When Shammi Kapoor asked Saira Banu to wear burqa if fan attention made her nervous: ‘I broke into tears’

Although she worked in the industry for only 15 years, Saira Banu had her share of hits before she retired from films. Having made her debut with Shammi Kapoor in Junglee, she starred in films such as Purab Aur Pashchim, Ayee Milan Ki Bela, Shagird and Padosan. 

While she’s known for all these performances, many might not know that Saira broke down on the sets of Junglee over Shammi’s ‘rude’ comment. She was fresh out of London and dived into films despite her mother’s disapproval. 

When Shammi died, in 2011, Saira opened up about working with him. “I remember Subodh ji (director Subodh Mukherjee) narrated a shot that required me to give a spunky look to the camera. I just wasn’t getting it right. A huge crowd had gathered all around and was making me nervous. ‘If you are so nervous of people watching you, come in a burqa for the shoot,’ Shammi ji hollered. I broke into tears. But despite his rude words, a bit of his energy must have rubbed off on me. I managed to get the shot right,” she told India Today at the time. 

“I told him: ‘Shammi ji, I will never work with you until I learn acting a bit more.’ And I kept refusing offers opposite him. We finally worked together again in the 1975 film Zameer. We had a hearty laugh over the Kashmir incident,” she added. 

Also read: Dharmendra says he spoke to Saira Banu four days ago: ‘She told me she has not been keeping well’

Saira retired from films in 1976. Since then, she has been by her husband Dilip Kumar’s side. The legendary actor died in July. Earlier this week, news broke out that she has been admitted in Mumbai’s Hinduja Hospital. She has been diagnosed with a heart problem. 

Her doctor, Nitin Gokhale, denied rumours of her objecting an angiography and battling depression. Speaking with a leading daily, he said, “Saira-ji is not battling depression, plus she is not being difficult at all which in other words means she is not avoiding angiography. The angiography, as I told you last time, will be done at a later date after we control her diabetes. So where’s the question of her saying ‘no’ to it?”