When Dilip Kumar proposed to Saira Banu, the actress asked, ‘How many girls did he say this to?’

Dilip Kumar Death Anniversary: Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu’s marriage lasted for 55 years till his demise and during this long partnership, they went through many ups and downs. When they tied the knot, Dilip Kumar was 44 years old and Saira was only 22 years old. Saira had been in love with Dilip since she was 12 years old, but she truly fell in love with Dilip Kumar when she saw him at his 22nd birthday party. In his memoir, Dilip Kumar: The Substance and the Shadow, the actor recalled the moment Saira wore a brocade sari and ‘time stood still’ for a moment.

Dilip Kumar writes in his book, “When I got down from my car and entered the beautiful garden leading to the house, I still remember that my eyes fell on Saira standing in the foyer of her new house, dressed in a brocade sari. I was looking very beautiful. To my surprise, she was no longer the young girl I purposely avoided working with because I thought she would look too young to be my heroine. She had really grown into full womanhood and was actually more beautiful than I thought. I just walked over and shook his hand and time stood still for us.”

Dilip later proposes marriage, expecting Saira to say yes immediately, but she gives a strange response which leaves him shocked. Dileep recalls the day they met in a lounge to spend some time together, but on that day, she was getting frequent calls from the ex with whom Dileep had recently broken up and this bothered Saira. Gone. Dilip wrote, “Unfortunately, even in the C Lounge, I was repeatedly harassed on the phone by a female friend with whom I broke up months ago. It was a stressful time in my life.”

On the way home, Dileep parked the car by the sea and she was silent for a moment when Dileep asked the question. “I looked at her and said: ‘Saira, you are not the kind of girl I want to hang out with, or be seen with… I would like to marry you… will you be my wife?’” But Saira was still Dileep was bothered by the calls he was getting all day, so his answer was not an enthusiastic yes. Dileep said, “Saira quickly turned around to answer me, ‘…and how many girls have you said this to?’ Normally, I would have been enraged by such a line, but instead, was charmed by its clarity and simplicity. She was lovely and I wanted her to be my wife.”

He further recalled, “I knew deep down that I had found the woman with whom I wanted to share my life, my sorrows and my joys. As she smiled and looked at me with the love of the woman who had loved me since she was in her teens.

Dileep also admitted that an astrologer had made predictions about his wife in 1955 and although he did not believe it at the time, he fell in love with Saira and decided to marry her. He remembered this thing. The Devdas actor said he met an astrologer in Coimbatore who was famous for the accuracy of his predictions. “He told me clearly that I would marry late when I would be forty and my bride would be a girl half my age, fair and beautiful like the moon and she would keep me on her eye lids and love and worship selflessly Will do it unconditionally.

Dileep added, ‘She had also predicted that she would be in the same profession – to which I pointedly remarked: ‘Never! I will not marry a girl of my profession!’