Suraiya

Suraiya Jamal Sheikh, mononymously known as Suraiya, was an Indian actress and playback singer who worked in Hindi films. Regarded as one of the greatest and finest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, she was known for her strong on-screen portrayals in a variety of genres. In a career spanning from 1936 to 1964, Suraiya acted in over 70 films and sang 338 songs. Suraiya was the most celebrated actress between the mid- to late 1940s and early 1950s and was paid more than her male counterparts. Born in Lahore, Suraiya relocated to Bombay with her family when she was 1 year old. Apart from being a great actress, Suraiya was also a renowned playback singer, who mostly sang for herself. She sang her first song for Nai Duniya, when she was only 12 years old. Suraiya made her first appearance as a child artist with the film Madam Fashion, directed by Jaddanbai. She made her acting debut in 1941, with Taj Mahal in which she played the role of Mumtaz Mahal. Suraiya went onto establish herself as one of the leading actresses in Hindi cinema with films such as Ishaara, Tadbir, Phool, Anmol Ghadi, Omar Khaiyyam, Parwana, Dard, Shair, Dastan, Afsar, Diwana, Bilwamangal and Mr. Lambu. From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suraiya) under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)