Suraiya
Suraiya Jamal Sheikh, mononymously known as Suraiya, was an Indian actress and playback singer who worked in Hindi films. Regarded as one of the greatest and finest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, she was known for her strong on-screen portrayals in a variety of genres. In a career spanning from 1936 to 1964, Suraiya acted in over 70 films and sang 338 songs. 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 with her family when she was 1 year old. Apart from being a great actress, Suraiya was also a renowned playback singer, who mostly sang for herself. She sang her first song for Nai Duniya, when she was only 12 years old. Suraiya made her first appearance as a child artist with the film Madame Fashion, directed by Jaddanbai. She made her acting debut in 1941, with Taj Mahal in which she played the role of Mumtaz Mahal. Suraiya went onto establish herself as one of the leading actresses in Hindi cinema with films such as Ishaara, Tadbir, Phool, Anmol Ghadi, Omar Khaiyyam, Parwana, Dard, Shair, Dastan, Afsar , Diwana, Bilwamangal and Mr. Lambu.
Suraiya's career marked a significant turning point in 1948–1949 with the highest grossing releases of the year—Vidya, Pyar Ki Jeet, Dillagi and Badi Behen, that brought her public recognition. Her most notable portrayal was of a tawaif, Moti Begum in Mirza Ghalib, which earned her critical acclaim and praises from two Prime Ministers of India. In her heyday, Suraiya was known as Malika-e-Husn and Malika-e-Adakari.
Suraiya's final film release was Rustam Sohrab, 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.
Early life
Suraiya was born as Suraiya Jamal Sheikh on 15 June 1929 in Lahore, British India, to Aziz Jamal Sheikh and Mumtaz Sheikh. She was one year old, when her family moved to Mumbai 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 have any professional training in music.
Born in an orthodox family, Suraiya 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.
Acting career
Child artist and early work (1936–1943)
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. 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, the film released in 1942 and marked her acting debut.While she was singing for children's programs for All India Radio 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. As soon as music director Naushad Ali heard Suraiya's voice, he chose her to sing for Mehtab in Abdul Rashid Kardar's film Sharda. He became Suraiya's mentor and she sang some of the best songs of her career under his baton. Later, he gave a string of hit songs when Suraiya became a full-fledged singing star in Anmol Ghadi, Dard, Dillagi and Dastaan. As a child artist, Suraiya acted and also sang in the films, Usne Kya Socha, Mother India, Tamanna, and Station Master.
At the age of 14 in 1943, Suraiya appeared as a heroine in J.K. Nanda's film Ishaara, opposite Prithviraj Kapoor. The film was the tenth highest grossing release of the year and marked Suraiya's first commercial success. Devika Rani, who headed the Bombay Talkies production company, seeing Suraiya's blooming brilliance as an actress and as a singer signed her on a five-year contract at Rs. 500 per month with her role in Hamari Baat. In the film, she played the second lead alongside Devika Rani and had a duet dance and her song with Arun Kumar, "Bistar Bicha Diya Hai Tere Ghar Ke Samne" became very popular. It eventually earned her more success and became the eighth highest grossing release of the year.
Rise to prominence and success (1944–1947)
With no film release in 1944, the year 1945 proved to be a crucial year in Suraiya's career. She had five films that year, including Yateem, Samrat Chandragupta and Main Kya Karoon. The five-year contract was revoked by Devika Rani on Suraiya's request, when K. Asif offered Suraiya Rs. 40,000 for his directorial debut Phool. She played Shama alongside Prithviraj Kapoor. The film Tadbir marked her first film with K. L. Saigal, who liked her voice during a rehearsal of a song for Jayant Desai's film Samrat Chandragupt, in which she was acting. He recommended her to Desai, opposite himself in Tadbir, where she played his lover Saguna. Phool and Tadbir became the fourth and fifth highest-grossing films of the year respectively. Baburao Patel in his review for Filmindia, praised Suraiya as the lead in Tadbir.The films Jag Biti and 1857 were Suraiya's first two releases of the year 1946. In 1857, that was set against the backdrop of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, she played Tasnim opposite Surendra. Suraiya then acted as the second lead in Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi with Noor Jehan as the lead with Surendra. She played a willful village girl Basanti. Praising her performance in Anmol Ghadi, Dinesh Raheja of Rediff.com noted: "True to her name Basanti, Suraiya wafts through the film like a rejuvenating spring breeze. She is achingly young and full of beans." Despite Jehan's presence, the film proved to be a major breakthrough for Suraiya. She then reunited with K. L. Saigal in Omar Khaiyyam, playing Mehru. 1857, Anmol Ghadi and Omar Khaiyyam emerged among the year's highest grossing releases and consolidated Suraiya's career.
Suraiya had five film releases in the year of India's independence. She first played the free spirited Gopi, who is suspected to have an affair with a married man in Parwana. Although by then she had a few hit songs, the four solo songs which she sang in Parwana for music director Khwaja Khurshid Anwar made her a genuine singer-film star. It marked her final film with Saigal, who died a month before the film's release. Suraiya then appeared in Dak Bangla, Naatak, Do Dil and Do Naina. Her last film of the year was Dard, with Munawwar Sultana as the lead actress and Nusrat as the hero. She played Hamida, who falls in love with a doctor. Her film Dard became a surprise hit and along with Parwana, it was one of the year's biggest success.
Critical acclaim and superstardom (1948–1954)
Noor Jehan and Khursheed's departure to Pakistan, inadvertently added to Suraiya's success. Between 1948 and 1950, Suraiya earned both critical and commercial success. In 1948, she first played the lead opposite Motilal Rajvansh in Aaj Ki Raat. She next played the titular role in Kajal and appeared in Gajre. The year marked her first project opposite Dev Anand, who was relatively new. In Vidya, she played a wealthy woman who falls in love with a poor cobbler. While shooting for Vidya, she became romantically involved with him. When her film opposite Rehman, Pyar Ki Jeet was released, it caused large crowds outside Suraiya's house that was uncontrollable. Suraiya also acted in Shakti and Rang Mahal that year. Out of these seven films, Pyar Ki Jeet became the biggest hit. In her films with Anand, Suraiya was always the first biller in the credits, indicating her stardom. As per the book, The Women of Punjab, as a singing actress opposite Anand, her films achieved umpteen jubilees.The year 1949 marked the peak of Suraiya's success with 11 film releases, a rare feat for an actress at that point of time. Naach, Lekh, Duniya and Char Din were mediocre films. She then played a married woman Shanta, whose husband loves a dancer in Singaar. Suraiya then reunited with Dev Anand in Jeet and Shair, playing his childhood sweetheart in both these films. Suraiya then played Kamla in Balam and Kanchan in Amar Kahani. In Dillagi, Suraiya played Mala, who is in love with Swaroop, but is forced to marry someone else. Deepa Gahlot praised the film and added it in her book 50 Films that Deserve a New Audience. Her last film of the year was Badi Behen with Rehman, where she played a protective elder sister Shyama. During the premiere of Badi Behen, there was a very large crowd outside the cinema hall and the police had to baton-charge when Suraiya was walking into the hall. Suraiya stopped going to the premieres of her films, after the incident. Dillagi, Badi Behen and Singaar were the biggest commercial successes of the year.
In 1950, Suraiya's first few releases were Shaan, Khiladi and Kamal Ke Phool. She then acted opposite Dev Anand in Nilli and
Afsar. In Nilli, she plays the titular role of an ordinary girl turned into a princess, while Afsar was the first film produced under Anand's production Navketan Films, with Suraiya playing Bimla. Her biggest success of the year was Dastan. Suraiya played an orphan Indira opposite Raj Kapoor. Bhaichand Patel stated that Suraiya's acting "over-shadowed" that of Kapoor. From the mid-to late 1940s to the early 1950s, Suraiya was the highest-paid and most popular star of the Indian cinema. From 1948 to 1949, she appeared in over 18 films, most of which turned out to be among the highest grossing releases of the year. From 1945 to 1954, she acted in twelve highest-grossing films.
During the years 1951–53, Suraiya's career saw a fluctuation with a series of commercial failures—in the films Shokiyan, Rajput, Resham, Moti Mahal, Lal Kunwar, Khubsoorat, Goonj and Mashuqa. The last two films opposite Dev Anand Do Sitare and Sanam were moderate hits. Sanam marked their last film together as post that, Suraiya and Anand never worked together. The only major commercial success in this period was Diwana opposite Suresh. She played a nomadic woman Laali who was married to a prince, but was separated by his father. The film became a success and celebrated a Silver Jubilee at the box office, becoming Suraiya's second film after Anmol Ghadi to do so.
Suraiya made a comeback in 1954. She played a tawaif Moti Begum in her career's most notable film, Mirza Ghalib, which won two awards at the 1954 National Film Awards. Suraiya shone both as an actress and as a singer for her rendition of Ghalib's lover, Chaudvin. Jawaharlal Nehru, commented on seeing the film, "Tumne Mirza Ghalib kii ruuh ko zindaa kar diyaa,". While reviewing the film, Samira Sood of The Print called Suraiya the "soul" of the film and stated: "This movie belongs to Suraiya, whose voice communicates not only love, longing, hope and heartbreak, but the centuries-old magic of Ghalib." In her next release, Suraiya again played a courtesan, named Chintamani in Bilwamangal. Later, Suraiya played Shobha, whose husband dies in war in Waris and Sahebzadi Aalam, whose is in love with a poet in Shama Parwana, opposite Shammi Kapoor. Among these, Waaris turned out to be a moderate success.