Saira Banu on working with Dilip Kumar in Gopi: ‘I felt that the earth would part and the sky would shake with thunder…’

Saira Banu opened up about how she was nervous while shooting with Dilip Kumar for the 1970 movie Gopi.

New Delhi | August 28, 2023 07:54 PM IST

3 min read

Saira Banu spoke about the film Gopi. (Photo: Saira/Instagram)

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Saira Banu recently made her Instagram debut and has been sharing beautiful throwback pictures and stories since then. In her latest Instagram post, Saira took a trip down memory lane and revealed why the film Gopi was like a dream come true for her. Sharing multiple stills from the film, Saira wrote, “When I talk about GOPI, for me it is like a dream come true. I think the whole world knows by now that I have been madly in love with Sahib since I was a twelve-year-old girl.”

Saira shared that she saw Dilip for the first time in Aan at a special screening in London. Later, at Mumbai events, she met him in person. After finishing school, she joined the film industry with Junglee. Despite offers to work with top stars after the movie’s success, Dilip, who was also a family friend who watched her grow up, declined to work with her, citing her young age.

She continued, “On that magical evening of August 23, 1966, my birthday, he especially flew from Madras for our House Warming Party. He walked across, shook hands with me, looked into my eyes, and said, ‘You have grown up into a beautiful girl.’ Thereupon we were blissfully married and the offer of ‘GOPI’ came about and I was working with Sahib! God be praised!”

Also read | Saira Banu, among the highest paid stars of the 60s, who gave it all up to singularly become Mrs Dilip Kumar

In the post, the veteran actor also called Dilip Kumar the Shahenshah of Acting whom she idolised and dreamt of working with. Saira futher wrote, “In our first shot together, I felt that the earth would part and the sky would shake with thunder, the way I was nervous. Something was not going right for me with my performance and soon Rajenderji called me over, made me sit, and said ‘Beta you are doing very well and you are Saira Banu, you try and be yourself when you say the dialogues. You are standing in Dilip Kumar’s shadow, trying to deliver your lines like him. Don’t do that, relax your shoulders and be yourself! Act as your own self!’”

Saira said that with great help, patience and gentle understanding from Dilip, she performed the scene to satisfaction and added that Gopi will always be special to her. Dilip and Saira starred in the films Duniya, Bairaag, Gopi and Sagina.

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