Saira Banu was born in August 23, 1944 in Mussoorie, India to the actress, Naseem Banu, and the film producer, Mian Ehsan-ul-Haq. She spent the majority of her childhood in London and went to a finishing school which taught young girls how to behave like upper class individuals. Saira married the actor, Dilip Kumar in 1966. Saira became a famous Indian film actress between 1961 and 1988 with many Bollywood hits. Saira debut in 1960 in a Hindi film where she had basic skills in acting and minor experience in dancing. Her peers were more trained and experienced. This led her to learn Kathak and Bharata Natyam. Her breakthrough was in 1961 with the lead actress role in the film, “Junglee” which resulted in her earning her first Filmfare nomination as “Best Actress”. Her success continued in the 1960s and 1970s as Saira had the image of a romantic heroine. She continued to have the lead actress role in successful romantic movies until 1967. At one point, she married and then continued to receive leading roles but started to experiment with different genres like comedy till 1977. Saira achieved three more Filmfare Award nomination for “Best Actress” in the films, “Shagird” and “Diwana” which were developed in the same year in 1967. Her third nomination was in the film, “Sagina”. Her overall career was very successful but at times some of her films were commercially unsuccessful. When she did poor with films like, “Daaman Aur Aag”, “Mounto”, “Zameer”, and “Koi Jeeta Koi Haara” she started go into a slump. In addition, with films, “Faisla”, “Mera Vachan Geeta Ki Kasam”, and “Aarambh” that were kept on hold gave her the sign to stop adding more films and eventually causing her to retire. After her retirement, she did do a cameo with her husband in “Duniya” where the song, “Teri Meri Zindagi” became popular. Her legacy also included the third highest paid actress in Hindi films from 1963 to 1969. In addition, she was the fourth highest paid actress during 1971 to 1976. Saira like her family were in the film industry. She had a lot of talent and guidance from her parents to be a great Indian film actress. She worked hard and realized the skills she lacked when she debut in her first Hindi film. She trained hard and became an excellent dancer and the rest was settled. She became a great role model for future actresses, such as Priyanka Chopra. Since Priyanka was going to play the role of an actress from the 1960’s, Saira was the first person that came to Priyanka’s mind. Saira had a short career as an actress but achieved so much in that short period of time.

click here