#GoldenFrames: Naseem Banu, the first female superstar of Bollywood

Naseem Banu was popularly known as the beauty queen of the mid-1930s till the mid-1950s. She was known as the first female superstar of Indian cinema. The actress had worked with most of the top stars of those days like Sohrab Modi, Prithviraj Kapoor, Shyam, Surendra, Prem Adib, Rehman, Chandra Mohan, Ashok Kumar and Navin Yagnik. Naseem Banu was the mother of actress Saira Banu and mother-in-law to the actor Dilip Kumar.

In This Pic : Naseem Banu, GoldenFrames

Born on July 4, 1916, Naseem Banu was christened Roshana at birth. She was the only daughter of Nawab Abdul Wahid Khan and Shamshad Begum. Naseem's mother was a renowned singer, popularly known as Chhamian Bai. Being an only child, Naseem was denied nothing by her parents. She was born in the lap of luxury. Naseem did her schooling at Queen Mary's High School.

In This Pic : Naseem Banu, GoldenFrames

Amidst her mother's wish to become a doctor and her desire to be an actress, Naseem was deeply moved by the new medium of cinema. Naseem's entry into movies was quite by chance. She had come to Mumbai with her mother on a visit during her summer vacation. During their stay with a family friend. Naseem would plead every day with her host to take her to the film studios. After seeing the shooting of 'Silver King' starring Moti Lal and Sabita Devi. Naseem decided that she would become an actress. Nothing could change her mind to become Bollywood's beauty queen. Naseem went on hunger strike when her mother refused to let her act in movies. Eventually, her mother agreed to her only daughter's whims. Naseem was only sixteen when she was offered to play Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet in filmmaker Sohrab Modi's movie 'Khoon Ka Khoon' (1935).

In This Pic : Naseem Banu, GoldenFrames

Born and brought up in Old Delhi, Naseem moved in with Sohrab Modi's family in Mumbai while shooting for the movie. Naseem was noted for her large expressive eyes, chiselled features more than her developing acting skills. Sadly, when Naseem returned to complete her education, schools and colleges refused to take her in for having stooped down to acting as a profession. However, the door to Indian cinema was always open to her. She signed a long-term contract with Sohrab Modi's Minerva Movietone in 1936. She worked in 'Khan Bahadur' (1937), 'Meetha Zahar' (1938), 'Talaq' (1938), 'Vasanti' (1938) under Minerva Movietone.

(Photo: Poster from the movie 'Meetha Zahar')

In This Pic : Naseem Banu, GoldenFrames

'Khan Bahadur' (1937) holds an important place in Indian cinema for introducing the first Muslim social, while in 'Talaq' (1938), Naseem played an unusual role—a wife who divorces her husband. Going against the family or husband was considered a huge taboo those days.

(Photo: A still from the movie 'Khan Bahadur')

In This Pic : Naseem Banu, GoldenFrames