Naseem Banu

Naseem Banu Biography

Naseem Banu – the ‘Beauty queen’ of Bollywood has been given the title of "first female superstar" of Indian Cinema. She entered film scene in the mid-1930s and fully dominated the celluloid in the 1930s and 1940s and later took retirement in the 1950s. Simply called Naseem, definitely she is one among the lovely faces Indian cinema has ever seen. The popular actress Saira Banu is her daughter and legendary actor Dileep Kumar is her son-in-law. She made her film debut with the Indian version of Hamlet – titled Khoon Ka Khoon released in 1935. She was at the peak of her career when she played the female lead in Modi's Pukar (1939).

Her birth name is Roshana. She was born on July 4, 1916 in Delhi into a wealthy aristocratic family. Her father was Nawab Abdul Waheed Khan of Hasanpur. Her mother Shamshad Begum was a famed singer. Shamshad wanted her daughter to become a doctor. But young Roshana admired movies, since she saw Sulochana on silver screen. Her idea to join films was not supported by her mother initially. Once her visit to Mumbai, she went to see film shootings and impressed by her charming looks, her first film role was offered by Sohrab Modi. She was offered the lead role of Ophelia in his Indian version of Hamlet.

Roshana didn’t get approval from her mother and she went on to a hunger strike to get a positive nod. Her school was also shocked with her decision as acting in films was not considered a decent profession then. She discontinued the studies and reached Mumbai to sign her first film - Khoon Ka Khoon. Since then she worked for many movies with Modi under the Minerva Movietone banner. "Khan Bahadur" (1937), Talaq (1938), Meetha Zahar and Vasanti (1938) are her early hits. She rose to fame with the film – Pukar in 1939 in which she played the role of Empress Nur Jahan. Chal Chal Re Naujawan (1944), Anokhi Ada (1948), Sheesh Mahal (1950) and Shabistan (1951) were her best works later.

Naseem married her childhood friend an architect, Mian Ehsan-ul-Haq and they together founded the film production company - Taj Mahal Pictures banner. The couple had two children of whom Saira banu went on to become a leading actress of 1960s. After partition, Mian moved to Pakistan while Naseem stayed in India grooming Saira Banu’s career. She designed costumes for Saira Banu’s debut film – Junglee. Nausherwan-E-Adil (1957) was her last release.

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Updated: March 20, 2016