How did Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu meet?

Actor Saira Banu was just 12 years old when she fell head over heels in love with the 34-year-old Dilip Kumar, who had already made it big in the Indian film industry.

This evergreen couple’s real-life love story is no less than a Bollywood film’s script.

After failing to catch a glimpse of the 'king of tragedy’ at Mughal-e-Azam’s first premiere at Maratha Mandir in 1960, Saira Banu finally got to meet him later in person.

In an interview with Bollywood Shaadis, she said, "When he smiled at me and remarked that I was a pretty girl, I could feel my whole being taking wings and flying rapturously. I knew somewhere deep within me that I was going to be his wife."

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Meanwhile, Saira Banu got into Bollywood and became one of the biggest stars of her time. Dilip Kumar, however, used to turn down movie offers with her as he found her to be too young.

Talking about that time when Saira Banu made his heart skip a beat, Dilip Kumar wrote in his autobiography, "When I alighted from my car and entered the beautiful garden that leads to the house, I can still recall my eyes falling on Saira standing in the foyer of her new house looking breathtakingly beautiful in a brocade sari. I was taken aback because she was no longer the young girl I consciously avoided working with because I thought she would look too young to be my heroine."

"She had indeed grown to full womanhood and was, in reality, more beautiful than I thought she was. I simply stepped forward and shook her hand and for us, time stood still," he added.

Despite the 22-year age gap, Saira Banu's mother played cupid to bring the two together. Later, Dilip Kumar proposed to Saira Banu and the two got married in 1966.