Legendary actress-turned-director Shamim Ara passed away this Friday leaving countless memories of her glorious innings in the Pakistani film industry.Â
Veteran film actress Shamim Ara breathed her last in London on Friday morning, bringing an end to an era of glorious films, melodious songs and super hit films with her. Born Putli Bai at Aligarh in 1938, she started her career early on, in her teens, with Kanwari Bewah (1956) and remained an integral part of the industry till 1999; her last film was Pal Do Pal that saw her evolve from being a supporting actress to one of the most influential people on the film sets â€" the director.
Shamim Ara mostly took on supporting roles in the late ’50s. At the time when she played Noor Jehan’s younger sister in Anarkali, no one would have imagined that the latter would render some of Pakistan’s most popular songs for the newcomer. From ‘Mujh Se Pehli Si Mohabbat’ (Qaidi) to ‘Kahan Ho Tum’ (Humraaz); from ‘Chalo Acha Hua Tum Bhool Gaye’ (Laakhon Main Aik) to ‘Abhi Dhoond Hi Rahi Thee’ (Bewafa), Noor Jehan lent her voice to the leading lady for a number of iconic songs in the ’60s. Other playback singers of the era, including Mala and Runa Laila, also rendered their vocals for Ara whose career as a lead actress lasted 2 decades.
Shamim Ara set her foot in the film industry at a time when Sabiha Khanum and Nayyar Sultana were stars in their own rights, but she quickly went on to dominate the screen alongside Zeba Mohammad Ali, giving a tough time to the likes of Rani, Shabnam and Nisho. Her natural acting ability allowed her to make her presence felt opposite all leading men at the time. She played a tawaif and stood her ground in front of a daku (played by Mohammad Ali in Aag Ka Dariya); suffered in silence and still loved another man (Waheed Murad in Doraha, Ejaz Durrani in Laakhon Main Aik); was unafraid to come out clean for having an affair with her husband’s brother (played by Nadeem in Angaaray); was strong enough to deal with her ex-lover’s constant blackmailing (Nadeem in Suhaag) and played a widow who lost her husband (Syed Kamal in Farz) and son to the country.
Ara continued to act in films till the mid-70s and while at the top of her game, she decided to quit acting to try on the director’s hat. Earlier, she was also one of the renowned actresses of the 1960s to venture into film production (Saiqa, Suhaag). Her popularity can be judged from the fact that people actually took her seriously when she announced that she’d marry the person, who would hoist the Pakistani flag at the Red Fort in Delhi. However, she got married four times in real life (to Sardar Rind, Fareed Ahmed, A. Majeed and Dabeer ul Hasan) and eventually directed many films that were scripted by Dabeer ul Hasan (mostly in the ’90s).
However, it was her association with Babra Sharif that heralded the ‘Miss Films’ series that saw Babra take on men double her size and still come out winning. Be it Miss Hong Kong, Miss Colombo, Miss Singapore or Miss Bangkok, the combo of Shamim Ara - Babra Sharif offered the audience (especially women) an exciting retreat. She spent the ’90s making films that were heavily inspired from Bollywood but she also played a pivotal role in polishing the careers of then newcomers Babar Ali, Jan Rambo (Afzal Khan), Sahiba, Mohsin Khan, Resham and Meera as well as Saud. Her last film Pal Do Pal featured a soundtrack from the late Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and although the music was appreciated by fans, the film didn’t do well at the box office. The queen of the box office would have loved to go out with a hit, though.
- Originally published in The News on Sunday
