe a few young boys who were relatives of B.R. Chopra who live in America came to Mumbai and called me and asked me to send the DVD of old Devdas. Though the new version of Devdas with Shah Rukh Khan was being shown here in the theatres, they liked the older version starring Saab,.Saira exults.

The marriage proved professionally lucky with both notching up individual hits soon afterwards. The best thing about Dilip Kumar is that he has never been a male chauvinist who had prevented his wife from continuing to act in films, after their marriage. In fact glamorous roles like in in Purab Aur Paschim and Victoria No 203 came after her wedding. In the mid-1970s, she took on the Mrs Dilip Kumar mantle full-time, and in the early 1980’s the childless couple successfully weathered a storm about Kumar’s clandestine marriage with a woman named Asma.

To the credit of Saira Banu, though a big scandal had ensued Saira Banu had the last laugh. Her perseverance and ability to veer her strayed husband towards her paid big dividends and Kumar left Asma to be with Saira. “When two individuals are living together, misunderstandings do erupt and it is very difficult for this institution to be carried on for eternity. Yes, it is a tough preposition. However, thanks to Allah Taala, our married life has worked out because of one word- it is mohabbat,” was Saira Banu’s refrain.

Vyjayanthimala still recalls her days working with Dilip Kumar. “It was indeed a wonderful experience working with Dilip Kumar. I had acted in almost six or seven films with him including Madhumati, Sunghursh, Naya Daur etc. We did vibe very well and almost all our films together clicked at the box office in a big way. My fighting scenes with Dilip Kumar were also a part of my acting. I had a very cordial relationship with him and we used to vie with one another to be one up as performers. I could learn a lot working with an actor of his caliber.”

Today, Dilip and Saira are an inseparable entity, accorded much respect and adulation in the industry. Saira, who calls him Saab, is fiercely protective of him; and Dilip too actively supports her endeavors — whether it is her desire to produce Bhojpuri films or her popular television chat show, for which he even filled in as anchor, though Dilip Kumar had always disliked the idea of facing the camera for television or endorsing products as a model till date. What with stress dominating and commercial consideration outweighing human emotions, it looks like God up there has stopped making such loving couples any more in Bollywood.

The examples of a long wedded relationship include Dev Anand and Kalpana Kartik (married for 53 years, till Kalpana’s demise), Dilip Kumar-Saira Banu (51 years), Sunil Dutt-Nargis (24 years, till the untimely death of Nargis). Amitabh Bachchan has been married to Jaya Bachchan for over 45 years. Though there was news flashed around in every newspaper about Amitabh’s relationship with Rekha, he still did not walk out of his marriage. Amongst the youngsters, there are Shah Rukh Khan-Gauri, Ajay Devgan-Kajol, and Akshay Kumar-Twinkle Khanna.

“The marriage proved lucky with both notching up individual hits soon in Purab Aur Paschim and Victoria No 203 came after her wedding.”

In spite of having been in the industry for so long, there remain certain underlying facts unknown to most. Saira reminisces about her young age and says she is a graduate from London University. She reveals how she cherished dreams of meeting Dilip Saab during her childhood days. “I had to brush up my Urdu and left no stone unturned to learn the depth of the language as I heard Saab was too good in Urdu. I am in love with the man right from the beginning. He is a linguistic, I am very lucky to have been with him. In fact all my dreams and aims have been not only fulfilled but have been achieved to the fullest,” gushes the blushing Saira Banu.

Saira quips, “Bhojpuri has been used in films during sixties also and I and Saab have done a lot of films that had an essence of Bhojpuri language. We like this language so I thought of producing a Bhojpuri film.If you remember our earlier films together as a star pair, especially Bairaag and Sagina Mahato also had the flavor of Bhojpuri. Saira Banu reiterated that as of now she has no intention to stage her come-back as an actress though she wishes to devote more time on in concentrating on her production.“ No, I am planning to produce more films and have plans to produce films written by Dilip Saab also if Saab agrees to my proposal of acting in any of these films, I will bring back Saab on the silver screen. It will be really a dream come true for me”.

Saira Banu is against making remakes and remixes of any kind, as a producer. “Can you make any yesteryear films as they were made then at that point of time? You will not believe a few young boys who were relatives of B.R. Chopra who live in America came to Mumbai and called me and asked me to send the DVD of old Devdas. Though the new version of Devdas with Shah Rukh Khan was being shown here in the theatres,they liked the older version starring Saab”.

Right from the time when she was just a tiny tot of just 12, Saira Banu wanted to marry Dilip Kumar. When she became a star in the 1960s, it was felt that Saira was too young to be cast opposite the thespian. So one can imagine the surprise when Kumar showed an interest in the young actress and the couple announced their marriage in 1966. Though it looked like the marriage wouldn’t last long and the grand wedding was looked at with some skeptism, because of their age difference at that point of time when Dilip Kumar was 44 and Saira just 22,. 40 years later, the Dilip Kumar- Saira Banu marriage remains an exemplary Bollywood union, worth emulating.

The marriage proved professionally lucky with both notching up individual hits soon afterwards. in Purab Aur Paschim and Victoria No 203 came after her wedding. In the mid-1970s, she took on the Mrs Dilip Kumar mantle full-time, and in the early 1980s the childless couple successfully weathered a storm about Kumar’s clandestine marriage with a woman named Asma.

The Hajj is an Islamic pilgrimage to the city of Mecca (Makkah), and a religious duty that every able-bodied Muslim (who can afford to do so) should do at least once in his or her lifetime.

Till recently, the Saudi Government had not permitted Bollywood actors from performing Hajj. Bollywood greats such as Mohd. Rafi , Dilip Kumar, Amjad Khan , Ghazal singer Talat Mehmood and few others had expressed their desires to do the Hajj but were not given permission by the Saudi Government. However, the Saudi Government finally made some exceptions to the rule and It was not too long when Aamir Khan took his mother to Hajj, followed by the thespian actor ‘Dilip Kumar’ who left for Hajj with his wife Saira Banu. The couple was accompanied by their family doctor, relatives and close friends. Dilip Kumar (real name Muhammad Yousuf Khan) thanked Allah for giving him four years back the strength to go to Mecca at the ripe age of 90.

I still remember talking to the thespian when I had gone to Chennai to cover the shooting of his film Izzatdaar in which he had acted with Govinda for producer Sudhakar Bokade, when he had regaled every visiting journalist from Mumbai with interesting and amusing anecdotes of his down South in the early days of his career.