Dilip Kumar felt Saira Bano lacked ‘seductive appeal’, refused to work with her: ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’

At this point, producer Nagi Reddy suggested Saira’s name to Dilip. “Nagi Reddy was all admiration for Saira and her recent performances and was certain that her pairing with me in the comedy situations would be a huge draw since she possessed a wonderful flair for spirited comedy. Since it was my practice to take an active interest in the making of my film, I voiced my opinion that I did not agree with Nagi Reddy on this issue because I felt she was too delicate and innocent in appearance for a character that had to have loads of seductive appeal and a bold, buxom appearance,” he wrote.

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Actor Mehmood, however, was of the opinion that Mumtaz should be cast in this role and while Dilip had never worked with either Saira or Mumtaz, he went with Mehmood’s suggestion. “He (Mehmood) was so sincere in his recommendation of her that he even carried tins of film reels depicting Mumtaz to exhibit how talented she was. Mumtaz eventually bagged that role,” he wrote.

However, Saira was quite offended by this. “My refusal to work in Ram Aur Shyam with her was the proverbial last straw on the camel’s back! Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! Sure enough, I received more than my fair share of brickbats from Saira in various ways,” he shared.

But, as luck would have it, Dilip and Saira soon met at her birthday party where he fell in love with her. Even before they could wrap the shoot of Ram Aur Shyam, Dilip and Saira announced their engagement. For him, the film became “very special” as it was during the production of this film that they got married. Dilip explained that he had a few reservations with regard to working with Saira. He knew her parents through family friends and was aware that she was studying in London. When he learnt that she was interested in being an actor, he “voiced an emphatic ‘NO'” to the said family friend. When in the 1960s, when he met her at a filmy party, and was told that she was keen to work with him. Dilip recalled telling her, “Have you seen this grey hair? I am so much elder to you, and I eat like a pig!” To this, Saira said, “I think grey hair looks very distinguished on you! Very handsome.”

Dilip and Saira eventually worked in films like Bairaag, Gopi, Sagina among others. They stayed married until his death in 2021.