Zeenat Begum | |
---|---|
زینت بيگم | |
Born | Shamim Akhtar
[1] 11 November 1931 |
Died | 11 December 2007 | (aged 76)
Other names | Queen of Yesteryear [2] |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1942 – 2007 |
Spouses | Abdul Jabbar
(
m. 1949;
div. 1955)
|
Children | 1 |
Zeenat Begum (born Shamim Akhtar; 11 November 1931 – 11 December 2007), sometimes known as Zeenat, was a Pakistani singer. [1] She was known as The Queen of Yesteryear for singing songs in films and on radio. [2]
Zeenat Begum was born Shamim Akhtar in 1931 on November 11 at Malerkotla, Punjab, British India. [3]
Zeenat Begum was a tawaif and a renowned classical singer. [2] [1] She was discovered by Pandit Amar Nath around 1937. [1] [4] Her first success as a playback singer came in 1942 when she sang for Govind Ram's Punjabi film Mangti (1942) and she also made her debut as an actress in the film. [2] The film was marked as the first Golden jubilee film produced in Lahore. [1] [5]
Her first Hindi film was Nishani (1942). [6] She sang for other notable films including Panchhi (1944), Shalimar (1946), Shehar se Door (1946) and Daasi (1944). [7] [8]
Zeenat Begum migrated from Lahore to Bombay in 1944. [1] She sang for several music directors in Bombay, including younger brothers of Pandit Amar Nath – Pandit Husnlal Bhagatram, Master Ghulam Haider, Pandit Gobind Ram etc. [1] The last film she sang for in India was Mukhda (1951). [1] She migrated to Pakistan and joined Lahore Radio station and worked there until the late 1950s. [1] After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, many new playback singers arrived in Pakistan which affected the playback singing career of Zeenat Begum. [1] Though she remained a prominent singer of Radio Lahore in 1950s and 1960s. [1] [9]
Zeenat married Abdul Jabbar, they later divorced in 1955. Later she married Saqlain Rizvi and they had one child together.
She died on 11 December 2007 in Lahore, Pakistan. [1] [10]
Year | Film | Language |
---|---|---|
1942 | Nishani | Hindi |
1942 | Mangti | Punjabi [11] |
1943 | Sahara | Hindi [12] |
1944 | Daasi | Hindi |
1944 | Chand | Hindi |
1944 | Panchhi | Hindi |
1944 | Gul Baloch | Punjabi [13] [14] |
1945 | Champa | Hindi |
1946 | Kahan Gaye | Hindi |
1946 | Shehar se Door | Hindi |
1946 | Rehana | Urdu |
1946 | Shalimar | Hindi |
1946 | Khush Naseeb | Hindi |
1948 | Teri Yaad | Urdu |
1949 | Ek Thi Larki | Hindi |
1949 | Kaneez | Hindi [15] |
1949 | Pheray | Urdu [16] |
1950 | Jahad | Urdu |
1950 | Hamari Basti | Urdu |
1950 | 2 Aansoo | Urdu |
1950 | Shammi | Punjabi |
1951 | Mukhda | Hindi |
1951 | Eid | Urdu |
1951 | Ghairat | Urdu |
1951 | Billo | Punjabi |
1952 | Shola | Urdu |
1952 | Nath | Punjabi |
1953 | Sailab | Urdu |
1953 | Ilzam | Urdu |
1963 | Ik Tera Sahara | Urdu |
1970 | Naya Savera | Urdu |
1975 | Mohabbat Zindagi Hai | Urdu |