Fatima Begum

Fatima Begum
Fatima Begum
Born	1892 India
Died	1983 (aged 91)
Occupation	Actress, Director

Fatima Begum (1892–1983) was one of the early superstars in Indian cinema and India's first female film director.

Family

Fatima Begum was born into an Urdu Muslim family in India in 1892. Fatima Begum was married to the Nawab of Sachin and was the mother of silent superstars like Zubeida, Sultana and Shehzadi. She was also the grandmother of Humayun Dhanrajgir, son of Zubeida and Maharaja Narsingir Dhanrajgir of Hyderabad.

Career

She began her career on the Urdu stage, shifted to films and debuted in Ardeshir Irani's silent film, Veer Abhimanyu (1922). In 1926, she established Fatima Films which later became known as Victoria-Fatima Films in 1928. She was an actress at Kohinoor Studios and Imperial Studios, while writing, directing, producing, and acting in her own films at Fatima Films. In 1926, when she directed Bulbul-e-Paristan, she became the first female director of Indian cinema. Leaning towards direction, Fatima continued acting till her last film in 1938, Duniya Kya Hai?.

Fatima Begum was fair skinned and wore dark make-up that suited the sepia/black-and-white images on the screen. Most of the roles required wigs for the heroes as well as the heroines.

Legacy

She died in 1983 at the age of ninety-one but her legacy was carried on by her legendary actress of a daughter, Zubeida, whom besides being a silent film star, acted in India's first ever talkie, Alam Ara.

External links

• Fatima Begum at the Internet Movie Database