Zeenat Begum

She was known as The Queen of Yesteryear for singing songs in films and on radio.

Zeenat Begum
زینت بيگم
Born	Shamim Akhtar (1931-11-11)11 November 1931 Malerkotla, Punjab, British India
Died	11 December 2007(2007-12-11) (aged 76) Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Other names	Queen of Yesteryear
Occupations	Playback singer Actress Producer
Years active	1942 – 2007
Spouses	Abdul Jabbar ​ ​ (m. 1949; div. 1955)​ Saqlain Rizvi
Children	1

Zeenat Begum was born Shamim Akhtar in 1931 on November 11 at Malerkotla, Punjab, British India.

Zeenat Begum was a tawaif and a renowned classical singer. She was discovered by Pandit Amar Nath around 1937. Her first success as a playback singer came in 1942 when she sang for Govind Ram's Punjabi film Mangti (1942) and she also made her debut as an actress in the film. The film was marked as the first Golden jubilee film produced in Lahore.

Her first Hindi film was Nishani (1942). She sang for other notable films including Panchhi (1944), Shalimar (1946), Shehar se Door (1946) and Daasi (1944).

Zeenat Begum migrated from Lahore to Bombay in 1944. She sang for several music directors in Bombay, including younger brothers of Pandit Amar Nath – Pandit Husnlal Bhagatram, Master Ghulam Haider, Pandit Gobind Ram etc. The last film she sang for in India was Mukhda (1951). She migrated to Pakistan and joined Lahore Radio station and worked there until the late 1950s. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, many new playback singers arrived in Pakistan which affected the playback singing career of Zeenat Begum. Though she remained a prominent singer of Radio Lahore in 1950s and 1960s.

Zeenat married Abdul Jabbar, they later divorced in 1955. Later she married Saqlain Rizvi and they had one child together.

She died on 11 December 2007 in Lahore, Pakistan.

Film