The first female superstar of Indian cinema and beauty queen Naseem Banu was born July 4, 1916.
Naseem was the mother of popular actress Saira Banu and mother-in-law of famous actor Dilip Kumar. She started her career with the ‘Khoon Ka Khoon’ (Hamlet) (1935) with Sohrab Modi. Today is her birthday.
Bano was raised like a queen as she was born in a wealthy family. It is said that she used to go to school in a palanquin.
During her school holidays, Naseem once went to see the shooting of a film along with her mother following which she decided that she wanted to become an actress.
Seeing the beauty of Naseem, many filmmakers wanted to rope her in for various projects but her mother rejected them all.
Meanwhile, filmmaker Sohrab Modi approached Naseem to play Ophelia in his film Hamlet. Even this time her mother refused to give permission and Naseem went on a hunger-strike until her mother agreed.
Naseem did many films with Sohrab Modi. Among them were ‘Talaq’ (1938), ‘Meetha Zahar’ (1938), ‘Vasanti’ (1938). But in ‘Pukar’ (1939), she played the role of Noor, which made her very popular among the masses.
Naseem married her childhood friend an architect, Mian Ehsan-ul-Haq, with whom she started the Taj Mahal Pictures banner. They had two children, a daughter Saira Banu and a son, Late Sultan Ahmed ( 1939 – 2016 ).
Naseem’s husband opted to leave India and settle in Pakistan following the partition. Naseem stayed back in India with her children. According to a report, Naseem played a big role in the marriage of Saira Banu and Dilip Kumar. She breathed her last June 18, 2002, at the age of 85.
PNN/Agencies
