Shabnam

Shabnam Biography

Shabnam is an actress who has worked in Bangladeshi and Pakistani films and theater, as well as a few Hindi films in character roles. She played the lead role in Pakistan film Samundar in 1968 and remained active in Lollywood till 1980s. She holds the record of winning of the prestigious Nigar awards for 13 times, apart from being nominated multiple times. She has appeared in over 180 films, and remained as one of the top Pakistani actresses in the 1970s. Shabnam has done brief roles in Bollywood movies such as Do Phool in the 1960s. In 1990s she migrated to her native Bangladesh and took a break from acting.

Shabnam’s real name is Jharna Basak. She was born on 17 August 1942 in Dhaka, Bengal Presidency of British India. After partition, her birthplace became a part of East Bengal. She belonged to a Bengali Hindu family. Her father was Nani Basak, a football referee from Dhaka. She has been adventurous and tomboyish in nature during her younger days, but interested in singing and dancing. She has one sister. Shabnam began her career as a background dancer, and in the 1970s she went on to establish as a leading actress with Pakistani cinema.

Her father promoted her interest in dance and music and earned her an admission in Bulbul Lalitakala Academy, Dhaka. She was first seen as a background dancer in a dance sequence in the movie "Ei Desh Tomar Amar", followed by "Rajdhanir Bukey". Though she played the role of a dancer in this hit film, she gained recognition, and very soon audience demanded her to appear as lead actress in films. As a film actress, she received her first break from director Waheed Murad to play female lead in 1968 film, Samundar. She appeared in 152 Urdu films, 14 Bengali and 4 Punjabi films, apart from a few Hindi films.

Published: September 01, 2018

Updated: September 01, 2018