Saira Banu recalls getting jealous of Dilip Kumar’s “proximity” to Vyjayantimala in ‘Madhumati’

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 12 (ANI): On the 65th anniversary of great filmmaker Bimal Roy’s classic film ‘Madhumati’, veteran actor Saira Banu recalled how she got jealous looking at Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala together in the movie. She also shared her close association and her admiration for them. 

She took to her Instagram handle and shared memories associated with the film and some old pictures from the sets of ‘Madhumati’.

Banu wrote in the caption, “More often than not childhood and teenage memories can be so strange and rib-ticklingly funny. To me, this particular memory of 1958, when I was a young girl, is embarrassing to the tee because today, down the years my association with my favourite filmstar Vyjayanthimala has turned into an alliance wherein she is “Akka” (elder sister) to me and we speak to each other every other week.”

She recalled her childhood days and mentioned, “As I was growing up I had this habit of pasting photos of my favourite heartthrobs on the wall just next to my bed so that first thing I could gaze at them. Just a year earlier I had seen Sahib’s fantastic performance in ‘AAN’ which was specially screened in London. He was so handsome. I was mad for him. Then there were also cutouts of Elvis Presley the King of Rock, towering Rock Hudson, and enigmatic James Dean pasted on the wall. In our home in London we had this letter box which was the cynosure of the eyes of my brother Sultan and my expectant eyes as letters from our mother and friends would come from India. Being homesick we would thirst for them.”

The ‘Junglee’ actor continued, “My mother knew I was crazy about Indian films so she would intermittently post ‘Filmfare Magazine’ for our entertainment. It was a mad scramble between my brother and me as to who would be the first to grab the magazine and of course, the letters from home, and this always ended in a tussle scrap, almost becoming a wrestling match wherein Sultan ended up laughing uncontrollably at my pathetic flap of arms in serious attempts to get hold of the magazine.”

“In one such magazine, there was this photo of “MADHUMATI” which was considered bold at that time where Sahib was romantically resting his face on Vyjayantimala’s forehead. It was a beautiful photo and in my childishness, I got so jealous of Sahib’s proximity to her face that I took a pair of scissors and deftly started to snip away that portion of the photograph,” she added.

The veteran actor concluded with, “Just imagine! I am hysterical with laughter when I recall this. Until then I had never seen her in any film and as fate would have it I grew up to meet, admire, and associate with her as a member of my family. There are many interesting memories with her wherein I hold “Akka’ in high esteem and shall narrate it one day.”

‘Madhumati’, a 1958  paranormal romantic film was directed and produced by Bimal Roy, and written by Ritwik Ghatak and Rajinder Singh Bedi. It features Vyjayanthimala and Dilip Kumar in lead roles, with Pran and Johnny Walker in supporting roles. The film was released on September 12, 1958, and it was among the highest-grossing film of the year. 

With 12 nominations, it led the 6th Filmfare Awards and won nine awards, including Best Film, Best Director for Roy, Best Music Director for Chaudhary, and Best Female Playback Singer for Mangeshkar. It held the record for the most accolades given to a single film at the time. Additionally, it received the National Film Award for Best Hindi Feature Film.

Related Posts