| 4 | 8 | Hindi-Urdu actress, born in Lahore. Started on the Urdu stage, which supplied the mainstream historical film with most of its acting talent. Joined films at Saroj Movietone. Early films with A.P. Kapur. Broke through in the role of the washerwoman in Pukar, where she also sang Kaheko mohe chhede. Classic screen performance as the mother in Mehboob’s melodrama, Aurat. With Mukhtar Begum and Naseem Banu, she is one of the few Urdu stage actresses to make a successful transition to cinema. Her weighty, languid histrionics and gravelly voice invested her style with an earthly quality lost to the cinema after independence. Other films in which she sang include Purnima (the Bhajan Giridhar ke sang) and Piya ki Jogan. She married Mehboob in 1942 and ran Mehboob studio after his death. Made a comeback with Hulchul |