Key Highlights
- Birthday wish: Saira Banu wished Rekha on her birthday with a heartfelt Instagram note.
- Filmistan memory: Rekha would watch makeup artist Dinu Endulkar do Saira’s eyes and say she wanted to copy them.
- A bond renewed: Saira says the two have been “getting to know each other better” with time.
- Admiration for ‘Appaji’: Rekha deeply admired Saira’s mother, the legendary Naseem Banu, known as ‘Pari Chehra’.
Veteran actress Saira Banu marked Rekha’s birthday with a warm note on Instagram.
“Happy Birthday, my dear Rekha! There is something very special about certain artistes who, beyond all the glamour and adulation that surrounds them, remain true to the very essence of who they are. Rekha, you have always held that rare quality, a beautiful individuality that has made you an unforgettable part of our cinematic heritage,” she wrote.
A Friendship That Grew With Time
“Ours has been a relationship that goes back many, many years, and it is lovely to see how, with the passage of time and a little more leisure at our disposal, we have found ourselves getting to know each other better,” Saira said.
The Makeup Room at Filmistan
Saira’s most charming memory goes back to their days at Filmistan Studios, where their sets were close to each other. Rekha would often drop into Saira’s makeup room, where makeup artist Dinu Endulkar, “an exceptionally gifted makeup artiste trained by a British makeup expert,” worked on Saira’s look.
“Rekha would sit on the sofa, watching him work on my eyes, and say to me, ‘Saira Ji, I want to copy these eyes the way Dinu does them for you!’ I can still picture her sitting there, observing every little detail with such interest,” Saira wrote.
Why It Matters: The Making of an Icon
Rekha’s eyes went on to become one of the most recognisable looks in Hindi cinema. Saira’s memory offers a rare glimpse of a young actress learning by watching, sitting quietly in a senior’s makeup room and taking in every detail. It is a reminder that even icons begin as keen students.
“Pari Chehra” Naseem Banu
Saira also revealed Rekha’s admiration for her mother, actress Naseem Banu, whom Saira calls “Appaji.” Naseem Banu was famously known as “Pari Chehra,” or “fairy-faced,” for her beauty.
“Rekha always had the most affectionate admiration for my beloved mother... She admired her exquisite visage and the grace with which she carried herself. It has always touched me that she appreciated not merely my mother’s beauty, but also her bearing and her manner,” Saira wrote. “And I must say, dear Rekha, that my admiration for you has always been just as heartfelt.”
Saira’s Storytelling Streak
Saira Banu has been sharing memories from Hindi cinema’s golden era on Instagram. Just a day earlier, she paid an emotional tribute to her Kathak guru, Roshan Kumari.
The Bottom Line
Through one memory from a Filmistan makeup room, Saira Banu has given fans a glimpse of Rekha before she became Rekha, and of a friendship that has only grown warmer with time.
Saira Banu’s post has been sourced from her official Instagram account.