When Saira Banu started getting film offers in high school

Veteran Hindi cinema actress Saira Banu turned 77 on Monday. The actress, who came to the silver screen with her performance, made her acting debut in 1960. The actress tied the knot with Dilip Kumar six years after her acting debut.

However, few people know that Saira comes from a family of artists and got her education from England. The daughter of actor Naseem Bano and filmmaker Ehsan Khan Saira grew up in a family that valued education. While talking to The Hindu, the actress had revealed that for her mother Naseem, studies were more important than films. Saira studied at Queen’s House, one of the elite schools in London.

Naseem decides to send his daughter to London when he sees Saira dancing to the tunes of his ghagra, lipstick and his film songs. Saira told The Hindu that her mother was known as the first ‘Pari Chehra’ or beauty queen of the Indian film industry. Naseem was a well-known actress in the 1940s. Saira lived in London with her grandmother, mother and brother Sultan. Saira’s grandmother was Shamshad Begum who was a famous classical singer. In the interview, the actress revealed that Shamshad had settled in London and received many people from the music, film and literature fraternity at home. Saira started getting offers for films when she was a high school student.