Zeenat Begum

Zeenat Begum (born Shamim Akhtar; 11 November 1931 – 11 December 2007), sometimes known as Zeenat, was a Pakistani singer.^[1] She was known as The Queen of Yesteryear for singing songs in films and on radio.^[2]

Zeenat Begum was born Shamim Akhtar in 1931 on November 11 at Malerkotla, Punjab, British India.^[3]

Zeenat Begum was a tawaif and a renowned classical singer.^{[2] [1]} She was discovered by Pandit Amar Nath around 1937.^{[1] [4]} Her first success as a playback singer came in 1942 when she sang for Govind Ram's Punjabi film Mangti (1942) and she also made her debut as an actress in the film.^[2] The film was marked as the first Golden jubilee film produced in Lahore.^{[1] [5]}

Her first Hindi film was Nishani (1942).^[6] She sang for other notable films including Panchhi (1944), Shalimar (1946), Shehar se Door (1946) and Daasi (1944).^{[7] [8]}

Zeenat Begum migrated from Lahore to Bombay in 1944.^[1] She sang for several music directors in Bombay, including younger brothers of Pandit Amar Nath – Pandit Husnlal Bhagatram, Master Ghulam Haider, Pandit Gobind Ram etc.^[1] The last film she sang for in India was Mukhda (1951).^[1] She migrated to Pakistan and joined Lahore Radio station and worked there until the late 1950s.^[1] After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, many new playback singers arrived in Pakistan which affected the playback singing career of Zeenat Begum.^[1] Though she remained a prominent singer of Radio Lahore in 1950s and 1960s.^{[1] [9]}

Zeenat married Abdul Jabbar, they later divorced in 1955. Later she married Saqlain Rizvi and they had one child together.

She died on 11 December 2007 in Lahore, Pakistan.^[1]

• Zeenat Begum at IMDb

• Indian women classical singers
• Pakistani classical singers
• Pakistani playback singers
• Pakistani radio personalities
• Indian women playback singers
• Indian courtesans
• 2007 deaths
• Punjabi women
• Singers from Lahore
• Punjabi-language singers
• Radio personalities from Lahore
• Bollywood playback singers
• 20th-century Indian singers
• 20th-century Indian women singers
• 1931 births
• 20th-century Pakistani actresses
• 20th-century Pakistani women singers
• 20th-century Pakistani singers
• Singers from British India
• 21st-century Pakistani women singers
• 21st-century Pakistani singers
• Pakistani film actresses
• 21st-century Pakistani actresses
• People from Punjab Province (British India)
• Pakistani tawaifs

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