Saira
Banu:
Veteran
actress
Saira
Banu
fondly
reminisces
about
her
childhood
days
as
a
fan
of
both
'Sahib'
Dilip
Kumar
and
the
lovely
Vyjayanthimala,
who
she
now
fondly
calls
'Akka'.
The
veteran
actress
remembers
cutting
out
posters
from
magazines
and
pasting
them
on
her
wall.
On
the
65th
anniversary
of
the
movie
'Madhumati'
the
actress
took
to
instagram,
posting
a
few
pictures
of
an
age
old
photo
shoot
with
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.
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.
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.
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."