Saira Banu

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Saira Banu also Saira Bano (Hindi: साइरा बानु, Urdu: سائرہ بانو), born August 23, 1944, daughter of Naseem Banu, is a well-known actress of the 1960s and 1970s and the granddaughter of a courtesan Chamiyan Bai, also known as Shamshad Begum (not to be confused with the famous playback singer of the yesteryears Shamshad Begum). She is also the wife of veteran actor Dilip Kumar.

1 Family background
2 Career
3 Marriage
4 Selected filmography
5 External links

[edit] Family background

Saira Banu was born in India in 1944. Saira had spent a significant part of her childhood in London, and went to a finishing school. Her mother is actress Naseem Banu and her niece Shaheen Banu was also an actress who was married to former actor Sumeet Saigal and since divorced and remarried to Atul Patel and IFA in London.

[edit] Career

Saira Banu made her acting debut opposite Shammi Kapoor in the 1961 hit film Junglee for which she earned her first Filmfare nomination as Best Actress. It also instantly made her a successful actress throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. Ever since her marriage to Dilip Kumar in 1966, Saira looked for dramatically challenging roles. Her valiant attempts to establish a reputation as an actress after Gopi, Sagina and Bairaag (all with Dilip Kumar) and films like Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Chaitali met with limited success. She did earn three additional Filmfare nominations as Best Actress for Shagird (1967), Diwana (1968), and Sagina (1974). In 1976, Saira chose to end her film career. Subsequently she has weathered a storm in her marriage in 1980 which was quickly resolved. She then appeared in a cameo opposite her husband in Duniya (1984) and made her last film appearance in the 1988 film Faisla. She has since become a successful television producer recently producing the television serial Stree... Teri Kahani which has been written by her neice Shaheen Patel.

[edit] Marriage

In 1966, 22-year-old Saira married 44-year-old Dilip Kumar and despite apprehensions from the media, their marriage has been one of the longest lasting marriages in Bollywood. They have no children.