Zeba Bakhtiar ( ur, ; born 5 November 1962) is a Pakistani film/TV actress and a television director. She is known for her TV drama ''Anarkali'' (1988), the Bollywood romantic drama ''Henna'' (1991), and the Lollywood movie, '' Sargam'' (1995). She produced and directed a movie ''Babu'' in 2001. Zeba won the best actress

Nigar Award The Nigar Awards ( ur, , translit=Inʿām Negār, lit=Picture Awards) were presented in an annual award show to recognize outstanding achievement in Pakistani cinema. The honors are awarded by Nigar Magazine founded in 1948. The Nigar Awards ...

for the movie ''Sargam'' in 1995.

Early life and family

Zeba is the daughter of

Yahya Bakhtiar Yahya Bakhtiar ( ur, ) was a Pakistani lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General of Pakistan. Yahya was born in 1921 at Quetta, Balochistan, British India. Yahya Bakhtiar died on June 27, 2003 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.

, a lawyer, politician and pre-independence

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties Subcontinent ; British India *All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan. **Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...

activist who served as the

Attorney General of Pakistan The Attorney-General for Pakistan is the chief law officer and legal advisor of the Government of Pakistan and enjoys rights of audience before Parliament. The Attorney-General, who serves as Pakistan's public prosecutor, is nominated by the Prime ...

, and also played a key role in framing Pakistan's current

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

. Her father belonged to

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of ...

, while her mother Eva Bakhtiar was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

woman born to Hungarian parents. Her father died in 2003, and her mother died in 2011. Her parents met in the UK in the early 1940s and married, with her mother eventually settling in Pakistan in 1949 after graduating from the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. Zeba has two brothers, Salim and Karim, who are both doctors, and a sister, Saira. She was raised in Quetta, and moved to

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

later.

Career

Zeba made her television debut with a

Pakistan Television Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore. Background Historical co ...

drama, ''Anarkali'' in 1988. Her melancholic romantic role in ''Anarkali'' was widely appreciated. Then, she signed a

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

movie '' Henna'' in 1991 under the direction of

Randhir Kapoor Randhir Raj Kapoor (born 15 February 1947) is an Indian actor, film producer and director who worked in Hindi cinema. He was an established actor of the 1970s and received two Filmfare Award nominations. However, his career declined in the ea ...

. ''Henna'' made Zeba a household name in the subcontinent. Later, she worked in more Bollywood movies like ''Mohabbat Ki Arzoo'' (1994), ''Stuntman'' (1994), ''Jai Vikraanta'' (1995), and ''Muqadama'' (1996). But her career in Bollywood didn't make any progress after ''Henna''. Then she came back to Pakistan and worked in

Syed Noor Syed Noor (Punjabi, ur, ) (born Syed Ghulam Mohyuddin Noor) is a Pakistani film director based in Lahore. In 1970 Syed Noor joined the Pakistani film industry as an assistant to director S. Suleman. Noor assisted S. Suleman for 18 feature f ...

directed film ''Sargam'' (1995). Her other Lollywood movies include ''Chief Sahib'' (1996), ''Qaid'' (1996), and ''Musalman'' (2001). She produced and directed movie ''Babu'' in 2001, and produced a movie '' Mission 021'' in 2014.
Apart from big screen, Zeba also appeared in some popular TV dramas like ''Tansan'', ''Laag'', and ''Pehli see mohabbat''.

Personal life

Marriages

Zeba has been married 4 times. Her first husband was Salman Galliani whom she married in the year 1982. In 1989 she married Javed Jaffrey however denied this as rumours. Javed produced a Nikah Nama and the two divorced a year later. In 1993, Zeba came in the limelight because of her marriage to singer and music composer Adnan Sami. Zeba and Adnan got divorced in 1997. They both have a son named Azaan Sami Khan. Zeba then married Sohail Khan Leghari in 2008.

Diabetes

Zeba was diagnosed with diabetes before her second marriage. She now participates in the diabetes awareness campaigns on different forums.

Social work

She is involved in

women's association football Women's association football, more commonly known simply as women's football or women's soccer, is a team sport of association football when played by women only. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries and 176 national t ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

chairwoman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

-based Diya W.F.C.

Filmography

Television

Accolades

* 1992 -

37th Filmfare Awards The 37th Filmfare Awards were held in 1992. ''Lamhe'' led the ceremony with 13 nominations, followed by ''Saajan'' with 11 nominations, ''Saudagar'' with 9 nominations, ''Henna'' with 8 nominations and ''Hum'' with 7 nominations. ''Lamhe'' ...

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

- ''Henna'' (nominated) *1992 -

- Best Female Debut - ''Henna'' (nominated) * 1995 -

Nigar Awards The Nigar Awards ( ur, , translit=Inʿām Negār, lit=Picture Awards) were presented in an annual award show to recognize outstanding achievement in Pakistani cinema. The honors are awarded by Nigar Magazine founded in 1948. The Nigar Awards ...

- Best Actress - '' Sargam'' (won)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakhtiar, Zeba 1971 births Living people People from Quetta Actresses from Karachi Pakistani film actresses Pakistani television actresses Pakistani people of British descent Actresses of European descent in Indian films Actresses of European descent in Bollywood films Pakistani people of Hungarian descent Kinnaird College for Women University alumni Nigar Award winners Actresses in Urdu cinema Actresses in Hindi cinema Pakistani expatriate actresses in India 20th-century Pakistani actresses 21st-century Pakistani actresses