Begum Khurshid Mirza

Begum Khurshid Mirza was an actress from India in the pre-partition era. She was born in 1918 in Aligarh to Sheikh Abdullah and Waheed Jahan Begum. Her father, Sheikh Abdullah was the legendary education reformist for women, he founded the Women’s College, Aligarh, where Begum Khurshid herself completed her education from. Begum Khurshid was extremely lucky to be born in the best family possible, as both her parents were not only loving their daughter much but also let her choose her own career as Sheikh Abdullah was a very well known liberal. Upon graduating, Begum Khurshid decided to leave Aligarh for Mumbai, as she had set her sights on acting. She moved to Mumbai, looking for work and immediately started working for Bombay Talkies.

She made her debut in 1931’s super-hit Shakuntala. Begum Khurshid was given the name Renuka Devi as her ‘Bollywood’ name. She went on to star in super-hit movies like Laila Majnu Click to look into! >> Read More... , Rahde Shyam, Hathili Dulhan, Chatra Bakavali, Swarg Ki Sidhi and many more successful movies. In 1944, Begum Khurshid Mirza aka Renuka Devi decided to retire from the acting world. She moved to Pakistan after partition and left an amazing catalog of legacy. Several years after partition, when all was settled and India and Pakistan came back on track as separate nations, in 1964, Begum decided to return back to acting. Pakistan Television Corporation was founded, and they began broadcasting their serials, and programs. They needed an experienced professional actor or actress to come in, prepare a base for other amateur actors to learn from and even act in a few TV serials herself.

Eventually she did a few small mini-episodic features, and in 1972, Kiran Kahani Story soon >> Read More... was debuted, which really showed the acting chops Begum Khurshid had, as this would become her most memorable and notable role to this day. She relieved huge praises from both sides of the border and became Pakistan’s biggest TV star, not that they had many stars, to begin with, but still, Begum herself being a product of Indian cinema held her own class and became a legendary figurine. Her next role, in Zer Zabar Pesh, received similar reviews as it also was considered as one of the greatest acting performances in that particular role. She went on to have a sensational career in Pakistan TV, she also wrote the best selling autobiography and won Pride of Performance by the president of Pakistan in 1984. Begum sadly passed away in 1989.