Remembering Naseem Banu (mother of Saira Banu) very popular actress during 30's and 40's 1916-2002

Naseem Banu was born on 4^th July, 1916 in Delhi to the head of a wealthy aristocratic family.  Naseem’s father was Nawab Abdul Waheed Khan of Hasanpur. Naseem, named Roshan Ara Begum, studied at Queen Mary's High School, Delhi; her mother Shamshad Begum, wanted her to become a doctor. Shamshad Begum, also known as Chhamian Bai was a famous and well earning singer of those days. Naseem once stated that her mother earned more than her even when she, Naseem, was earning a salary of ₹ 3,500.

Naseem was keen on films and admired the actress Sulochana (Ruby Myers), ever since she had seen a film of hers, but her mother was against the idea of films. On a visit to Bombay, Naseem got interested in seeing the film shootings and at one of the sets she was approached by Sohrab Modi to play Ophelia in his film Hamlet. Her mother refused permission and Naseem went on a hunger-strike till her mother agreed. Having played the role, Naseem was unable to continue her education as the school was shocked at her acting in films, then considered a lowly profession.

Naseem returned to Bombay and signed a contract with Sohrab Modi. She started her career with Khoon Ka Khoon (Hamlet) (1935) and went on to make several films with Modi under the Minerva Movietone banner. After acting in films like "Khan Bahadur" (1937), Talaq (Divorce) (1938), Meetha Zahar and Vasanti (1938) she started work in what became known as her most famous film Pukar in the role of Noor Jahan. To prepare for the film she went riding every day and learnt singing. The film took over a year to complete and brought Naseem into prominence in a spectacular manner. One of her songs, "Zindagi Ka Saaz Bhi Kya Saaz Hai" became popular with the audiences. The publicity of the film dealt on her beauty calling her Beauty Queen and Pari Chehra a name that was to endure over the years before passing on to her daughter Saira Banu. After the classic Pukar, the demand for Naseem as an actress increased and she was approached by several film studios to act with them. But Sohrab Modi refused to release her from her contract. This caused some uneasiness between the two. Sheesh Mahal (1950) produced by Minerva show-cased her acting talents devoid of make-up and jewellery and clad only in simple sarees. From Minerva Movietone, Naseem moved to Circo and then Filmistan studios where she performed in Chal Chal Re Naujawan with Ashok Kumar.

Married to Ehsan by now, the husband-wife team started Taj Mahal Pictures and made several films like Ujala (1942), Begum (1945), Mulaqat (1947), Chandni Raat (1949) and Ajeeb Ladki (1942) under the home banner. The last two were also directed by her husband, Mohammed Ehsan. However she did a couple of action and fantasy films ("low-grade films") like Sinbad Jahazi (1952) and Baghi (1953), in which she was not accepted by the audiences. She acted in Minerva’s Nausherwan-E-Adil (1957) in a small role and then quit acting. She continued to remain active, first trying her hand as a producer, and then as her daughter’s dress-designer when Saira entered films with Junglee (1961).

Some of her best films are Pukar (1939), Chal Chal Re Naujawan (1944), Anokhi Ada (1948), Sheesh Mahal (1950) and Shabistan (1951). She co-starred with most of the top stars of those days like Sohrab Modi, Chandra Mohan, Prithviraj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar, Shyam, Surendra, Navin Yagnik, Prem Adib, and Rehman.

Naseem died on June 18 2002 in Mumbai at the age of 85 years.