Sabira Begum better known as Asha Posley ( Punjabi, ur, ) (1927 – 25 March 1998) was the first heroine of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

i films.

Early life

Asha Posley was born as Sabira Begum in

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

in 1927. Asha Posley was the daughter of music composer Inayat Ali Nath, who worked with HMV in Delhi, and the sister of renowned film playback singer

Kausar Parveen Kauser Parveen (1933 - 1967) was a Pakistani playback singer during the 1950s and 1960s. She is known for vocalizing songs like, "''O Maina Na Jane Kya Hogaya Kahan Dil Khogaya''", "''Pal Pal Jhoomun Jhoom Ke Gaun''", and the film lullaby, "'' ...

and another sister Rani Kiran.

Career

She made her debut as a supporting actress in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

-made Punjabi film ''Gawandi (1942)'', then the lead role in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

film ''Champa'' (1945), filmed in

. She was given her professional name Asha Posley by the renowned music director Ghulam Haider. After the

independence of Pakistan The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

in 1947, she migrated with her family to the newly created

. She was the heroine of the first-ever released film in

Urdu language Urdu (;"Urdu"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ur, , link=no, ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, In ...

, '' Teri Yaad'' (1948). She played the female lead opposite

Nasir Khan Nasir Khan may refer to: * Nasir Khan (actor), Indian film actor *Nasir Khan (Afghan cricketer), born 1998, Afghan cricketer *Nasir Khan (Pakistani cricketer), born 1975, Pakistani cricketer *Nasir Khan (FATA politician), Pakistani politician * Nas ...

, famous Indian actor

Dilip Kumar Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from lat ...

's brother, who played the male lead in the film. After playing the female lead role in just a few films, she was cast mainly in supporting roles especially opposite comedian actors Nazar and ''Asif Jah'' in most of her films. She acted in 129 films during her film career spanning over 3 decades.(Karan Bali
Asha Posley profile on Upperstall.com website
Retrieved 28 June 2021

Personal life

Posley's younger sister

was playback singer in 1950s and 1960s. Her other younger sister Najma was the leading actress of Urdu and Punjabi films in 1970s.

Death

Asha Posley died on 26 March 1998 at

, Pakistan at age 70.

Filmography

Television series

Film

Awards and recognition

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Posley, Asha 1927 births Pakistani film actresses 20th-century Pakistani actresses Nigar Award winners 20th-century Indian actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema People from Patiala 20th-century Pakistani women singers 20th-century Pakistani singers Actresses in Urdu cinema 20th-century Indian singers Pakistani radio personalities 20th-century Indian women singers 1998 deaths People from Punjab, India Actresses in Punjabi cinema Indian film actresses Urdu-language singers Radio personalities from Lahore Pakistani ghazal singers Pakistani classical singers Indian musical theatre actresses Punjabi people Pakistani stage actresses Punjabi-language singers Pakistani playback singers Women ghazal singers Hindi-language singers Singers from Lahore