Sultana

Sultana was one of the few earliest film actresses from the Indian Cinema. She acted in both the silent and the talkie films in the industry. Born and brought up in the Surat City of Gujarat, she was a born Royalty. She was the daughter of Nawab Sidi Ibrahim Muhammad Yakut Khan III and Fatima Begum Fatima Begum was India’s very first female movie d >> Read More... . In an era when it was not considered appropriate for girls to take up acting as a profession, she and her both sisters Zubeida and Shehadi were actresses.

Although it is said that she and her sisters were fathered by the Nawab, there is no actual proof of a marriage between Nawab and Fatima Begum or the Nawab accepting the sisters as his daughters. Sultana’s birth name is Sultana Razaaq. She was a very popular actress of the Silent Era of the Indian Cinema and acted mainly Romantic Roles. She started her acting career from the silent movie “Veer Abhimaniyu” in the year 1922. After that, she acted in many silent films like “Kala Naag”, “ Manorama Being called as Aachi, Manorama is strongly seeded >> Read More... ”, “Indra Sabha”, etc. till 1931. Then, she took up Indian Talkie or sound films in 1931 starting with the movie “Milkmaid” and “Kamar-Al-Zaman”. She acted in the talkie film industry for almost two decades till her last movie “Girdhar Gopal ki Mira” in 19four9. After the India-Pakistan partition, she migrated to Pakistan with her husband, a very wealthy Seth Razaaq.

She also had a daughter named Jamila Razaaq whom she motivated towards acting in Pakistani Films. She also donned the cap of a producer in 1961 for a Pakistani show titled “Hum Ek Hain”. This show was partially shot in colors which considering the time was a rarity. But the show tanked and after that Sultana never produced any more films or shows. Her Daughter married the well-known cricketer of the Pakistani Team named Waqar Hasan, who also happens to be a known film maker Iqbal Shehzad.

She had immense talent as an actress and was appreciated for a lot of films she undertook like Sata Sardarba, Indra Sabha, Young India, Brand of Fate, etc. were her contributions towards the silent movie cinema. And films like Intekam, Amirzadi, Step Mother, Hooe-e-Samundar, Devdas, Sagar ki Kanya, etc. were are contributions towards the sound/talkie film industry.  

The Begum Family Tree (Infographic Family Tree)