Saira Banu on meeting Hema Malini after years: `Life kept us apart`
Veteran actress Saira Banu has reminisced about finally meeting Hema Malini after years, cherishing their bond, old memories, and shared moments from film sets.
Saira took to Instagram, where she shared two pictures posing with Hema and wrote: “You see, Hema and I had been wishing to meet each other for a very long time, but life, in its own way, kept us apart. Not so long ago, she called me, and before I knew it, she was at my doorstep.”
“We spent a beautiful few hours together immersed in memories, reliving those golden days, and sharing laughter over stories that time can never erase. Among them, we revisited a Janmashtami incident—one so profound that it changed the course of my life within weeks.”
Saira recalled that she met Hema for the first time on the sets of the Deewana in 1966. “I first met Hema in 1966, on the sets of Deewana by Raj Kapoor Sahab. She had come along with her producer Anantswamy to RK Studios, Chembur, and I remember being instantly impressed by her lovely looks.”
She talked about the moments from beauty secrets with their mothers. “Soon after, we met again while we were simultaneously shooting at the scenic Krishna Raj Sagar Dam in the South. Our rooms were adjoining, and in the evenings my mother, Hema, her mother and I would sit together in the large verandahs, exchanging beauty secrets. I reminded her how Amma would put lobaan in her hair for freshness and khushboo, a detail that made her laugh in surprise at how much I remembered.”
Saira also recalled how her late legendary husband Dilip Kumar and she introduced Hema to the press in Madras in a meeting organised by Anantswamy. “Dilip Sahab was so kind and gracious to be the main person to introduce her, and Hema was visibly touched by that memory. Not long ago, it warmed my heart to see her with Dharam ji on a reality show dancing together so beautifully.”
“Dharam ji put his arm around her, and the love and comfort between them was such a joy to watch. She laughed that day and told her her cousin Prabha, who accompanied her that how much “Saira ji remembers!” Saira said.
During that conversation with Hema, Saira told her another Janmashtami story, one that is especially close to my heart. “The picturisation of the Kanha song in Shagird happened to fall exactly on Janmashtami. We were shooting at Filmistan Studios with the ever-charming Nazir Hussain Sahab, who was also working in Madras with Dilip Sahab on Ram Aur Shyam. Because of date issues, Nazir Sahab would shoot with me late into the night and then fly early in the morning to work with Dilip Sahab.”
She recalled how that night, as she sang the bhajan before Lord Krishna’s idol with Lata Mangeshkar’s enchanting voice in playback, “I mischievously told Nazir Sahab, “You are working with Dilip Sahab oh, how lucky you are! Please tell him that Saira is dying to work with him… and if he refuses, then ask him to marry me!”
“Nazir Sahab was momentarily stunned, and then burst into that booming laughter he was so famous for. The next morning, he dutifully carried my playful message to Dilip Sahab. I’m told Dilip Sahab smiled gracefully perhaps to hide his embarrassment. But wonder of wonders, within days, he walked into my life, looked into my eyes, and asked my grandmother and mother for my hand in marriage,” Saira said.
When Saira thinks back now, she realises Janmashtami has always brought her “precious blessings, friendships, cherished memories, and the love of my life.” She adds, “And sharing these stories with Hema made the memories all the more sweet.”
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