Mehmood, Saira Banu (top), Sunil Dutt and Kishore Kumar (below) in Padosan

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 9, 2019)

One of my biggest regrets is that he went away too soon with the result that I never got to meet him. So, every year, on his birthday, August 4, I scout for someone who knew him, worked with him, someone who can share memories of the inimitable Kishore Kumar with me. This year, as I mulled over whom to turn to, a song came to mind. “Ek Chatur Naar Kar Ke Singar, Mere Mann Ke Dvar Yeh Ghusat Jat, Hum Marat Jat Are He He He…” I had first heard it in Jhoola, sung by and filmed on Ashok Kumar. Twenty-seven years later, it returned with Kishore da singing it on screen in the 1968 film Padosan. As I hummed it to myself, I texted his co-star from the madcap comedy, Saira Banu, whom you remember even today, half-a-century later, as the impetuous Bindu. Equally memorable are her lovelorn neighbour Bhola, her Tam-Brahm music teacher Pillai, his mentor-friend Vidyarthi and their naatak mandali.

Padosan, Saira ji recalls, was like a picnic. Every day on the sets felt more like a holiday than work with an ensemble cast which included Sunil Dutt, Mehmood, Kishore Kumar, Om Prakash, Agha, Dulari, Keshto Mukherjee and Mukri. “Everyone, right down to the smallest artiste, was stupendous,” she asserts, admitting that she was laughing uproariously not just during the rehearsals, but sometimes even messed up a take or two with her mirth. “They would literally switch off lights, saying, “Madam has rahi hain, let her finish laughing first, then we will continue with the shoot,’” she recounts.

Interestingly, she almost didn’t do the film, following the decision to marry Dilip Kumar. “Our wedding was supposed to happen a year later, but then we suddenly decided not to wait. I almost gave up Padosan and Purab Aur Paschim. Today, I’m happy I did both,” she smiles.

A remake of the 1952 Bengali film, Pasher Bari, the 1968 cult classic was directed by Jyoti Swaroop and produced by N C Sippy and Mehmood. “Mehmood bhai made some big sacrifices for this film, he actually went bald. I remember I was sitting in front of him on one of the royal verandas of Krishna Raj Sagar Hotel where the shooting took place. There were a few other team members around, watching as the barber shaved his head. With every lock of hair that was snipped, unke aasoon tapak rahe the. He cried as he slowly went bald,” she laughs.

Prod her on Kishore da’s reputation of being an eccentric and difficult, and Saira ji admits that she had heard weird stories too. “But he turned out to be a perfect gentleman. Every time I stepped out of my car and entered the studio in Chennai where we were shooting, Kishore saab would instantly stand up and give a lady the respect that she deserved, even if he was sitting between shots or discussing something with the team. It was wonderful!” she exclaims.

Mehmood saab’s Master Pillai, who almost marries Bindu, had a worthy rival in Kishoreda’s Vidyarthi, who takes on the challenge of teaching his tone-deaf friend Bhola singing so he can woo his pretty neighbour. While Bindu’s music teacher sported a bald pate and a choti, his forehead streaked with sandal paste, Bhola’s “guru” frequently tossed back his wayward forelocks, his eyes lined with kohl and his lips stained with betel juice. “A platter of paan would be dressed and ready, waiting for him to pop them into his mouth when he arrived for a shot. Kishore saab would chew on them, splattering his white kurta with the stains of his saliva as is typical of a paan-eater,” Saira ji informs, recalling how she burst into peals of laughter every time he flicked back his hair. “And we shot 'Mere Bhole Balam' without a dance director. Every move was improvised, choregraphed by Kishore saab. I can still hear him croon, 'Meri Pyaari Bindu, Meri Bholi Bindu, Meri Matheri Bindu. Meri Sindoori Bindu'. He was such a joy to work with.”

Ask her to pick a favourite scene from the film, and she zeroes in on the one of Vidyarthi teaching Bhola “Sa Re Ga Ma”. “Kishore saab kept such a straight face all through and Sunil Dutt’s response when he stumbles in places was so hilarious, that I fell off my chair laughing. It had even my family, including my grandmother, in splits, every time it played out on TV,” she says.

Quiz her on her favourite Kishore Kumar song and she is stumped. “It’s difficult to say given his genius and the quality of his voice. All of them are beautiful, out of the world, from Padosan to Kora Kagaz to Aradhana ,” she signs off, humming “Gun Guna Rahe Hain Bhanvare.” Now, that’s another column for another day.

Shivaay debutante is feeling the pressure of living up to grandparents Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu’s legacy as date of Diwali release inches closer
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; October 20, 2016)

Sitting in the lobby of a plush Juhu hotel, Sayyeshaa appears like any other teenage girl. Dressed in denims and a beige top, she greets us with a broad smile. Grand niece to Hindi cinema legends Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu, she makes her Bollywood debut in Ajay Devgn’s Diwali release, Shivaay, a film is set to clash with Karan , ohar’s next, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

Sayyeshaa had just completed her IB in Science (with 97 per cent marks, shall we add) when she signed Shivaay two years ago. “Ajay sir liked my photographs and I auditioned for him. I enacted a couple of scenes and was finalised for the role,” she recollects. Since Shivaay was delayed, she took up a Telugu movie in the meantime and has recently signed a Tamil film.

With a grand legacy to live up to, Sayyeshaa is keeping her fingers crossed as the release date
inches closer. “The only insecurity I have is whether people will like me. I don’t have an alternate career option. So, Shivaay has to work for me,” she says, adding her legendary grandparents “loved” the film’s trailer. “They are looking forward to watch the film. I feel blessed to have them whenever I need advice.

Sitting with them and talking about movies is like attending a masterclass. My favourite Dilip Kumar film is Mashaal (1984) and as far as Saira Nani goes, I loved her in Purab Aur Paschim (1970). If the latter is remade, I would like to reprise her role,” she says.

Her parents, actors Sumit Saigal and Shaheen Banu, separated when she was two, but she is equally close to both of them. “I stay with my mother, but my father visits me everyday. I was too young when they decided to part ways, but they have always been available. They have constantly guided and supported me.”

Neha Maheshwri Bhagat (BOMBAY TIMES; October 20, 2016)

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 21, 2014)

"Can you believe that I almost didn't do Purab Aur Paschim?" says Saira Banu. She recalls how the film's actor-producer-director Manoj Kumar had sent his representative, lyricist Gulshan Bawra, to Filmistan Studio where she was shooting, to convince her to give the nod to his 1970 patriotic drama.

A couple of days later, Mr Bharat turned up at the studio only to be mysteriously told by the actress that there was a possibility that very soon she would not be working in films. "Manojji was alarmed to hear that I was all set to call it quits after just three and a half years in the industry," Saira reminisces with a laugh.

She adds that earlier too she had turned down an offer to play the female lead in his Upkar (1967) because of prior commitments. He had approached her with this role while shooting for her family banner Roshanara Film's maiden venture Palkon Ke Chhaon Mein (1962).

Despondently, Manoj Kumar returned home. Two weeks later, Saira's 'secret' was out, taking the world by surprise. She was marrying Dilip Kumar with whom she had not even done a film.

"His brothers and sisters knew my mother (Naseem Banu) well and Dilip saab was a friend of the family. So there was a connection that not too many were aware of," she reasons.

Saira Banu's Shagird (1967) was nearing completion when she became Mrs Dilip Kumar and decided not to pursue her career in Bollywood. But, soon after, she again ran into Manoj Kumar and his wife Shashi at the premiere of Dilip Kumar's Ram Aur Shyam (1967). After the show, the couple stopped at Dilip Kumar's bungalow on Pali Hill.

"Dilip saab and Manojji were close, having recently worked together in Aadmi (1968). He used to call my husband Rajasaab after his character in the film. He told him that evening that he had offered me Purab Aur Paschim, a subject written with me in mind. Manojji added that initially he was supposed to direct the film for another producer but now wanted to make it under his own banner. He insisted that if I didn't do the film, he would shelve the project," recalls Saira.

Manoj Kumar's words and her "sterling performance" in Shagird, whose rushes Dilip Kumar had seen at a preview show specially organised by his wife, convinced the actor that Saira was a natural in front of the camera and it would be criminal to stop her from doing more films. And that is how she got his permission to do Purab Aur Paschim.

However, during the making of the film, she was suddenly taken ill with ulcerative colitis. She lost 20 pounds, had to be rushed to London for treatment and was nursed back to health there by her doting husband and mother.

In the interim, Subodh Mukherji Productions, which had established itself with her debut film, Junglee (1961), and had signed her for two more films, replaced her in Sharmilee (1971).

"This was a double role Gulshan Nanda had specially written for me because I couldn't do his Neel Kamal earlier. I had convinced the original producer, SK Kapoor, to give the subject to Subodh Mukherji on the condition that I'd do another film with him. But when I fell ill, they replaced me in two minutes without even taking my consent. Manojji however waited till I was fit to return to the sets," she says.

She had studied in a private school in London till she was 15 so was comfortable in the western outfits she wore in the film. At the same time, her parents and grandmother ensured that even while living in the West, she was rooted in Indian culture. "So I didn't look vulgar in those dresses. The film too was aesthetically shot and its is relevant even today," asserts Saira.

Manoj Kumar's gesture to patiently wait for Saira so moved Dilip Kumar that when he returned from a five-year sabbatical in the '80s, the first film he signed was his Kranti.