Veteran actor Saira Banu expresses her love for late mother on Mother’s Day

Saira Banu on the left, and her mother Naseem Banu on the right.

Regarded as one of India's finest actresses, Saira Banu showered love on her late mother Naseem Banu, on Mother's Day.

The famed actress took to her social media to express her love and admiration for her mother, Naseem, who was also an actress of her time. Naseem’s most famous films were ‘Pukar’ (1939), ‘Sheesh Mahal’ (1950), and ‘Anokhi Ada’ (1948).

She pondered her mother’s enduring role in her life, highlighting her importance throughout her journey. "My Beloved Mother monitored my entire existence into a beautiful world. Whatever Allah has given me in my life, I owe it to her,” wrote Saira in her Instagram post.

The veteran actor continued to add on her mother’s undying support while being a single parent, while also always encouraging her to embrace her “desi” roots.

“At a young age of 16 my mother had to take on the stance of the family’s mantle bearer and that went on throughout her life. She did a splendid job all around and educated my brother and I in London day schools and we came back to Bombay after I finished school and wanted to do films instead of study further. She insisted always on our ‘Desi Roots’ we travelled the world but the chunk of our holidays were spent in Bombay and Delhi to vibe with our own traditions,” wrote Saira.

Saira added that it was because people wanted to see Naseem’s daughter she became an overnight star and it changed her life. “I became an overnight Star because people were eager to see the daughter of Naseem Banuji.”

On the topic of her mother helping her throughout her career she said, “She took hold of new pastures in Dress Designing for me. Back then there were Black & White Films in which heroines wore costumes any which way but with the advent of “East Man Colour” and “JUNGLEE” Naseemji designed beautiful embroidered ensembles for me.”

Saira Banu, who was married to maestro actor Dilip Kumar, also mentions her mother’s dedication to bringing the right colour and texture into films, and how she would go to “extreme lengths” to make her ideas come to fruition. “For a dream sequence in “SAAZ AUR AAWAZ” (1966) she went to the extremes of finding the right glamorous fabrics and beautiful feathers from the famous ‘Lido Shows’ of Paris, France.”

Naseem Banu was monumental inspiration for her daughter, Saira. At the end of her post, Saira said that she would continue to acquaint us of her mother’s “extreme toil” and her successes at shaping her life.

Many fans of her's went on to encourage Saira to author a book on her mother’s inspirational story. One user said, “We would love to read the Biography of Naseem Banu Ji....why don't you pen it down….”.