Lata Mangeshkar with Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu (far right)

Veteran actor Saira Banu shared a close personal and professional bond with Lata Mangeshkar. The late singer would tie rakhi to Banu’s husband, late actor Dilip Kumar, every year. “She was my voice in most films. I was fortunate that she recorded the song Ja Ja Ja Mere Bachpan from my debut film, Junglee (1961). I remember, during an interview a couple of years ago, she was asked which heroine she thought her voice suited the most and Lata ji replied, ‘Saira Banu’. I fell off my chair,” says the 78-year-old.

On the personal front, Banu goes on to recall Kumar and Mangeshkar’s close bond: “Both of them would travel together in the same train for work. They were like a brother and sister. He would always tell her, ‘Aapki Urdu bahut achhi hai, isse aur polish kijiye’. She treated me like her bhabhi, but would call me Saira ji.”

An incident that sums up the close bond Kumar and Mangeshkar shared took place at the Royal Albert Hall in London (UK) in 1974. The Bharat Ratna recipient was the first Indian to perform live at the venue. Banu fondly recalls, “It was beautifully arranged. Dilip saheb had to introduce her on stage. He said, ‘Yeh meri chhoti si behen...’ He continued, ‘Bahut mukhtasar si (short)’. Then she sang and it became a historical event.”