''Shabana'' is a 1976

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 ...

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

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film produced by A. Hameed and directed by Nazar Shabab. The film stars

Babra Sharif Babra Sharif ( ur, ), (born 10 December 1954) is a Pakistani film actress, most known for her roles from the mid-1970s to the 1980s. She started her career in television commercials. She has worked with many famous names of her time, including S ...

Waheed Murad Waheed Murad ( ur, ; 2 October 1938 – 23 November 1983), also known as Chocolate Hero, was a Pakistani film actor, producer and script writer. Famous for his charming expressions, attractive personality, tender voice and unusual talent for a ...

and

Shahid ''Shaheed'' ( , , ; pa, ਸ਼ਹੀਦ) denotes a martyr in Islam. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); ...

. The film was released on 12 November 1976. The film completed more than 100 weeks at Pakistani cinemas and became a Diamond Jubilee film. During the same year, two more Diamond Jubilee Urdu films were released:

Nadeem Nadeem (also spelled Nadim or Nedim; ar, نديم) is an Arabic masculine given name. It means "best friend of the drinker" "companion", "confidant" or "friend". Originates from the plural word "Nadama""نَدامَى" which means, drink to forg ...

's ''Talash'' and

Rahat Kazmi Rahat Kazmi ( ur, ) is a Pakistani actor, screenwriter, TV news presenter anchorman, and an academician. He has worked in several TV serials for PTV such as 1967's ''Mayaar'', 1974's ''Qurbatain aur Faaslay'' and 1976's Pakistan's first coloure ...

's ''Aaj Aur Kal''. The film gave a boost to

's career and she won her first

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 a ...

as best actress.

Plot

The story of the film revolves around two sisters; Shabana and Farzana (

in a double role). They are identical twins who have very different personalities. Farzana is a shy and innocent girl, whereas her sister, Shabana, has a lively and confident personality. Farzana works as a secretary to the wealthy playboy, Akhter (

). He lusts after Farzana, but is unable to seduce her. He finally manages to trap her by promising marriage. A secret marriage takes place between them, attended only by Akhter's closest aides and a dubious ''

maulvi Mawlawi ( ar, مولوي; also spelled Maulvi, Molvi, Moulavi and Mawlvi) is an Islamic religious title given to Muslim religious scholars, or ulama, preceding their names, similar to the titles Mawlānā, Mullah, or Sheikh. Mawlawi generally ...

''. After consummating the marriage, Akhter informs a stunned Farzana of his true intentions. When she refuses to leave quietly, he pushes her out of the apartment window in an attempt to kill her. However, she survives and when she returns home, her mother and Shabana are horrified to hear her story. Shabana decides to take revenge on Akhter for having deceived her now pregnant sister. Akhter is astonished and afraid when an apparently resurrected Farzana (who is really Shabana in disguise) returns to the office and resumes her duties as his secretary. Meanwhile, Akhter's father passes away and his younger brother Anwar (

) returns home. Anwar finds Akhter behaving strangely. Shabana begins to blackmail Akhter about the attempted murder to ensure that he suffers for the cruelty he inflicted on her family. Anwar and Shabana fall in love and get married. Shabana moves into Akhter and Anwar's house and continues to harass Akhter. Anwar, unaware that his wife is actually Shabana not Farzana, overhears a conversation between his wife and elder brother and becomes despondent. The film ends with Akhter repenting his terrible actions and taking back Farzana and his child. Shabana and Anwar also reconcile.

Cast

Nanha Rafi Khawar ( Punjabi, ur, رفیع خاور) (4 August 1942 – 2 June 1986), popularly known as Nanha (Urdu: ننھا), was a Pakistani actor and comedian. He started his film career in 1966 and earned several awards including 3 Nigar ...

* Tamanna *

Masood Akhtar Syed Masood Akhtar (born 18 August 1946) is a former international cricketer who represented the American national side between 1979 and 1982. He was born in present-day India, and played first-class cricket in Pakistan before emigrating to the ...

* Nazam * Zarqa * Parveen Boby * Seema *

Kamal Irani Syed Kamal Udin Safavi (Born in 1936 and died on September 13, 1989 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan), better known as Kamal Irani, was an actor of Pakistani cinema (Lollywood). He worked in 244 Urdu, Punjabi, Pashto, and Sindhi films. Films * ''Chira ...

* Chakram * Saqi * Murid Ahmad

Release and reception

''Shabana'' was released by Nazar Arts Productions at Pakistani cinemas on 12 November 1976. The film ran continuously 38 weeks at main cinemas and 101 other cinemas 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 ...

. The film created a history when it became the first Pakistani film to cross the double 'Diamond Jubilee' barrier i.e. a 200-week theatrical run all over

Soundtrack

The music and the songs, especially ''Tere siva dunya mein...'' and ''Jo dard mila, apno se mila...'' of the film became very popular. The music is composed by

M Ashraf M. Ashraf or Muhammad Ashraf (1 February 1942 – 4 February 2007) was a Pakistani film composer. In the early 1960s, he first started as one member of the ''music directors duo'' of ''Manzoor - Ashraf'' in the Pakistan film industry. By th ...

and the songs are written by ''Taslim Fazli''. *''Jo Dard Mila, Apnon Sey Mila...'' by

Mehdi Hassan Mehdi Hassan Khan ( ur, مہدی حسن خاں , translit=) 18 July 1927 – 13 June 2012) was a Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer for Lollywood. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential figures in the history of gh ...

*''Bewafa Kaun Hai, Kaun Harjai Hai...'' by

*''Yeh Tera Nazuk Badan Hai, Ya Koi Mehka Ghulab...'' by

*''Tere Siwa Dunia Mein Kuchh Bhi Nahin...'' by

Naheed Akhtar Naheed Akhtar (also spelled Nahid Akhtar) is a Pakistani playback singer. She is tagged as the "''Nightingale of Pakistan''". She was the top Lollywood playback singer during the second half of 70s and 80s. She won 3 Nigar Awards and a Pride o ...

Awards

Shabana (1976) won 5 Nigar film awards for 1976. They are listed as below:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shabana (1976 Film) 1976 films 1970s Urdu-language films Nigar Award winners Pakistani romantic comedy films Films scored by M Ashraf Films about twins 1976 romantic comedy films