Suraiya

Suraiya Jamal Sheikh (15 June 1929 – 31 January 2004), mononymously known as Suraiya, was an Indian actress and playback singer who worked in Hindi films.

Suraiya was born as Suraiya Jamal Sheikh on 15 June 1929 in Lahore, British India (now Pakistan), to Aziz Jamal Sheikh and Mumtaz Sheikh.

She was one year old, when her family moved to Mumbai (then called Bombay) to reside in Krishna Mahal at Marine Drive.

Soon they were joined by her maternal uncle, M. Zahoor, who became a well known villain in the 1930s Bombay film industry and her maternal grandmother, Badshah Begum.

Suraiya belonged to a deeply religious Muslim family.

She attended New High School, now known as J.B. Petit High School for Girls, in the Fort district of Bombay.

At home, her grandmother gave her religious teachings in Persian.

Suraiya's childhood friends included Raj Kapoor and Madan Mohan, with whom she used to sing in children's radio programmes at All India Radio.

Suraiya did not had any professional training in music.

Suraiya was born in an orthodox family.

She was deeply religious and practiced Islam since her childhood.

Suraiya was fond of literature, especially Urdu literature and use to read a lot of them.

In a career spanning from 1936 to 1964, Suraiya acted in over 70 films and sang 338 songs.

Regarded among the finest and greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, she was known for her strong on-screen portrayals.

Suraiya made her first appearance as a child artist with the film Madame Fashion (1936), directed by Jaddan Bai.

Suraiya made her debut as a child actor in Jaddan Bai's Madame Fashion in 1936 as Miss Suraiya.

Later, she got a prominent role with the help of her uncle, M. Zahoor.

As a child artist, Suraiya acted and also sang in the films, Usne Kya Socha (1937), Mother India (1938), Tamanna (1942), and Station Master (1942).

Suraiya was the most celebrated actress between the mid- to late 1940s and early 1950s and was paid more than her male counterparts.

Born in Lahore, Suraiya relocated to Bombay (now Mumbai) with her family when she was 1 years old.

Apart from being a great actress, Suraiya was also a renowned playback singer, who mostly sang for herself.

She made her acting debut in 1941, with Taj Mahal in which she played the role of Mumtaz Mahal.

During a holiday from school in 1941, she accompanied him to Bombay's Mohan Studios to see the shooting of the film Taj Mahal, which was being directed by Nanubhai Vakil.

Vakil noticed the charm and innocence of young Suraiya and selected her to play the role of Mumtaz Mahal.

While she was singing for children's programs for All India Radio (AIR) in Bombay, as a six-year old, Raj Kapoor and Madan Mohan were her co-artists.

In fact, they first introduced her to AIR.

Both were associated with her later as an adult, as her hero and as her music director respectively in films.

At AIR, Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari was at that time the station director at the Bombay radio station.

She sang her first song for Nai Duniya (1942), when she was only 12 years old.

As soon as music director Naushad Ali heard Suraiya's voice, he chose her to sing (at age 13) for Mehtab in Abdul Rashid Kardar's film Sharda (1942).

He became Suraiya's mentor and she sang some of the best songs of her career under his baton.

Suraiya went onto establish herself as one of the leading actresses in Hindi cinema with films such as - Ishaara (1943), Tadbir (1943), Phool (1945), Anmol Ghadi (1946), Omar Khaiyyam (1946), Parwana (1947), Dard (1947), Shair (1949), Dastan (1950), Afsar (1950), Diwana (1952), Bilwamangal (1954) and Mr. Lambu (1956).

In her heydays, Suraiya was known as Malika-e-Husn (queen of beauty) and Malika-e-Adakari (queen of acting).

At the age of 14 in 1943, Suraiya appeared as a heroine in J.K. Nanda's film Ishaara, opposite Prithviraj Kapoor.

Later, he gave a string of hit songs when Suraiya became a full-fledged singing star in Anmol Ghadi (1946), Dard (1947), Dillagi (1949) and Dastaan (1950).

Suraiya's career marked a significant turning point in 1948-1949 with the highest grossing releases of the year - Vidya (1948), Pyar Ki Jeet (1948), Dillagi (1949) and Badi Behen (1949).

Her most notable portrayal was of a tawaif, Moti Begum in Mirza Ghalib (1954), which earned her critical acclaim and praises from two Prime Ministers of India.

Suraiya's final film release was Rustam Sohrab (1963), after which she took retirement due to poor health.

Suraiya received the Screen Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996, for her contribution to Indian cinema.

She died on 31 January 2004, after suffering from various ailments, including hypoglycemia, ischaemia and insulinoma.