Uzra Butt

nee Nee or NEE may refer to: Names * Née (lit. "born"), a woman's family name at birth before the adoption of another surname usually after marriage **The male equivalent "né" is used to indicate what a man was originally known as before the adopt ...

Mumtaz (22 May 1917 – 31 May 2010) was a theatre personality of the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

, who moved to

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 ...

in 1964. She was the sister of theatre and

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 ...

film actress

Zohra Sehgal Zohra Mumtaz Sehgal (born Sahibzadi Zohra Mumtazullah Khan Begum; 27 April 1912 – 10 July 2014) was an Indian actress, dancer, and choreographer. Having begun her career as a member of a contemporary dance troupe, she transitioned into acting ...

, who, unlike her, lived 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 ...

. Starting in 1937, breaking traditional barriers, she and her sister joined with

Uday Shankar Uday Shankar (8 December 1900 – 26 September 1977) was an Indian dancer and choreographer, best known for creating a fusion style of dance, adapting European theatrical techniques to Indian classical dance, imbued with elements of Indian cl ...

ballet company A ballet company is a type of dance troupe which performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-round ba ...

as actors and dancers and toured through Europe and the United States. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

ended their tour, she joined IPTA and subsequently remained the leading lady with

Prithvi Theatre Prithvi Theatre is one of Mumbai's best known theatres. It was built by Shashi Kapoor and his wife Jennifer Kapoor in memory of Prithviraj Kapoor, Shashi's father, who had dreamt of having a "home" for his repertory theatre company, Prithvi Th ...

in the 1940s and 1950s.

Early life

She was born as Uzra Mumtaz in Rampur,

in a land-owning

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 of Mumtazullah Khan and Natiqua Begum, belonging to

Rohilla Rohillas are a community of Pashtun ancestry, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region. The Ro ...

Pathans 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 ...

of Rampur, Uttar Pradesh.

Career

Uday Shankar Ballet Troupe, ca (1935-37)

She began her stage career with

in 1937 and went on to become the leading lady of the

in 1940s and 50s. She entered Uday Shankar's ballet troupe as a dancer and also taught dance before joining the

Indian People's Theatre Association Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) is the oldest association of theatre-artists in India. IPTA was formed in 1943 during the British rule in India, and promoted themes related to the Indian freedom struggle. Its goal was to bring cultur ...

(IPTA) in 1944 as an actress. Here

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (7 June 1914 – 1 June 1987) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, novelist, and journalist in Urdu, Hindi and English. He won four National Film Awards in India. Internationally, his films won the Palme d'Or (Golden ...

cast her as the lead in the play ''Zubeda''. Prithivi Raj Kapoor was impressed by her role and chose her as his lead heroine, Zohra too joined her. In the coming years, she played leading lady opposite Prithviraj Kapoor in Prithvi Theatre productions. She played a heroine's part in ''Sakuntala'' in 1944, partnering her sister in ''Ghaddar'' in 1948 and taking the lead role in ''Kisan'' and performed in 100 towns and cities all over India. Uzra Butt was also an art director of Prithvi theatre and worked for Prithvi theatre, until 1960, when it closed. In 1964 she migrated to Pakistan with her husband, Hameed Butt. Here she formed a dance troupe in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

, acted on stage and television from time to time and served the

Pakistan National Council of the Arts Pakistan National Council of the Arts ( ur, , or PNCA) was set up to spearhead the development of arts in Pakistan by an Act of Parliament in 1973. It aims to build a robust arts ecosystem by creating an environment conducive to the flourishi ...

. Later she moved to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

and joined the

Ajoka Theatre Ajoka Theatre (Urdu: , literal translation of ''Ajoka'': "today/present") is a Pakistani not-for-profit arts organization based in Lahore, Punjab, with focus on producing and performing social theatrical stage productions, founded in 1984.Singh B ...

in October 1985. Her inaugural group performance was 'Chaak Chakkar' and she went on to act in the plays: ''Barri'', ''Dukhini'', ''Dukh Darya'', ''Takey Da Tamasha'', ''Talismati Tata'', ''Teesri Dastak'', ''Kali Ghata'', ''Adhuri'' and ''Surak Gulaban Da Mousam''. She assumed the leadership role of chairperson of the group. She resumed acting after a forty-year hiatus in 1993 when she performed in ''Aik Thi Nani'' with her sister

. They played the lead roles and the cast included their grandniece,

Samiya Mumtaz Samiya Mumtaz ( ur, ) (born 1970, Karachi), is a Pakistani film and television actress. She has performed in several TV dramas. Family Mumtaz was born to Khawar and Kamil Khan Mumtaz. Her mother is a prominent women's rights activist, while he ...

and niece, Salima Raza. The play opened in Lahore in 2003 and toured India, Pakistan and Britain, including a performance at the Prithvi theatre in 2004. Uzra was presented the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

Acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

(Urdu) in 1994 by the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and be ...

, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama; it is India's highest recognition that is presented to practicing artists. Her last stage performance was in 2008. She died in

Lahore, Pakistan Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

at age 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butt, Uzra 1917 births 2010 deaths Pakistani ballerinas People from Rampur, Uttar Pradesh Pakistani stage actresses Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Indian People's Theatre Association people Muhajir people Disease-related deaths in Punjab, Pakistan Hindi theatre People from Lahore Indian emigrants to Pakistan