Uzra Butt Biography 
Uzra Butt was a theatre personality from Uttar Pradesh of undivided India, who later moved to Pakistan. She was the sister of theatre and Bollywood film actress Zohra Sehgal, a legendary name in the field of Indian arts and theater who lived a long life of 102 years. Uzra also lived till 93. The sisters worked as dancers and actors in the famous Uday Shankar ballet company and toured across the world in the early 1900s. After World War 2, she was the leading lady with Prithvi Theatre in the 1940s and 1950s. Author Kiran Segal is her niece and actress Samiya Mumtaz is her grandniece. She was a recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Acting (Urdu) in 1994 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India.
She was born as Uzra Mumtaz on May 22, 1917 in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. She was born into a rich Muslim family, and had seven siblings. Zohra Sehgal was her elder sister. She grew up in Chakrata, near Dehradun. She began her stage career with Uday Shankar's ballet company in 1937. She, along with her sister Zohra was one among the dancer members who toured across the world during 1935-37. The tour was ended following World War II, and she later became a lead lady of the famous Prithvi theater, after she joined IPTA. In IPTA she played the lead in the play Zubeda. Prithivi Raj Kapoor was impressed by her role and chose her as his lead heroine later. Later Zohra joined her.
As a lead lady of Prithvi theatre, she worked in successful plays like Sakuntala, Kisan, Ghaddar etc till the glorious era of Prithvi theater came to an end in 1960. She worked with her sister for the play, Ghaddar. Uzra Butt was also an art director of Prithvi theatre. In 1964 she migrated to Pakistan with her husband. She formed a dance troupe in Rawalpindi, and continued working in theater and also television shows. Her last stage performance was in 2008, and passed away two years later aged 93.
Published: N/A
Updated: June 05, 2018
