Mukhtar Begum

Sabiha Khanum
Born	Mukhtar Begum 16 October 1935 Gujrat, Punjab, British India
Years active	1950–present
Spouse(s)	Santosh Kumar
Children	Syed Ahsan Raza, Fareeha Shaharyar and Afia Chaudhry
Parent(s)	Muhammad Ali & Iqbal Bano

Sabiha Khanum (Punjabi, Urdu: صبیحہ خانم‎‎, born Mukhtar Begum, 16 October 1935 in Gujrat) is a Pakistani film actress. She was the leading star of Pakistani cinema in the 1950s and 1960s and continued to play award-winning roles for films in the 1980s and 1990s. She also acted in some award-winning television dramas.

Most of Sabiha's movies were with her husband playing the lead role opposite her, the late Santosh Kumar (Syed Musa Raza). Sabiha and Santosh were highly regarded as the "perfect couple" by the public and they had built up a substantial fan following.

Mukhtar Begum or Sabiha Khanum is the daughter of Mohammad Ali (Maahia) from Delhi and Iqbal Begum (Baalo) from Amritsar, Punjab, India. She was raised in a conservative rural environment by her grandparents, but got her first acting opportunity on stage in Lahore, after moving there to be with her father.

A cultural delegation visited a cinema house in Sialkot, Pakistan in 1948. Mukhtar Begum (then a young girl in 1948), who was part of the delegation, sang the Punjabi song "Kithhay gae yoon pardesia way" from the film Sassi Punnoon (which starred Baalu and Aslam). Her performance was praised, and soon Mohammad Ali introduced his daughter to a noted stage drama writer and poet, Nafees Khaleeli. Noting her determination, Khaleeli offered her a role in the drama Buut Shikan, which she accepted. Nafees Khaleeli gave her the screen name of Sabiha Khanum.

She lives with her daughter in Leesburg, Virginia, USA.

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