Bollywood's tragedy king Dilip Kumar fell in love with a Bollywood beauty who was 22 years younger than him. We are talking about none other than the famous actress of the Hindi film industry Saira Banu. Born on August 23, 1944, Saira Banu turns 80 years old today. Today, Saira Banu may not be an active part of the film industry, but she stays connected with her fans through social media. The veteran superstar often shares memories related to Dilip Sahab and the past. Did you know that Saira Banu joined the film industry at the age of just 17?
Saira Banu is included in the list of top actresses of the 60s and 70s, who were at the top and charged the highest fees. Saira spent her childhood in London but later she came to India. Since childhood, she dreamed of becoming an actress, which she fulfilled with the help of her hard work. As soon as she entered Bollywood, she fell in love with Dilip Kumar against her family's wishes. Saira Banu was 22 and Dilip Kumar was 44 years old at the time of marriage. The couple did not have any children. In his autobiography, Dilip Kumar once revealed that Saira Banu suffered a miscarriage in the 1970s after which they did not try to have children again, believing it to be God's will.
Saira Banu recently shared an interesting anecdote related to her husband Dilip Kumar on Instagram. She shared that she was a 'sleeping pill' for her husband.
Saira Banu wrote, "You see, Sahib (Dilip Kumar) was the greatest actor of all time. He had absolutely everything at his disposal, yet not many people know that he suffered from severe insomnia. Before our marriage, even after taking pills, he would remain awake until dawn. However, once we got married and became indispensable to each other, he started sleeping just in time. He even gave me a cute nickname, endearingly saying, ‘Saira, you are my sleeping pill, you are my pillow.’ To this day, I burst into laughter remembering the charm with which he would say it."
Born on December 11, 1922, Dilip Kumar started his acting career in 1944. He passed away on July 7, 2021.
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