Salma Agha ( ur, ; born 25 October 1956) is a British singer and actress who worked in Pakistani and Indian films in the 1980s and the early 1990s. She was born in
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 cap ...
and raised in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, where she received several film offers from Indian directors. Her first film was the romance ''
Nikaah
In Islam, nikah is a contract between two people. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. A formal, binding contract – verbal or on paper – is considered integral to a religiously valid Islami ...
'' (1982), in which she starred as the female lead and also sang several of the film's songs herself. She was nominated for the
Filmfare awards that year in both the
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 ...
category and the
Best Female Playback Singer category. It was for her singing that she won the
Filmfare Best Female Playback Award
The Filmfare Best Female Playback Award is given by '' Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song.
Although the award ce ...
. She is also known for her role in ''
Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki
''Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki'' () is a 1984 Indian Hindi-language masala film produced and directed by Babbar Subhash, starring Mithun Chakraborty (in double role), Smita Patil, Salma Agha, Karan Razdan, Geeta Siddharth and Amrish Puri. It was ...
'' (1984) opposite
Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty (born Gouranga Chakraborty; 16 June 1950) is an Indian actor, producer and politician who predominantly worked in Hindi and Bengali language films. He is a former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament. He is the recipient of three ...
, and for her song "Come Closer" from the same film.
Personal life
Salma Agha was born and raised in
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 cap ...
,
Sindh
Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
,
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 ...
, to Liaqat Gul Agha and his wife Nasreen Agha. Liaqat Gul Agha was a tradesman dealing in rugs and belonged to an
Urdu speaking
Native speakers of Urdu are spread across South Asia. The vast majority of them are Muslims of the Hindi–Urdu Belt of northern India, followed by the Deccani people of the Deccan plateau in south-central India (who speak Deccani Urdu) and the M ...
Pathan
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
family based in
Amritsar,
East Punjab
East Punjab (known simply as Punjab from 1950) was a province and later a state of India from 1947 until 1966, consisting of the parts of the Punjab Province of British India that went to India following the partition of the province betwee ...
. She traces the origin of her surname 'Aagha', "Her father (Liaqat Gul Tajik) traded in precious stones and antiques in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. He was given the title Aagha there, a kind of knighthood bestowed on a businessman of repute." Her mother Nasreen (born as Zarina Ghaznavi) was the daughter of
Rafiq Ghaznavi, a
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
musician, and his wife Anwari Bai Begum, who was one of the earliest actresses of Indian cinema, starring in ''
Heer Ranjha
''Heer Ranjha'' (or ''Heer and Ranjha'') ( pnb, , ਹੀਰ ਰਾਂਝਾ ) is one of several popular tragic romances of Punjab, other important ones being "Sohni Mahiwal", "Mirza Sahiban" and " Sassi Punnhun". There are several poetic na ...
'' (1932). Anwari and
Rafiq Ghaznavi separated after Nasreen's birth, and Anwari then married a rich
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
businessman named Jugal Kishore Mehra, who converted to Islam and took the name Ahmed Salman. Jugal Kishore Mehra was a first cousin of
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 ...
actors
Raj Kapoor
Raj Kapoor (pronunciation: aːd͡ʒ kəpuːɾ born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of th ...
,
Shammi Kapoor
Shammi Kapoor (born Shamsher Raj Kapoor; (pronounced ʌmːi kʌpuːɾ 21 October 1931 – 14 August 2011) was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of two Filmfare Awards, winning in the categories of Best Actor for ...
and
Shashi Kapoor, because their mother, Ramsarni Kapoor (née Mehra), was the sister of his father.
![Salma Agha at the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Awards 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Salma_Agha_at_the_Dadasaheb_Phalke_Academy_Awards_2010.jpg)
Salma Agha was in a relationship in the 1980s with London-based businessman Ayaz Sipra. This relationship lasted many years, during which time Salma made her film debut, but it did not develop into marriage. She has been married three times. Her first husband was
Javed Sheikh
Jawed Sheikh (also spelled Javaid and Javed; born 8 October 1954) is a Pakistani actor, film director and producer who works in Lollywood and Bollywood. He is best known for working in the Hindi films '' Om Shanti Om'', '' My Name Is Anthony G ...
in the 1980s. She was then married to the
squash
Squash may refer to:
Sports
* Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets
* Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling
* Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
player
Rahmat Khan
Jahangir Khan (Pashto/ ur, جهانگير خان born 10 December 1963) is a former World No. 1 professional Pakistani squash player. He won the World Open title six times , and the British Open title ten times (1982-1991). Jahangir Khan is ...
from 1989 to 2010 and they have two children together – Zara "Sasha" Agha Khan and Ali Agha Khan (Liaqat Ali Khan). In 2011, she married Manzar Shah, a
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
-based businessman. She lives in Mumbai, where her daughter Sasha works in Bollywood films. In January 2017, she was granted
Overseas Citizenship of India
Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) is a form of permanent residency available to people of Indian origin and their spouses which allows them to live and work in India indefinitely. Despite its name, OCI status is not citizenship and does not gr ...
status by the Indian government.
Pakistani singer Salma Agha to get lifelong Indian visa
Dawn (newspaper), Published 31 May 2016, Retrieved 18 June 2018
Filmography
Discography
References
External links
*
FilmfareAwards
Salma Agha to raise funds for Indian hockey – Times Of India
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agha, Salma
Living people
1956 births
Nigar Award winners
20th-century British actresses
Women ghazal singers
Actresses from London
Singers from London
English film actresses
English women singers
English people of Pakistani descent
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
Filmfare Awards winners
British expatriate actresses in India
European actresses in India
European actresses in Bollywood
Actresses in Hindi cinema
British people of Pakistani descent
Khan family (squash)
20th-century Pakistani women singers
20th-century English women
20th-century English people