Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 12 (ANI): On the birth anniversary of the great actor Pran, veteran star Saira Banu warmly remembered his close association with her late husband, the iconic actor Dilip Kumar.
Taking to her Instagram handle, she wrote, “Happy Birth Anniversary Pran Sahab! Pran Sahab and Sahib remained close until the very end.”
She recalled what legendary actor Dilip Kumar used to say about him, “Dilip Sahib always spoke very highly of Pran Sahab and to which he stated that “RAM AUR SHYAM WAS COMPLETED AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. Its work was a jolly experience for all of us. I was working with my friend Pran in Ram Aur Shyam and Aadmi at the same time. Pran and I were friends in the real sense of the term. We met at the work place and we met informally as often as we could either at his house or mine since we lived in the same locality: Bandra,” she added.
Saira continued, “At work, we were invariably pitted against each other – our characters were always caught in a conflict over something or the other. It used to be very amusing for onlookers to watch the change that would come over him when he faced the camera with me in the frame after all the friendliness and affection they had seen a while ago between us. Once again he and I (in Ram Aur Shyam) were pitted against each other.
Recalling a few scenes between Dilip Kumar and Pran in ‘Ram Aur Shyam’, she added, “The highlight and most appreciated scenes in RAM AUR SHYAM were the merciless whipping of helpless RAM by his villainous brother In law in Gajendra in the early part of the film and later when SHYAM assumes the persona of RAM and returns the ordeal of the whipping multifold, the audience just loved it and lapped it up..”
She shared, “We had enjoyed being together during the shooting of Bimal Roy’s Madhumati in the forest location where almost everybody else spoke in Bengali while we conversed heartily in Punjabi. He loved the evenings we spent sitting around a bonfire reciting exquisite poetry. We had some wonderful times in Madras when we were shooting for Ram Aur Shyam and Aadmi. We had just completed Dil Diya Dard Liya and the joke on the sets in Madras was “Pran aap ka peecha hi nahin chodta”. It was fine with me and fine with him because we liked each other’s company and respected each other as artists.”
“Sahib’s friendship with Pran Sahab goes way back in time, Tomorrow, I’ll add some interesting anecdotes about the twosome,” she concluded.
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Talking about the legendary actor Pran, he portrayed a wide range of characters, from romantic protagonists to supporting characters. The actor also exalted the character of the villain in the films, eventually becoming one of the era’s prominent antagonists. Pran was born on February 12, 1920, in Lahore to a rich Punjabi Hindu family. He passed away on July 12, 2013. (ANI)
