Saira Banu Recalls Shashi Kapoor On His Birth Anniversary; Pens Heartfelt Note For Him

On the occasion of Shashi Kapoor's birth anniversary Saira Banu remembered the veteran actor and an anecdote associated with him.

New Delhi: Veteran Kapoor yesteryear star Shashi Kapoor's birth aniversary is being celebrated by fans across the country. On the occasion of Shashi Kapoor's birth anniversary Saira Banu remembered the veteran actor and an anecdote associated with him. Saira Banu shared pictures with Shammi Kapoor and said that Yash Chopra wanted to cast the two in 'Dharmputra' but somehow things did not work out and she ended up working with Shammi Kapoor in 'Junglee' in which she made her debut.

Sharing stills from their films together, Saira Banu wrote on Instagram, "I can still vividly recall when I was to debut in the Film Industry, Yashji wanted to cast me and Shashi Ji in "Dharmaputra". At that point in time, as luck would have it, Appaji went ahead with "Junglee," where I worked with Shammi Ji instead of Shashi Ji."

 

"Despite the ebb and flow of our individual projects, our paths always seemed to converge, our shootings would often get scheduled in the same studio, where Shashi Ji and I would run into each other, and on days we would have lunch in the makeup room. Later we worked on films like "Koi Jeeta Koi Haara" and "Sadiyon Se Hai Pyaar," and I must admit those were more than just cinematic ventures,” she added.

Recalling an incident, Saira Banu shared that Shashi Kapoor loved Kayani's Shrewsbury Biscuits. 

Shashi Kapoor's love for Shrewsbury Biscuits

She shared ,"I also recall, a very sweet incident, not many would know but Shashi ji loved Kayani's Shrewsbury Biscuits, he just savoured the entire pack of these biscuits all at once. When I was shooting for Purab Aur Paschim, our shoot was set up in Poona, at Raj ji's huge farm. As soon as Shashi ji knew about this he immediately came to me and said "Saira, please get me Shrewsbury Biscuits from there", and I always reciprocated his request with large packets of Shrewsbury biscuits no matter how busy I was with shooting. There are a few things you never forget about people, especially when you make them happy with the smallest of gestures, and for Shashi ji, it was a packet of Shrewsbury Biscuit."

“Shashi Ji and I often had this playful banter, especially when it came to musical numbers. He would laughingly say, "Dekho Yeh Beat Aise Nahin Hai, Yeh Offbeat Hai." This banter is something that remains until the end of time.” Saira Banu signed off in her post.

Shashi Kapoor passed away on December 4, 2017.