great actor of hindi cinema Dilip Kumar He died on Wednesday after a prolonged illness. He was 98 years old. The actor was admitted last week to Hinduja Hospital in suburban Khar, a non-COVID-19 facility.
Kumar is survived by his wife of 55 years, veteran actress Saira Banu. The couple tied the knot on October 11, 1966 and were inseparable since then. One of the very rare film couples with an everlasting bond, their love story was no less than a film one.
Bollywood’s first superstar Dilip Kumar started his career with Jwar Bhata in 1944. In 1949, he starred in Andaz, which became his breakout performance, cementing his stardom as the ‘Tragedy King’ of Bollywood.
He was also associated with many of his co-stars in his career. In his autobiography The Substance and the Shadow, Kumar said that he first fell in love with his co-star Kamini Kaushal, who worked with him in Nadiya Ke Paar, Shaheed Arzoo and Shabnam. However, their relationship was strongly opposed by his family, which led to their split.
His love for his longtime co-star Madhubala was also left unrequited after his father strongly opposed their relationship. He forbade his daughter to go on outdoor shoots which stalled the production of his film Naya Daur. The producers took Madhubala and her father to the court. The Ethereal actress refuses to go against her father and they separate. Kumar has also been linked with other co-stars such as Vyjanthimala and Waheeda Rehman.
On the other hand, actress Saira Banu, who entered the industry with Junglee opposite Shammi Kapoor. Early in her career, she was engaged to actor Rajendra Kumar, but her mother, the ‘beauty queen’ and veteran actress Naseem Bano, opposed the relationship.
Kumar liked Bano from the age of 12 and wanted to marry her. At the age of 16, she went to a Maratha temple to see Mughal-e-Azam and catch a glimpse of Kumar, but was heartbroken when she did not attend the screening. Describing her first meeting with Kumar, she had said, “When he smiled at me and remarked that I was a beautiful girl, I could feel my whole being winged and flying with enthusiasm. I knew deep down inside that I was going to be his wife.”
Dilip Kumar, on the other hand, wrote in his autobiography about the moment he fell in love with Bano. “When I got down from my car and entered the beautiful garden leading to the house, I still remember my eyes falling on Saira, standing in the foyer of her new home, stunned in a brocade sari. She was looking beautiful. I was taken aback because she was no longer the young girl I deliberately avoided working with because I thought she would look too young to be my heroine. She had really grown into full womanhood and was actually more beautiful than I thought she was. I just stepped forward and waved his hand and time stood still for us.”
They tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in 1966, six years after their first meeting. Kumar was 44 years old and Bano was 22 years old. Their 20-year age difference caused much controversy, with many predicting that their marriage would not last.
However, the couple also faced ups and downs in the relationship. Dilip Kumar had revealed in his book that Saira Banu had a miscarriage in 1972 when she was 8 months pregnant. However, he did not regret not having children. In an earlier interview, he had said, “It would have been great if we had our own kids. But we have no regrets. We are both under the will of God. As far as the incompleteness is concerned, let me tell you that neither Saira nor I can complain of lack of contentment. It is enough for us that we have our families to share our joys and small troubles. I have a large family with lots of nieces and nephews and their growing children’s families speak the language they live in today, which is as surprising as the time they live in. Saira has a small family which includes her brother Sultan and her brother. Children and grandchildren. We feel we are lucky to have them when they need us.”
There was another controversy regarding their marriage. It was rumored that in 1982, Kumar married Saira for the second time. He married Asma, a socialite from Hyderabad who was not from a filmy background. This marriage did not last and within 2 years both of them got divorced. Kumar wrote in his book that he and Bano do not revisit this part of their lives and see it as a “serious mistake”.
Kumar and Bano had a long and blissful marriage since then. In 2014, Bano called him his ‘Kohinoor’, saying, “I still love my Kohinoor, Yusuf Sahab, the way I first felt attracted to him at the age of 12. Ours. Marriage has been as good and lasting as marriages that have survived the ups and downs for four decades. No marriage is perfect. How can it be, when we as human beings are not perfect? It is about mutual love, respect and It is worship that sustains the marriage.”
During Dilip Kumar’s old age and prolonged illness, Bano stood by him like a rock and looked after him till his death in 2021. Saira Banu, 76, has been widely appreciated for her life-long dedication to the actor, especially during her final years.
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