As Bairaag Clocks 47 Years, Saira Banu Recalls Working With Dilip Kumar

The veteran star Saira Banu continues to delight us with her interesting Instagram posts. This time, the legendary star shared behind-the-scenes pictures from the iconic film Bairaag, directed by Asit Sen. Her “favourite film” completed 47 years of release today. Along with the pictures, Saira Banu wrote an extensive note. The film also starred the late Dilip Kumar and Leela Chandvarkar.

The initial photo captures a candid moment between Leena Chanvarkar and Dilip Kumar, the second features Saira Banu, Dilip Kumar, director Asit Sen, and producer Riyaz, and the third showcases Dilip Kumar on the set, followed by a series of movie stills.

Talking about the film, Saira Banu wrote, “’BAIRAAG’ offered Dilip Sahib a field day in displaying his wide range of able histrionics.” She recalled that Dilip Kumar was given the opportunity to play the father of a pair of twin sons who separated in childhood. “One is a sophisticated, flirtatious eligible Don-Juan…This is Sanjay who is flirting around and romancing Leena Chandravarkar and Helenji at the same time, and the other role is of Bhola the indispensable simple household help in the big Zamindar family where he serves but has grown into a family member with them. Bhola is blind, he cannot see. He is particularly at logger-heads with the heroine “Choti Maalkin” who leaves no opportunity to irritate and bother him,” she wrote.

The veteran actress shared that the relationship between Choti Maalkin and Bhola was what touched her the most. She shared, “My most favourite scene is when Choti Maalkin descends into the Mandir and finds Bhola praying. Here she declares her love for him to Bhola. It is a poignant moment.”

Further, Saira Banu narrated the difficult conditions in which they shot for the film at Doddabetta Peak, in the Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu. She shared, “It was so freezingly cold that our teeth were chattering and we were lapping up a cup of coffee one after another but as soon as one took the cup of coffee out from the restaurant to outdoors 15 Feet away within 2 Minutes the coffee froze into an ice-cream. That was the extent of the cold that we worked in.” One of the pictures shows the entire cast covered in heavy woollens and shawls to beat the cold.

In response to her post, one fan expressed, “One of my all-time favourite movies after Ram aur Shyam,” while another admirer simply commented, “You and Dilip sahib make a unique pair.”

Bairaag also features Ruma Guha Thakurta, Prem Chopra, Helen, Sujit Kumar, Madan Puri, Paintal, and Kader Khan. The film’s music is composed by the duo Kalyanji Anandji.