Eventually, we somehow got to our car, which was surrounded by thousands of fans and, as a gesture of great love, the car was lifted up by them as we sat inside! We could hear just one voice chanting: ‘Mubarak! Mubarak!' (Congratulations! Congratulations!) Heaven knows how, despite security barriers put up by the police, fans had accessed even the tarmac, not just the airport. As the doors of the aircraft were opened for the passengers to disembark, we had to beat a hasty retreat. Saira and Naseem Aapa were also headed for Calcutta to shoot outdoors for director Lekh Tandon's 'Jhuk Gaya Aasmaan'.Īt the Calcutta airport, there was a tumultuous sea of people such as we had never seen before in our lives - not even at premieres, functions and rallies that I was so familiar with. Rawail to Calcutta to do some scripting work and also to finalise a temple outdoor location there for the film 'Sunghursh' (eventually released in July 1968). Consequently, there literally was a storm in the minds of people, who were eager to see us together and have a glimpse of us together.Īs for Saira, Naseem Aapa had told me, in her own dignified manner, that she was beside herself with joy, celebrating the granting of a long-cherished desire of being my wife.Īt that point of time, I was to finish the final schedules of 'Ram Aur Shyam' in Madras and then travel with producer-director H.S. My fans and also my friends, such as Satish Bhalla, Raj Kapoor, producer Ved Puri, Hiten Choudhary, Pran and Balraj Kohli, were agog with 'how did this happen'? Saira's career was just five years old we had never worked together and were never linked romantically. The news of our forthcoming marriage came as a surprise to all those who had thought I was an unrelenting, highly eligible bachelor who would never settle down. There was an air of great festivity in Bombay (and probably elsewhere as well) as all available loudspeakers belted out our favourite film songs!

The media was splashing the news all over and the radio stations kept on announcing the event every couple of hours.

The announcement of our engagement on October 2, 1966, reverberated with sensational and joyous tidings all over the country.

Saira naseem accident