Saira Banu

Saira Banu (born 23 August 1944), also known as Saira Bano, is an Indian Bollywood actress and the wife of the film actor Dilip Kumar. She acted in many Bollywood films between 1961 and 1980.

Early life

Saira Banu was born in India to actress Naseem Banu and film producer Mian Ehsan-ul-Haq, who produced the film Phool in Mumbai and film Wadah in Pakistan. Her grandmother was the courtesan Chamiyan Bai, also known as Shamshad Begum of Delhi (not to be confused with the famous playback singer of yesteryear Shamshad Begum who was from Amritsar, Punjab). Saira spent a significant part of her childhood in London, and went to finishing school. Her grandmother was from Hasanpur Uttar Pradesh.

Career

Saira Banu was 16 years old in 1960, the year she made her debut to Hindi films. She said in a programme, that she had basic talent and little dancing experience. Her peers all were classically trained, which was why she wasn't put in the top league. Saira started taking Kathak and Bharata Natyam lessons with success and trained herself professionally. Soon she became a dancer and her films flaunted more of her dance. Banu made her acting debut at 17 years opposite Shammi Kapoor in the 1961 film Junglee for which she earned her first Filmfare nomination as Best Actress. The famous song from this movie "Yaahoo!! Chahe Koi Mujhe Junglee Kahe" sung by Mohammed Rafi was a big success. 'Junglee' was written by Aghajani Kashmeri (aka Kashmiri and Agha Jani), who also coached her in Urdu dialogue delivery, given his background in Urdu literature and poetry from Lucknow. 'Junglee' also instantly made her a successful actress throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. But it is said that the turning point of her career was the comedy and love story Padosan, which brought her to be one of the successful actresses.

Dastaan (TV series)

Dastaan (Urdu: داستان‎) (English: A Tale) is a Pakistani drama serial dramatized by Samira Fazal, and based on the novel Bano, by Razia Butt. It is based on the partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan, and takes place between 1947 and 1956. The drama depicts the story of Bano, a girl from a close knit Muslim family living in Ludhiana (located in undivided Punjab) in the pre-1947 era. The story follows Bano and Hassan, as they face the trials and tribulations caused by the 1947 independence.

Dastaan is the first project of its kind taken up by the Pakistani media. Director Haissam Hussain stated in an interview that production for the drama began months in advance, and that the filming itself only took a little over two months. The show was broadcast on Hum TV. The show is now airing in Middle East on channel MBC Bollywood. It is the second highest-rated Pakistani television series.

Dastaan was also aired in India on Zindagi under the title Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam from 23 March 2015 onwards. Previously, it was decided to run the show under the title Lakeerein, but the decision was later changed.

Bano (novel)

Bano is a novel by the Pakistani novelist, Razia Butt, which is considered one of her best literary works. It is set in the days before and after the independence in Ludhiana, Punjab Province and subsequently, Pakistan. The events of independence play a central role in the story. It is named for its female, protagonist, Bano.

Dramatisation

The novel has been dramatised both for films and television.

References

Barium nitrate

Barium nitrate with chemical formula Ba(NO₃)₂ is a salt composed of barium and the nitrate ion.

Barium nitrate exists as a white solid at room temperature. It is soluble in water, and like other soluble barium compounds, is toxic. It occurs naturally as the rare mineral nitrobarite. Barium nitrate's properties make it suitable for use in various military applications, including thermite grenades and incendiary ammunition.

Manufacture

Barium nitrate is manufactured by one of two processes. The first involves dissolving small chunks of barium carbonate in nitric acid, allowing any iron impurities to precipitate, then filtered, evaporated, and crystallized. The second requires combining barium chloride with a heated solution of sodium nitrate, causing barium nitrate crystals to separate from the mixture.

Reactions

At elevated temperatures, barium nitrate decomposes to barium oxide, nitrogen dioxide, and oxygen:

In an atmosphere of nitric oxide, thermal decomposition produces barium nitrite (Ba(NO2)2). Reactions with soluble metal sulfates or sulfuric acid yield barium sulfate. Many insoluble barium salts, such as the carbonate, oxalate and phosphate of the metal, are precipitated by similar double decomposition reactions. Barium nitrate is an oxidizer and reacts vigorously with common reducing agents. The solid powder, when mixed with many other metals such as aluminium or zinc in their finely divided form, or combined with alloys such as aluminium-magnesium, ignites and explodes on impact.