Vintage photo fun

Shashikala is one of my favorite actresses. And how much do I love the verbiage on this page:

I’m not sure I would appreciate being called an “incubator bred chicken,” gorgeous or not!

On the other hand, Saira is emphatically not one of my favorites but I really love the way she looks here (for Purab Aur Paschim). Oh, if only I could tease my hair that way and wear bright blue-green eyeshadow and fake lashes! (Oh wait! I have—but sadly only for Halloween parties.)

Both images from the June 19, 1970 Filmfare magazine (this photo of Saira was the cover).

33 Comments to “Vintage photo fun”

Shell
June 5, 2009 at 9:43 am

Shoot, that’s how I wear my makeup everyday!

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- memsaab
  June 5, 2009 at 1:57 pm
  
  Atta girl :)
  
  Reply
Sy
June 5, 2009 at 10:01 am

An incubator bred chicken? Really?

Sigh… Only in the 70s!

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- memsaab
  June 5, 2009 at 1:57 pm
  
  in ersatz country dressing!
  
  Reply
  - Sy
    June 5, 2009 at 2:22 pm
    
    I could go for some Vat 69 and dance music right now though.
    
    Reply
Filmi Girl
June 5, 2009 at 10:27 am

I adore Saira Banu’s P aur P avatar… I only dream about being as fab as Preeti. XD

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- memsaab
  June 5, 2009 at 1:58 pm
  
  She is very very mod.
  
  Reply
bollyviewer
June 5, 2009 at 12:17 pm

Your hair and eyes are gorgeous, Memsaab – much better than Saira’s! And I’ve just realised, she doesnt look so much “Western” as Middle Eastern. Guess thats not the look Manoj Kumar was aiming at – but the audience didnt complain!

Shashikala is an “incubator bred chicken”? lol The ones I breed in my incubator dont even get close to what she looks like!

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- memsaab
  June 5, 2009 at 1:59 pm
  
  You are nice bollyviewer (but perhaps a little biased) :-) I think you should be thankful that your incubator chickens don’t come out like Shashikala! Can you imagine?
  
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Nida
June 5, 2009 at 12:57 pm

I agree with Bollyviewer, Memsaab–your look is way more beautiful. But having said that, I just know you could pull off the blue/green eyeshadow and lashes anyday (not just Halloween) :)

Lol about the paragraph on Shashikala…I started reading it and thought,what is this, a recipe?

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- memsaab
  June 5, 2009 at 2:00 pm
  
  Ditto for you Nida! and LOL @ recipe!
  
  Reply
Gebruss
June 5, 2009 at 12:58 pm

I saw some chicks in an incubator only the other day; they were much smaller, and yellow, and fluffy; very cute, but quite distinct from Shashikala.

And I always admire hair that stays wavey for longer than about 2 seconds.

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- memsaab
  June 5, 2009 at 2:01 pm
  
  You crack me up. She IS quite distinct from most little chickies.
  
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ajnabi
June 5, 2009 at 1:39 pm

Oi, Shashikala sounds delicious! LOL

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- memsaab
  June 5, 2009 at 2:01 pm
  
  Is it the dressing that makes you think so? :-D
  
  Reply
AnotherKiranInNYC
June 5, 2009 at 2:18 pm

Incubator bred chicken and VAT69 and onion salad and bhangra dance music…. hahahahaha… thats the punjabi idea of a rocking party! Where does shashikala fit in :)

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RUM
June 5, 2009 at 2:21 pm

omggggg I love Saira’s look, I’ll have to scare on the street with my version of that! Big Curly Hair, blue eyeshadow!

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Amrita
June 5, 2009 at 3:59 pm

I hate to say it, but she does squawk like a chicken. Every time she did something evil on screen, it was never as bad as when she was speaking.

I want Saira’s look so much! I just wish I had the chutzpah to carry it off! I probably wouldn’t make it out my front door.

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memsaab
June 5, 2009 at 4:33 pm

We were just all born too late for that sixties go-go girl look. Sigh.

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bluelotus
June 6, 2009 at 1:55 am

There are so many things that we dont like about these Hindi acors, but we still love them….. Nobody like’s Saira’s squeaky voice but we still love her, same with Shashikala ….. she did not have the greatest dialogue delivery, but I still love her….. Is it just thae magic of the movies from the sixties… I wonder…

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bawa
June 6, 2009 at 2:27 pm

the days where journalists could write that and someone actually published it…

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Ms. A
June 9, 2009 at 7:05 pm

Sheeshe se pe, yaa paimaane se pe…

Ms. Shashikala is definitely my choice for a vamp/vixen. Her highly-talked-about performance in “Phool aur Patthar” — not to mention the blond wig, failing to match the ebony tone of her eyebrows, of course — to me, is the highlight of her career. She rocks, to say the least!

I also love the vintage “feel” of the 60s/70s photographs. Muy caliente, baby! ;)

Thanks for sharing these gems, Memsaab!

– A

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- memsaab
  June 9, 2009 at 9:03 pm
  
  She was one of the best things in Phool Aur Patthar, without a doubt! I LOVE that song :-) She really is muy caliente!
  
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Suneel Gaur
September 30, 2009 at 12:01 am

I WOULD LIKE TO LOCATE THE CHINA TOWN POSTER ON YOUR BLOG. COULD U PLEASE DIRECT ME TO IT.

SUNEEL V.GAUR

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- लावण्या
January 19, 2010 at 1:45 pm

Shashikala , was a DIVA of sirts.

&

Gossip said, she had an affair ( of the heart,:) what else ? ) with her daughter’s husband ( a younger man )

Just some Trivia 5 U Memsaab …………

I’d seen Shashikala FACE to FACE long ago, when we used the same Dry cleaning shop on linking road, Bandra .ooh so long ago……….

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- memsaab
  January 19, 2010 at 1:47 pm
  
  Is she still alive? That is some very sordid gossip indeed :-D
  
  Reply
sapphire's & amethyst's
February 7, 2010 at 6:43 pm

yeah, she is still alive! she’s 77 on august 3rd! need anymore information, gimme a shout, i visit your blog alot!

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- memsaab
  February 7, 2010 at 8:23 pm
  
  OMG, seriously is she still around? I love her unreservedly—she is so underrated and gorgeous.
  
  Do tell us how she is? and what she’s doing? I tried to send you an email but it bounced back :(
  
  Reply
sapphire's & amethyst's
February 8, 2010 at 2:27 am

well, google images obviously have some of here more recent photo’s, & this site:

http://www.screenindia.com/old/apr17/films5.htm

is basically an overview of her life, if you’re that interested! She is still in acting, you stated you loved chori chori (2003), well she’s in that!
i’ve submitted a different email address (for some reason i have thousands!) & i totally understand your ‘love’ for her, im going through this phase where i’m unconditionally obsessed with her, tell me about it!
as i said, if there’s anything else you need to know, im here!

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- memsaab
  February 8, 2010 at 8:27 am
  
  That is a fabulous write up about her life, thank you so much! Screenindia has such a treasury of such articles :) And she is in Chori Chori?! I guess last time I saw it she wasn’t on my radar yet, I must watch it again now :D Does she play Khushi’s “aunt” (the homeless drunk lady?)…
  
  Reply
sapphire's & amethyst's
February 8, 2010 at 12:41 pm

yes, the one in the ‘camouflage suite!’ the write up is amazing! – one of the best one’s on the net! she was really fab in ‘gumrah’ & ‘anupama’ both, totally diiferent roles! she gives each character this little touch, which is what makes her brilliant!

-x-anida-x-

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sapphire's & amethyst's
February 9, 2010 at 3:09 pm

OMG, OMG, OMG! I found this blog all about shashikala,
http://shashikala.blog.co.uk/
I totally understand I’m going totally over the top with my silly obsession but, just thought you’d like to know.

p.s:-love your dog Gemma! I have a shih tzu called Henry!

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sabia
July 22, 2011 at 1:43 pm

can any1 pls give me saira banu’s residence address

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