Saira Banu

Saira Banu
Born	23 August 1944 (1944-08-23) India
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1960–1988
Spouse	Dilip Kumar

Saira Banu (Hindi: साइरा बानु, Urdu: سائرہ بانو, born 23 August 1944), also known as Saira Bano, is an Indian Bollywood actress and the wife of the film actor Dilip Kumar. She acted in many Bollywood films between 1960 and 1980.

Early life

Saira Banu was born in India to actress of 30s-40s, and the granddaughter of a courtesan Chamiyan Bai, also known as Shamshad Begum of Delhi (not to be confused with the famous playback singer of yesteryear Shamshad Begum who was from Amritsar, Punjab). Her father was film Producer Mian Ehsan-ul-Haq, who produced the film Phool in Bombay and film Wadah in Pakistan. She had spent a significant part of her childhood in London, and went to a finishing school. She was an actress at her school, winning many awards and bringing laurels to her parents.Her mother's name was Naseem Banu.

Career

Saira Banu was a little 17 year old when she made her debut in bollywood films. She said in show, that she had no talent and no dancing experience. Her peers all were classically trained, which was why she wasn't put in the top league. Saira started taking Kathak and bharatnatyam lessons. Soon she became a dancer and her films flaunted more of her dance. Banu made her acting debut at 17 years opposite Shammi Kapoor in the 1961 film Junglee for which she earned her first Filmfare nomination as Best Actress. The famous song from this movie "Yaahoo!! Chahe Koi Mujhe Junglee Kahe" sung by Mohammed Rafi was a big success. "Junglee" was written by Aghajani Kashmeri (aka Kashmiri and Agha Jani), who also coached her in Urdu dialogue delivery, given his background in Urdu literature and poetry from Lucknow. Junglee also instantly made her a successful actress throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. But it is said that the turning point of her career was the comedy and love story Padosan, which brought her to be one of the successful actresses.

Her valiant attempts to establish a reputation as an actress after Gopi, Sagina and Bairaag (all with Dilip Kumar) and films like Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Chaitali met with limited success. She did earn three additional Filmfare nominations as Best Actress for Shagird (1967), Diwana (1968), and Sagina (1974). In 1976, Saira chose to end her film career. Subsequently she weathered a storm in her marriage in 1980 which was quickly resolved. She then appeared in a cameo opposite her husband in Duniya (1984) and her last film Faisla released in 1988 which was completed in mid-70s.

Personal life

Banu married actor Dilip Kumar in 1967. She was 22 and he was 45 at the time.

Filmography

• Faisla (1988)
• Duniya (1984)
• Kala Aadmi (1978)
• Hera Pheri(1976)
• Nehle Pe Dehla
• Chaitali (1975)
• Zameer (1974)
• Pocket Maar (1974)
• Sagina Mahato (1970)
• Bairaag(1976)
• Jwar Bhata(1974)
• Resham Ki Dori (1973)
• International Crook (1973)
• Victoria No. 203 (1972)
• Saazish (1975)
• Purab Aur Paschim (1971)
• Gopi (1970) with Dilip Kumar
• Aadmi Aur Insaan (1969)
• Jhuk Gaya Aasmaan (1968)
• Padosan (1968)
• Aman (1967)
• Diwana (1967)
• Shagird (1967)
• Pyar Mohabbat (1966)
• Yeh Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hai (1966)
• Saaz aur awaaz (1966)
• April Fool (1964) ... Madhu/Rita Christina
• Ayee Milan Ki Bela (1964) ... Barkha Choudhry
• Door Ki Awaaz (1964)
• Bluff Master (1963) ... Seema
• Shaadi (1962)
• Junglee( 1961) ... Rajkumari 'Raj'

External links

• Saira Banu at the Internet Movie Database