Naseem Banu

Naseem Banu
Screen shot from Pukar (1939)
Born	Roshan Ara Begum (1916-07-04)July 4, 1916 Delhi, India
Died	June 18, 2002(2002-06-18) (aged 85) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1935–1957
Spouse(s)	Ehsan-ul-Haq
Children	Saira Banu, daughter Sultan Ahmed, son

Naseem Banu (1916–2002) was an Indian film actress. She was referred to as Naseem and known as "Beauty Queen" and the "first female superstar" of Indian Cinema. Starting her acting career in the mid-1930s she continued to act till mid-1950s. Her first film was Khoon Ka Khoon (Hamlet) (1935) with Sohrab Modi under whose Minerva Movietone banner she acted for several years. Her high-point came with Modi's Pukar (1939) in which she played the role of Empress Nur Jahan. According to composer Naushad she got the sobriquet Pari-Chehra (fairy face) Naseem through the publicity advertisements of her films. She was the mother of popular actress Saira Banu and mother-in-law to the renowned actor Dilip Kumar.

Born in Delhi, India, 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 had 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.