Fatma Begum

Fatma Begum Biography

Fatma Begum, also pronounced as Fatima Begum is the first woman director of Indian cinema. In the era when film industry was fully dominated by men, both behind and in front of the camera, Begum became the first woman to take an important role behind the camera by directing the movie - Bulbul-e-Parastan. The movie was produced by her own production company – Fatima Films, which was later rechristened as Victoria-Fatma Films. She was also one of the earliest female stars of the industry. She is the mother of Zubeida, Sultana and Shehzadi, who were popular actors of the silent era. Among the three daughters, Zubeida is better known as the first heroine of Indian talkies, the movie being Alam Ara in 1931.

Fatima Begum was born into an Urdu Muslim family. Begum was supposedly married to Nawab Sidi Ibrahim Muhammad Yakut Khan III of Sachin State, though no marriage records are available. Her three daughters - Zubeida, Sultana and Shehzadi entered film industry and were the earliest singing stars. She started her career through theatre and plays and later shifted to movie making. Ardeshir Irani's silent film, Veer Abhimanyu (1922) marked her acting debut. After staying in the industry as an actress, she set up her production company. She acted in her own produced and directed movies.

Fatma worked with filmmakers like Ardeshir Irani and Nanubhai Desai before she set up her own production company. By directing Bulbul-e-Paristan in 1926, she became the first female director from India. It was long before Dadasaheb Phalke made the first Indian full length feature film – Raja Harischandra. She was active in the industry till 1938 and Duniya Kya Hai? was her last movie. She died in 1983 aged 91.

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Updated: June 27, 2014