Fatima Begum
Encyclopedia
Fatima Begum was one of the early superstars in Indian cinema and India's first female film director.
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.
'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.
star, acted in India's first ever talkie, Alam Ara
.
Family
Fatima Begum was born into an UrduUrdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
family in India in 1892. Fatima Begum was married to the Nawab of Sachin and was the mother of silent superstars like Zubeida
Zubeida
Zubeida Begum Dhanrajgir was an Indian film actress. She acted in the first Indian talkie movie Alam Ara . Her credits include early hits Devdas , and Sagar Movietone's first talkie, Meri Jaan....
, 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 IraniArdeshir Irani
Khan Bahadur Ardeshir Irani ; popularly known as Ardeshir Irani, was a writer, director, producer, actor, film distributor, film showman and cinematographer in the silent and sound eras of early Indian cinema. He was renowned for making films in Hindi, Telugu, English, German, Indonesian, Persian,...
'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 filmSilent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
star, acted in India's first ever talkie, Alam Ara
Alam Ara
Alam Ara is a 1931 film directed by Ardeshir Irani. It was the first Indian sound film.Irani recognized the importance that sound would have on the cinema, and raced to complete Alam Ara before several contemporary sound films. Alam Ara debuted at the Majestic Cinema in Mumbai on March 14, 1931...
.