On her birthday, Saira Banu recalls being ‘hopelessly smitten’ with Dilip Kumar since age 12

Mumbai: Veteran actress Saira Banu has opened up about her enduring love and admiration for legendary actor Dilip Kumar.

She recalled how she was “hopelessly smitten” with the late star from the age of 12. She looked back on the early days of her admiration for the iconic actor and how those feelings eventually became a lifelong love story. Saira shared a throwback picture with Dilip Kumar on Instagram while reminiscing about her birthdays, childhood memories and her enduring admiration for the legendary actor. In her post, Saira recalled how her family would go to great lengths to make her birthdays special, with elaborate celebrations, grand cakes and thoughtful gifts. She also revealed that two things had always held a special place in her heart — acting in Indian cinema and Dilip Kumar.

Sharing series of photos, Saira wrote, “Since the very inception of this account, on every birthday of mine, I have found myself wandering back into the rooms of memory, opening one little drawer after another, and bringing out the people and moments that made my birthdays what they were. I have spoken of my beautiful mother, Pari Chehra Naseem Banuji; of my beloved grandmother Shamshad Waheed Khan, of my elder brother, Sultan; and of the innumerable little conspiracies of love they would undertake simply to make one day of the year feel more magnificent than all the others.”

“There was always something wonderfully excessive about my birthdays. The parties had to be the very best of the best. The cakes were not merely cakes; they were architectural achievements towering confections that, I am quite certain, would have given the Qutub Minar a respectable inferiority complex.”

The veteran actress added, “And then there were the presents, each one carrying not merely a price or a ribbon, but the unmistakable signature of someone who had spent time thinking, What would make my girl happy? Well, there were, I confess, two things for which I had always possessed a particular fondness: acting in Indian cinema, and Dilip Sahib. I had been hopelessly smitten with him from the age of twelve. I cherished the most unreasonable hope that, one day, I might meet him or, more improbably still, have the good fortune to share a film with him. He, however, was far less susceptible to my romantic notions, and would invariably decline, insisting that I was far too young for him.”

“Then came Junglee, my grand magnanimous debut, the first Eastman Colour Film which arrived at a time when black-and-white still held court. Suddenly colour itself seemed to have found a new mischief in the cinema. The film became a rage, and with those first few films came the inevitable shifting of our lives from one home, one neighborhood, and one chapter into another. Eventually, we moved to Pali Hill,” Saira further mentioned.

The image shows Dilip Kumar smiling with Saira posing with her hand placed on the late actor. Saira also shared an image of her mother posing with Dilip Kumar and captioned the picture as, “My mother, with that extraordinary instinct mothers possess for turning love into something tangible, once went so far as to build me a house next to Dilip Sahib. Imagine that! I received a house beside the man who was to become one of the great loves and constants of my life. That was my mother’s idea of a birthday gift.”

“And it was there, in 1966, that one of my most precious birthday traditions began. Dilip Sahib came to my birthday party. He had flown all the way from Madras, especially to attend it, at my mother’s loving insistence. I am exceedingly glad she insisted. For had she not, perhaps one of the sweetest traditions of my life might never have taken root.”

The third image showed Saira posing with Dilip Kumar, along with her mother and mother-in-law. Alongside the image, she wrote, “When I look back now, I realize that perhaps the greatest luxury of my life was never the parties, nor the enormous cakes, nor even the extraordinary gifts. It was the certainty with which I was surrounded by people who wanted me to feel cherished.”

“I was loved by ‘The Emperor of Cinema,’ who may occasionally have needed a little reminder about the date but never needed reminding about me. And even now, when another birthday comes around, I can still feel that love walking quietly into the room before I do.”

Saira Banu turned 82 on August 23, 2026. Born in Mussoorie in 1944, the veteran actress is best known for her memorable performances in classic Hindi films such as “Junglee” and “Padosan.”

IANS