Naseem Banu (4 July 1916 – 18 June 2002) was an Indian actress. She was referred to as Naseem and known as "Beauty Queen" and the "first female superstar" of Indian Cinema.
Starting her acting career in the mid-1930s she continued to act till mid-1950s. Her first film was ''
Khoon Ka Khoon
''Khoon Ka Khoon'' () also called ''Hamlet'' is the first Hindi/Urdu 1935 sound film adaptation of the Shakespearen play Hamlet. Directed by Sohrab Modi under his Stage Film Company banner, it is cited as one of the earliest talkie versions o ...
'' (Hamlet) (1935) with
Sohrab Modi
Sohrab Merwanji Modi (2 November 1897 – 28 January 1984) was an Indian stage and film actor, director and producer. His films include ''Khoon Ka Khoon'' (1935), a version of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'', '' Sikandar'', ''Pukar'', ''Prithvi Va ...
under whose Minerva Movietone banner she acted for several years. Her high-point came with Modi's ''
Pukar'' (1939) in which she played the role of Empress
Nur Jahan
Nur Jahan, born Mehr-un-Nissa P ersian: نورجهان (; – 18 December 1645) was the wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Jahangir from 1620 until his death in 1627.
Nur Jahan was born Mehr-un-Nissa, as the daughter of a Mirza Ghi ...
. According to composer
Naushad
Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was an Indian music director for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the ...
she got the sobriquet Pari-Chehra (fairy face) Naseem through the publicity advertisements of her films.
She was the mother of actress
Saira Banu
Saira Banu (born 23 August 1944) is a former Indian actress who mainly worked in Hindi language films. She was one of the most popular actresses in her heyday in the Indian film industry in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Career
Saira Banu was the ...
and mother-in-law to the 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 ...
.
Early years
Naseem Banu was born as Roshan Ara Begum in
Old Delhi
Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal emperor at the time) decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. Th ...
, India, into a community of performers and entertainers. Her mother, Chamiyan Bai (also known as Shamshad Begum, not to be confused with the playback singer who had the same name), was a famous and well-earning singer of those days. Years later, when Naseem was in her prime, and earning a salary of 3500, she stated that her mother was, even at that time in her old age, earning more than she was. Naseem's father was the head of a wealthy, land-owning, aristocratic family and descended from royalty. He was Nawab Abdul Waheed Khan of Hasanpur.
Naseem, then named Roshan Ara Begum, studied at Queen Mary's High School, Delhi; her mother Shamshad Begum wanted her to become a doctor.
Naseem was keen on films and admired the actress Sulochana (
Ruby Myers
Ruby Myers (1907 – 10 October 1983), better known by her stage name Sulochana, was an Indian silent film actress of Jewish ancestry, from the community of Baghdadi Jews in India.
In her heyday she was one of the highest paid actresses of h ...
), ever since she had seen a film of hers, but her mother was against the idea of films.
On a visit to Bombay, Naseem got interested in seeing the film shootings and at one of the sets she was approached by Sohrab Modi to play Ophelia in his film Hamlet. Her mother refused permission and Naseem went on a hunger-strike till her mother agreed. Having played the role, Naseem was unable to continue her education as the school was shocked at her acting in films, then considered a lowly profession.
Career
Naseem returned to Bombay and signed a contract with Sohrab Modi. She had started her career with ''
Khoon Ka Khoon
''Khoon Ka Khoon'' () also called ''Hamlet'' is the first Hindi/Urdu 1935 sound film adaptation of the Shakespearen play Hamlet. Directed by Sohrab Modi under his Stage Film Company banner, it is cited as one of the earliest talkie versions o ...
'' (Hamlet) (1935) and went on to make several films with Modi under the Minerva Movietone banner. After acting in films like "Khan Bahadur" (1937), ''
Talaq
Divorce in Islam can take a variety of forms, some initiated by the husband and some initiated by the wife. The main traditional legal categories are ''talaq'' ( repudiation), ''khulʿ'' (mutual divorce or ransom divorce) Historically, the rules ...
'' (Divorce) (1938), ''
Meetha Zahar
''Meetha Zahar'' (Sweet Poison) is a 1938 Indian Hindi/Urdu-language social drama film directed by Sohrab Modi for his Minerva Movietone productions. The screenplay was by Gajanan Jagirdar with dialogue by Munshi Abdul Baqi and director of photo ...
'' and ''Vasanti'' (1938) she started work in what became known as her most famous film ''Pukar'' in the role of
Noor Jahan. To prepare for the film she went riding every day and learnt singing. The film took over a year to complete and brought Naseem into prominence in a spectacular manner.
One of her songs, "Zindagi Ka Saaz Bhi Kya Saaz Hai" became popular with the audiences.
The publicity of the film dealt on her beauty calling her Beauty Queen and Pari Chehra a name that was to endure over the years before passing on to her daughter Saira Banu.
![Portrait Naseem Banu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Portrait_Naseem_Banu.jpg)
After the classic ''Pukar'', the demand for Naseem as an actress increased and she was approached by several film studios to act with them. But Sohrab Modi refused to release her from her contract. This caused some uneasiness between the two. ''Sheesh Mahal'' (1950), produced by Minerva show-cased her acting talents devoid of make-up and jewellery and clad only in simple sarees.
From Minerva Movietone, Naseem moved to Circo and then Filmistan studios where she performed in ''Chal Chal Re Naujawan'' with Ashok Kumar.
Married to Ehsan by now, the husband-wife team started Taj Mahal Pictures
and made several films like ''Ujala'' (1942), ''Begum'' (1945), ''Mulaqat'' (1947), ''Chandni Raat'' (1949) and ''Ajeeb Ladki'' (1942) under the home banner. The last two were also directed by her husband, Mohammed Ehsan.
However she did a couple of action and fantasy films ("low-grade films") like ''Sinbad Jahazi'' (1952) and ''Baghi'' (1953), in which she was not accepted by the audiences. She acted in Minerva's ''
Nausherwan-E-Adil
''Nausherwan-E-Adil'' () also called ''Farz Aur Mohabbat'', is a 1957 Indian costume action drama Hindi/Urdu film directed by Sohrab Modi. Produced by Minerva Movietone, it had music composed by C. Ramchandra with lyrics by Parwaiz Shamshi. The ...
'' (1957) in a small role and then quit acting.
She continued to remain active, first trying her hand as a producer, and then as her daughter's dress-designer when Saira entered films with ''
Junglee
Junglee may refer to:
* ''Junglee'' (1961 film), an Indian film
* ''Junglee'' (2009 film), a Kannada-language Indian film
* ''Junglee'' (2019 film), a Hindi-language Indian film
* Junglee.com, a defunct e-commerce website by Amazon.com
*Junglee, a ...
'' (1961).
Some of her best films are ''
Pukar'' (1939), ''
Chal Chal Re Naujawan
''Chal Chal Re Naujawan '' () is a 1944 Indian 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 languag ...
'' (1944), ''
Anokhi Ada'' (1948), ''
Sheesh Mahal'' (1950) and ''Shabistan'' (1951). She co-starred with most of the top stars of those days like Sohrab Modi,
Chandra Mohan,
Prithviraj Kapoor
Prithviraj Kapoor (born Prithvinath Kapoor; 3 November 1906 – 29 May 1972) was an Indian actor who is also considered to be one of the founding figures of Hindi cinema. He was associated with IPTA as one of its founding members and establish ...
,
Trilok Kapoor
Trilok Kapoor (11 February 1912 23 September 1988) was an Indian actor and a member of the Kapoor family who worked in Bollywood films. He was the younger brother of actor Prithviraj Kapoor.
Early and personal life
Trilok was born as the seco ...
,
Ashok Kumar
Kumudlal Ganguly (13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), better known by his stage name Ashok Kumar and also by Dadamoni, was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema and who was a member of the cinematic Ganguly family.
He ...
,
Shyam Shyam is a name of Krishna and an Indian masculine given name and surname. Notable people with this name include:
;Shyam
*Shyam (actor), Indian Hindi film actor
*Shyam (composer), an Indian music composer from Kerala
* Shyam Benegal, Indian film di ...
,
Surendra, Navin Yagnik,
Prem Adib
Prem Adib (10 August 1917 – 25 December 1959) was an Indian actor. He was acclaimed as one of the top Bollywood actors of the 1940s, along with the likes of Pahari Sanyal, Ashok Kumar, P. C. Barua and Master Vinayak. Adib is best remembered ...
, and
Rehman Rehman may refer to a Muslim surname which means, "Merciful", "King", " Lord". It's an honorary title used by some Muslims of Sheikh or Sayyid Caste of Middle Eastern Origin, it is a common surname or middle-name among some Pashtun tribemen. It is a ...
. It was during the shooting of ''Shabistan'' (1951) that the famous actor Shyam had a fall from the horseback and died. She was one of the costume designers for the film ''Purab Aur Paschim (1970).''
Personal life
Naseem married her childhood friend an architect, Mian Ehsan-ul-Haq, with whom she started the Taj Mahal Pictures banner. They had two children, a daughter
Saira Banu
Saira Banu (born 23 August 1944) is a former Indian actress who mainly worked in Hindi language films. She was one of the most popular actresses in her heyday in the Indian film industry in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Career
Saira Banu was the ...
[However, according to some sources, Saira Banu was the love-child of Naseem and her lover Nawab Sir ]Liaqat Hayat Khan
Khan Bahadur Nawab Sir Liaqat Hayat Khan (also sometimes 'Liaquat Hyat Khan'), (February 1887 – 1948) was an Indian official who served for most of his career as a minister and later Prime Minister of Patiala State, in British India.
Early ...
, former Prime Minister of Patiala State
Patiala State was a self-governing princely state
A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but ra ...
and a son, Late Sultan Ahmed (1939 - 2016). Naseem's husband opted to leave India and settle in
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 ...
following
Partition
Partition may refer to:
Computing Hardware
* Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive
* Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job
Software
* Partition (database), the division of a ...
. Naseem stayed back in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
with her children. Ehsan took the negatives of her films releasing the films in
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 ...
where she had a following because of it.
Naseem moved to England and stayed there for some time with both her son and daughter studying there for a while.
Naseem helped
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 ...
and
Saira Banu
Saira Banu (born 23 August 1944) is a former Indian actress who mainly worked in Hindi language films. She was one of the most popular actresses in her heyday in the Indian film industry in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Career
Saira Banu was the ...
get married according to the ''
Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...
'' report with the 44-year-old Kumar marrying a 22-year-old Saira Banu.
However, in the Stardust interview Naseem stated that she was surprised at the two getting married as she thought that Dilip Kumar was a "confirmed bachelor" though she had noted the interest Kumar was taking in Saira Banu.
Naseem died on 18 June 2002 in Mumbai at the age of 85.
Her great-granddaughter is
Sayyesha
Sayyeshaa Saigal (born 12 August 1997), known mononymously as Sayyeshaa, is an Indian actress and dancer who primarily appears in Tamil-language films. After working in a Telugu film '' Akhil'' (2015), she made her Hindi debut in Ajay Devgn's ...
through Sultan Ahmed.
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banu, Naseem
1916 births
2002 deaths
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Indian film actresses
Actresses from Delhi
20th-century Indian actresses