Happy birthday to beauty queen Saira Banuji

Happy birthday to Saira Banu. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Saira Banu on 23rd August, 2026

. She used to be called beauty-queen of the 60s. Acting was there in her blood with her mother Nasim Banu doing well in many films in the 40s. Saira Banu started her career with the film Junglee opposite Shammi Kapoor in 1961. The brilliant music of Shankar Jaikishan given in the film and exotic locations of Jammu and Kashmir flabbergasted the audience in the early 60s. All the songs in the film were super hit including “suku suku”, “meri yaar shabba khair”, “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar”, “Kashmir ki kali hun mai”, to name a few. From that time onwards Saira Banu started getting stylish roles one after the other in bollywood films. Saira Banu went on to give hit after hit with Biswajeet and Joy Mukherjee as well. With Biswajeet her film April Fool released in 1964 became super hit. The songs of SJ again created storm including “april fool banaya”, “aa gale lag jaa”, etc. With Joy Mukherjee Saira Banu’s film Shagird stormed box-office in 1967. All the songs of Rafi and Lata were hits including “dil vil pyar vyar”, “woh hai zara khafa khafa”, “o bare miya diwane”, “duniya mehfil hai”, etc. The music was composed by Laxmikant Pyarellal. Saira Banu exhibited the character of village girl who was sought after by her teacher played by IS Johar, but fell in love with Joy Mukherjee in the film. There were other hit films of Saira Banu like Saaz Aur Awaaz opposite Joy Mukherjee, Aadmi Aur Insaan opposite Dharmender, to name a few. Saira Banu’s combination with Rajender Kumar was well accepted by the audience. All the three films opposite Jubilee Kumar including Ayee Milan Ki Bela in 1964, Aman in 1967 and Jhuk Gaya Aasman in 1968 became super hit. The songs of all those films composed by SJ again struck box-office. Prominent songs included “o priya kaun hai jo sapno me aya”, “tum khamseen ho”, “kahan chal diye”, “surahidar garden”, etc. Saira Banu balanced the powerful performance of Rajender Kumar in those films. In Aman, Saira Banu played the role of a Japanese girl. In Ayee Milan Ki Bela she played the role of an urbanized girl having wealthy background. In Jhuk Gaya Aasman, she played the role of a sophisticated girl coming from middle-class family who was involved with Rajender Kumar who was guide in Darjeeling, but after reincarnation led the life of a wealthy industrialist. May be after Sadhna, Saira Banu was accepted by the viewers the most opposite Rajender Kumar. After marrying Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu acted in a number of films opposite him including Sagina, Gopi and Bairaag, most of which did well in the box-office. Sagina was directed by Dada Saheb Phalke winning director Tapan Sinha, who made the Bengali version and the hindi version of the same film separately. Saira Banu acted opposite Dilip Kumar in both the films. Her films with Raj Kapoor titled Diwana and Dev Anand titled Par Muhabbat did good business mainly due to hit music of Shankar Jaikishan. The songs of those films including “ai sanam jisne tujhe chaand si surat di hai”, “dil ki awaz khuda khair Karen” still remain the landmarks of Indian film music. Even Saira Banu’s comedy films like Parosan opposite Sunil Dutt, Kishore Kumar and Mehmood did brilliant business. From the mid-70s Saira Banu faded away from the industry before acting in films opposite Big B like Zameer and Hera Pheri. There were other films of Saira Banu opposite other stars like Manoj Kumar in the film Purab Aur Paschim, Dharmender in Resham Ki Dori. The viewers expect her to contribute in bollywood films in character roles again.

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In 1060 Dilip Kumar's Mughal i azam became greatest blockbuster followed by Barsaat ki raat and Chaudavi ka chand

Dilip Kumar, Madhubala Mughal-i-azam. Biggest bollywood hit films of 1960. Bollywood films had done business all over India over the last 60 years. In 1960 different types of films were released. In that year the biggest blockbuster was Mughal-i-Azam. Dilip Kumar and Madhubala were the leading artists of the film Mughal-i-Azam. It was a historical film depicting the history of Akbar, Jehangir and Anarkali. Very significantly Dilip Kumar, popularly known as Tragedy King ruled the team of bollywood actors with his realistic acting. Naushad Ali’s excellent music and Rafi, Lata’s melodious songs in the film was a treat for the years of the audience. The second biggest hit film of 1960 was Barsaat Ki Raat. Bharat Bhusan and Madhubala were the leading artists of the film. Excellent music composed by Roshanlal Nagrath was added attraction for the viewers. Rafi’s song “zindagi bhar nahi bhulegi wo barsaat ki raat” and Manna Deys song “na to karwanki talash hai” had become immortal over the years. Bharat Bhusan and Madhubala’s excellent performance require special mention. 1960 was a year of musical blockbusters like Kohinoor and Chaudavi Ka Chand. Kohinoor was the third biggest grosser and Chaudavi Ka Chand was the fourth biggest grosser. Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari were the main artists in Kohinoor, and Guru Dutt and Wahida Rehman were leading artists of Chaudavi Ka Chand. Again the excellent music composed by Naushad Ali in Kohinoor with Rafi’s excellent songs like “madhuban me radhika nachere” and “do sitaron ka zameen par hai milan aaj ki raat” stands out even today. In Chaudavi Ka Chand, the excellent ghazals sung by Rafi and composed by Ravi Shankar Sharma including “chaudavi ka chand ho” made the viewers spellbound. In the same year, Raj Kapoor’s Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai was the fifth largest grosser. The film had been directed by Radhu Karmakar and music composed by Shankar Jaikishan. Raj Kapoor, Padmini and Pran were the main artists in the film. Mukesh and Lata Mangeshar’s songs like “o maine pyar kiya”, “mera naam hai raju”, “aa aab laut chale” became everlasting musical masterpieces. The other hit films in the list of bollywood grosser included Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi, (6th), Love In Simla (7th), Ghunghat, (8th), Kanoon (9th) and Kala Bazaar (10th). The artists who were prominent in those films included Raj Kumar, Meena Kumari, Joy Mukherjee, Sadhna, Rajender Kumar, Dev Anand, Wahida Rehman and others. The inference that can be made in respect of bollywood films included that Dilip Kumar dominated the bollywood scenario with his brilliant performance, at the same time the other actors who were very close competitors of him included Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor, Bharat Bhushan, Raj Kumar, Rajender Kumar, and others. As far as actresses were concerned Madhubala, Wahida Rehman, Meena Kumari were the dominating figures in bollywood. Music played a very significant role during 1960. The composers who dominated the world of music included Naushad Ali, Shankar Jaikishan, Roshanlal Nagrath, Ravi Shankar Sharma, and others. Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Mukesh and others gave their best in that year to make the films super hit. Lastly the directors who dominated the scenario included K. Asif, P. L. Santoshi, Mohammad Sadiq, Raj Kapoor, Kishore Sahu, Guru Dutt and others. The high standard of performances of the actors and actresses created huge competition, and the directors utilized their potentiality to the maximum.

Happy birthday to dignified actress Raakheeji

Happy birthday to Rakhee. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Rakhee on 15th August, 2026. She had contributed in bollywood films for more than 30 years. She had contributed both as a leading actress and also as a character actress. Rakhee came to limelight with her successful film Sharmilee opposite Shashi Kapoor in the early 70s. The songs of the film composed by SD Burman became very successful, including the songs “khilte hai dil yahan”, “megha chaye aadhi raat”, etc. Rakhee played a double role, one being calm and quite named Kanchan and the other who was outspoken named Kamini and created attention. In the mid-70s Rakhee acted in landmark roles including the one in the film Kabhi Kabhi opposite Big B and Shashi Kapoor. She loved a poet played by Big B, but had to marry Shashi Kapoor. The poetry of Big B created a great impact in the life of Rakhee. The songs of Mukesh and Lata composed by Khayyam in the film including “mai pal do pal ka shayar hoon” and “kabhi kabhi mere dil me” made the viewers spellbound. Rakhee acted in many landmark films opposite Big B including Shakti Shamanta’s Bengali film Anusandhan, hindi film Barsaat Ki Ek Raat, Kala Patthar, Kasme Wade, etc. In the early 80s Rakhee played the role of her lifetime opposite Dilip Kumar in the film Shakti. She played the role of the mother of Big B, who faced the hostility between Dilip Kumar and Big B, one being the protector of law, while the other being the lawbreaker. The scenes where she praised her law-abiding husband her performance had outcast Big B, and viewers said that Rakhee’s performance was as brilliant as Dilip Kumar in Shakti. The film became super hit. She was brilliant in the film Shaan. She played the role of the wife of Sunil Dutt. After the death Sunil Dutt, her small interaction with Shashi Kapoor and Amitabh Bacchan, who were the brothers of Sunil Dutt in the film, had shown the class of acting of Rakhee. Rakhee by that period of time created her own class in character roles. She was outstanding opposite Suresh Oberoi in the film Shraddhanjali. In the 90s, Rakhee played many character roles in films like Anil Kapoor’s Ram Lakhan, Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan’s Karan Arjun, Bobby Deol’s Soldier, to name a few. She had acted in more than 100 films and continues to act in many contemporary films. Rakhee had also acted in many character roles and challenging roles. Her performance in Aparna Sen’s film Parama requires special mention. She had affair with a middle-aged neighbour. When the truth relating to her extra-marital affair was known to her husband, she lost her value in the family. She showed the helplessness in the respective story. She had performed in both commercial films and parallel cinema and in both forms of films she had kept a mark. She was sublime in the other Bengali film Shubha Maharat. The viewers expect her to continue the good work in the years to come.