Sunil Dutt, Shammi Kapoor, Dharmendra's letters go viral, NFAI to 'acquire and preserve'

Several letters and old pictures of yesteryear's eminent personalities from the entertainment industry have started surfacing on the Internet. Writer Sam Javed discovered the letters in an album dusted and kept away for years that were written to her late aunt Mehrunnisa Najma by some of the iconic stars from the fraternity. While sharing a glimpse of some letters, Sam received a request from the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) to "preserve the precious collection."  

Letters from iconic stars 

The amazing letters were written to her aunt by some of the legendary Bollywood stars including Shammi Kapoor, Dharmendra, Sunil Dutt, Saira Banu, Tabassum, and many more. Sharing some of the letters and anecdotes related to it, Sam documented the letters on Twitter and wrote, “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.”

Read: Veteran Actor Dharmendra Shares Video Working On His Land With Farmers; Has A Message

Read: Dharmendra Pradhan Attributes Costly Petrol & Diesel To Winter Demand; 'will Reduce Soon'

In the following tweet, Sam explained that her aunt who grew up in a small town was always charmed by the Indian cinema and the charismatic stars. She spent her time writing fan mails and letters and interestingly received replies from some of her favourite ones too which compiled as a collection. “ As a young girl growing up in a small town in the 1950s and 60s, she was completely enamored by movies. Much to the disapproval of her mother, she spent her free time writing fan mail to movie stars and over time, built up quite a collection of autographed pictures and letters. 2/n,” she tweeted.

Since the letters were compiled together in a file, Sam continued and wrote that some of the letters are in a torn-out situation. “Sadly, most of it is now in a bad shape but I managed to salvage a few that I am posting in this thread. I’m sure she would have loved to show off her collection. So, here it is... 3/n” Followed by this, she shared a glimpse of the monochrome pictures of the stars and their handwritten letters to her aunt. There were even some pictures which were completely damaged and had the autograph of the stars printed on them as a fond memory. The posts shared by the writer took fans to that era were writing to the stars and getting their autographed notes was something completely unimaginable.

After receiving an overwhelming response on social media, Sam r4eceived a special request from the National Film Archive of India (NFAI). NFAOI commented below the valuable treasure that was shared by Sam and wrote, “Lovely collection, we would like to acquire and preserve this precious collection. Kindly DM us if you are interested.” NFAI wanted to restore the treasure so that it can be enjoyed by generations to come.

Read: Dilip Kumar's Birthday: Did You Know He Wanted To Call Asha Parekh By THIS Screen-name?

Read: 'Indian Idol 12' To Welcome Legendary Yesteryear Superstars Dharmendra And Asha Parekh