Some bonds are indelible and last beyond time. Such was the attachment between Dharmendra, Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu. After Dilip Kumar’s passing in 2021, Dharmendra kept in touch with Saira Banu, making sure she was always in good health and spirit. Today after his passing, she feels shattered and wishes she could meet him one more time.
Controlling her emotions, she speaks candidly to Filmfare about the brotherly love between Dharmendra and her late husband Dilip Kumar. In her own words…
Dharam ji was and will be family to us, always. It’s an association of 50+ years. Yusuf saab (Dilip Kumar) always thought of him as his younger brother and Dharam ji respected and loved him as we loved and respected him.
Dharam ji was family to us for over 50 years, whether it be my grandmother, mother, my brother, later on Yusuf saab, All our family members were crazy about him. And he was never a guest in our house. He was family could walk into the house at 1 am and 2 am to discuss whatever he wanted to discuss with Yusuf saab and spend time with him.
“We loved Dharam ji a lot and he loved us back equally”
When he was launching Sunny, he just walked up to the second-floor bedroom in our Bandra home, sat with Yusuf saab, had large photographs and the publicity material that was to launch Sunny and Amrita Singh. The evenings and the days that we shared were so memorable. We loved Dharam ji, we loved him a lot.
Dharam ji loved us, too. Yusuf saab and he loved to eat together. They used to savour lovely home-cooked biryani, which our special cook used to prepare over the years. And Dharam ji would ask, whenever he wanted, the biryani to be sent to his place. It would be made from here and sent to him.
“I feel shattered knowing Dharam ji is no more”
I spoke to him about a month ago that Dharam ji, I haven’t seen you for a very long time. Both Sunny and Dharam ji would check up on me regularly in the past three or four years. When we last spoke, I said, “We haven’t seen you for long. May I come to meet you? You always say, come and meet me, see you at the farm house in Lonavala.” Dharam ji said, “No, Saira ji, don’t worry at all. I am very well and I will come and meet you.”
Today has been shattering for us. It has been shattering for me. I can’t tell you what I feel. I have been watching this video where Yusuf saab is praising him. Yusuf used to love him like a younger brother.
And Dharam ji would say, ‘I feel that we are both brothers. We are both brothers and were born from different mothers. But we are real brothers.’
Also Read: Saira Banu’s Reunion With Hema Malini Stirs Old Memories Again
