Munawar Sultana

Munawar Sultana Biography

Munawar Sultana was a popular Bollywood actress, who was quite active in the early talkies. She was one of the most popular actresses of Hindi and Hindustani films, in the post-independent era of late 1940s and early 1950s. She played a housewife in several popular family dramas made during this period. After playing supporting roles, she bagged her first lead role through Mazhar Khan's Pehli Nazar (1945) and earned recognition. There was no turning back after that. Pehli Nazar, Dard (1947), Elaan (1947) Kaneez (1947), and Babul (1950) are her famous films. She passed away in 2007 aged 82.

Munawar Sultana was born on 8 November 1924 in Lahore, British India. She belonged to a conservative Punjabi Muslim family. Her father was a radio announcer. Initially Munawar desired to become a doctor. However when she started getting offers from films, she opted for this field. She got her first break through Dalsukh Pancholi's Khazanchi (1941), in a supporting role, and did a few more character roles till 1945. She took the screen name of Asha for her initial film career.

As a lead actress she got the major break through Pehli Nazar (1945), and went on to do several serious lead roles throughout 1940s and early 1950s. With the arrival of new set of lead heroines like Madhubala, Vyjayanthimala, Meena Kumari etc, her career slowed down, and she reduced her work. She female the female lead opposite Dilip Kumar in 1950 release, Babul. She met her husband Sharif Ali Bhagat, a businessman in the film sets. After she settled with her married life, she said good bye to films. Her husband also financed a few movies with Munawar playing the lead role.

Published: November 07, 2019

Updated: November 07, 2019