Bibbo

The partition was not only a mutual loss of life and Property, but it also hampered the talents In both the future Nations. Many cricketers, hockey players, footballers were to be divided between the two countries. And the same was the case with cinema talents. The singers, actors, directors, all had choices to move to either of the two states. Born in 1906, Bibbo was a versatile actor-singer who unfortunately moved to Pakistan during partition. She worked in the Indian film industry form 1933 to 1947 and moved to Pakistan following the exodus. She was conceived in the Ishratabad Chawari Bazar region in Delhi to a famous singer and courtesan Hafeezan Bai.

Singing was in her genes and following the legacy she moved to Bombay for films. It was only in 1933 that her first film Rangeela Rajput was released. M. D. Bhavnani was her first director, and it had a fair performance at the box office. The second movie of her career was launched son named Mayajal which was for Ajanta. It was a fantasy and brought her considerable appreciation. Weekly magazines started to write about her and predicted a bright future for this newbie. It was in 1934 that she composed music for a film named Adal-e-Jehangir. Her film mazdoor was banned for a few years due to controversies in which she played the role of owners daughter.

1938 was a successful year for her giving four consecutive successful hits and she was in the news for quite a few days. It was in 1939 that India saw an all women starred movie which was one of its kind and had a standard comedy in it. Her movie Zeenat was a super hit in 1945 and this once again highlighted her and brought into the limelight. Although her co-actor nor Jehan got more attention and was praised more than her for the skills portrayed and the acting. She became the first woman composer in India. She got married early in the 1930s to Khalil Sardar who was also her director for several movies.

It was in 1947 that she moved to Pakistan and did almost 12 films from 1950- 1960. She started working as a character artist in films in Pakistan. Rumors claim that she got married to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s father in Pakistan and a few co-artists and people associated closely with her confirmed the news. She died on 25- May 1972 but her legacy and work are still among us and she remains to be the first lady composer of united India as one of her achievements. "