Mumbai, July 7 : Actress Saira Banu, who often grabs eyeballs on Instagram courtesy of her insightful posts about her life and her late husband, the cinema icon Dilip Kumar, has revealed that the late actor suffered from insomnia.

The actress shared that his insomnia was so severe that even after taking sleeping pills, he would remain awake until dawn.

On Sunday, she took to Instagram and posted a few pictures of herself with Dilip Kumar and a letter she wrote to him, expressing her deepest love for him and gratitude towards the universe for making her the life partner of the late actor.

In a lengthy caption, she wrote: 'I am expressing my Love by writing this note to thank all of his admirers and fans, well-wishers, dearest friends and family who take the trouble of sending us lovely messages on occasions. It makes me happy that they all remember our important dates and pray for his well-being in the hereafter for Dilip Sahib is an inspiration for Six generations of actors as also for the coming generations.'

Saira noted that her husband was best friends with India's first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Narasimha Rao, as well as leading lawyers, economists, and industrialists. He was also a die-hard supporter of sportsmen.

'He played Football and Cricket with great ease. In fact, he would have wanted to be a Sportsman of national level rather than what destiny had in store for him. You see, Sahib was the greatest actor of all time. He had absolutely everything at his disposal, yet not many people know that he suffered from severe insomnia. Before our marriage, even after taking pills, he would remain awake until dawn,' she wrote.

However, this changed once they got married and became indispensable to each other, and he started sleeping on time.

She continued, 'He even gave me a cute nickname, endearingly saying, 'Saira, you are my sleeping pill, you are my pillow'. To this day, I burst into laughter, remembering the charm with which he would say it. There was another memorable incident when he wrote me a note. He had a deep appreciation for music and would often have a whole Darbar set up in our home, witnessing the magic created by the artists. Sahib, ever so efficiently, would often sneak away from the Darbar to get some sleep.'

'On one such evening, despite managing to sneak away, he found himself unable to sleep without me. So, he penned a note saying, 'Feeling sleepy, what do you suggest, Aunty? ...Yours 100 per cent'. He was a fun-loving person, always calling me 'Aunty' and laughing. Yet, beneath the jests, laughter, and those heartfelt notes, there lay pure love. Dilip Sahib is forever... May Allah keep him in his love and blessings,' she added.

/IANS