Writer Sam Jawed recently stumbled upon a treasure trove of vintage Bollywood photos while cleaning her aunt's belongings. "My aunt passed away many years ago," Ms Jawed wrote on Twitter Wednesday while sharing photos of 1960s Bollywood stars which she found among her aunt's belongings. "Among her belongings was an old album that she was very fond of. The album remained lost for many years, buried somewhere in a storeroom in the basement.
"It was found again recently during a clean-up," she explained.
My aunt passed away many years ago. Among her belongings was an old album that she was very fond of. The album remained lost for many years, buried somewhere in a storeroom in the basement. It was found again recently during a clean-up. 1/n
— SamSays (@samjawed65) February 24, 2021
Ms Jawed revealed that her aunt, enamored by Bollywood movies while growing up in a small town in the '50s and '60s, spent much of her free time writing letters to film stars. Over time, she managed to build up an impressive collection of autographed pictures and letters from some of the biggest names in the film industry at the time.
Among this collection of vintage Bollywood treasures, Ms Jawed found autographed photos and letters from Shammi Kapoor, Asha Parekh, Dharmendra, Sunil Dutt, Sadhana and many more.
Shammi Kapoor 1962
— SamSays (@samjawed65) February 24, 2021
4/n pic.twitter.com/PAXEMyMvfN
She shared many of the pics she could salvage on the microblogging platform, where they have gone viral with thousands of 'likes' and comments from Bollywood fans overjoyed at the rare discovery.
Saira Banu
— SamSays (@samjawed65) February 24, 2021
The letter doesn't have a date but it is from the same time which means she must be around 18 yo in the pic
11/n pic.twitter.com/vGr7cDrN6L
The BBC identified Ms Jawed's aunt as Mehralansa Najma, fondly known as Najma. Among her collection, Ms Jawed also found a personal letter from yesteryear actress Tabassum, which she did not share online.
"She must have been really young at the time," Ms Jawed wrote while sharing a picture of Tabassum which she said dated back to 1962. "There is a personal hand-written letter from her as well which I'm not sharing here but will be happy to share with @tabassumgovil if she wants," she wrote while tagging the former actress.
Tabassum responded shortly afterwards, asking Ms Jawed to send her the letter over personal message. "Lovely!! I think I was 16 or 17 please DM me the fan letter I send her," she wrote.
Lovely!! I think I was 16 or 17 please DM me the fan letter I send her https://t.co/IC617McPxw
— Tabassum (@tabassumgovil) February 24, 2021
According to BBC, the letter was a personal one which indicated an ongoing correspondence between the two.
This wasn't the only handwritten letter found in Najma's collection. Photos shared on Twitter show that Dharmendra also sent her a letter written in Hindi.
Dharmendra -1962
— SamSays (@samjawed65) February 24, 2021
The pic is damaged but the good looks are intact!
5/n pic.twitter.com/thUcMWmpOS
Sunil Dutt wrote her a long letter in Urdu.
Sunil Dutt - 1962
— SamSays (@samjawed65) February 24, 2021
He wrote her a long letter in Urdu which I can't read!
10/n pic.twitter.com/JZTKduS5Xv
Take a look at some of the other pictures that were found:
Asha Parekh - 1963
— SamSays (@samjawed65) February 24, 2021
9/n pic.twitter.com/UmnXCt8EiY
The Irani sisters - Honey and Daisy
— SamSays (@samjawed65) February 24, 2021
12/n pic.twitter.com/KVN1CaT9Tn
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