Salma Sultan (born 16 March 1944) is an Indian television journalist and director. Having worked as a

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

from 1967 till 1997, she later went into directing television shows. Sultan had initiated a trend-wearing a signature rose tucked under her left ear in her hair, and draping the border of her sari around her neck in a modern yet traditional way. It was later picked up by almost all the women newsreaders.

Early life and education

Salma Sultan was born as second child to scholar and secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Mohammed Asghar Ansari and a homemaker mother. Salma had an elder sister Maimoona Sultan (a four-time

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

Member of Parliament from

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

). Salma and Maimoona were great-great-granddaughter of Shah Shuja of Afghanistan. Salma did her schooling from

Sultanpur, Madhya Pradesh Sultanpur is a town and a nagar panchayat in Raisen district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Geography Sultanpur is located at . It has an average elevation of 366 metres (1200 feet). Demographics India census A census is ...

and did her graduation from

. She did her post graduation in English from

Indraprastha College for Women Indraprastha College for Women, also known as Indraprastha College or IP College ( hi, इंद्रप्रस्थ महिला महाविद्यालय), is the oldest women's college in Delhi. Established in 1924, it is a con ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

and simultaneously gave audition for an announcer on

at the age of 23.

Career

Pratima Puri Pratima Puri (died 29 July 2007) was an Indian journalist best known for being Doordarshan’s first newsreader. Early life She was born as Vidya Rawat to a Gorkha family at Laal Paani in Shimla, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. Puri g ...

and Gopal Kaul were regular faces then in

, which started its operations on 15 September 1959. Doordarshan began a 5-minute news bulletin in 1965. Salma Sultan gave the first news of assassination of

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

's evening news on 31 October 1984, more than 10 hours after she was shot.

As director

After her retirement, Salma Sultan moved to directing serials on social topics for Doordarshan under her production house Lensview Private Limited. Her serials Panchtantra Se, Suno Kahani, Swar Mere Tumhare and Jalte Sawal drew attention. Panchantra Se used to be telecast soon after

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

in 1989 and did very well. Jalte Sawal was a serial on women issues,which was telecasted in 2004 on DD News on Sundays at 11 a.m.

Personal life

Salma Sultan is widow of Aamir Kidwai, who worked for

Engineers India Engineers India Limited (EIL) is an Indian central public sector undertaking under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government ...

(EIL). Sultan's son Saad Kidwai is an Income Tax Commissioner and her daughter Sana is a choreographer. Salma has two grandchildren. Saad Kidwai is married to Geti Khan Kidwai (born 1978), a designer and they have two children- Samar and Mehar. Saad and Geti are now settled in BRS Nagar,

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 Indian census, 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the ...

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sultan, Salma Indian women television journalists Indian television news anchors 1944 births Living people Journalists from Madhya Pradesh Indraprastha College for Women alumni Delhi University alumni Indian women television directors Indian television directors Doordarshan journalists People from Raisen district Indian women television presenters 20th-century Indian journalists 20th-century Indian women writers Women writers from Madhya Pradesh