Many actresses who dream to be stars, and lead heroines, end up being stuck to item numbers or to a sensuous image in the industry. One such actress, who was Bollywood’s original sex symbol, could never become a top heroine.
The actress we are talking about started working at the age of 17 and became a star with her first film. However, after giving India’s first bold photoshoot, her career took an offseat. She is none other than Begum Para. Zubeda aka Begum Para was born in Jhelum (present-day Pakistan) to Mian Ehsanul-Haq, the Chief Justice of the kingdom of Bikaner. She fell in love with films as a teenager.
At the mere age of 17, Begum Para made her grand debut in Bollywood in the movie Chand. The film became a huge success, so much so that she started getting Rs 1500 a month. Right after this, Begum Para’s sister-in-law made a film Chhamia based on the novel Pygmalion, which starred her in the lead role. The film was also a huge success and Para signed a lot of films after this.
She went on to star in several films like Sohni Mahiwal, Zanjeer, Ishwarlal, Neel Kamal alongside Raj Kapoor, Mehendi alongside Nargis, Suhaag Raat with Bharat Bhushan, however, due to her scandalous image, she couldn’t establish herself as a top heroine.
In 1951, Begum Para posed for photographer James Burke for Life Magazine. This photoshoot created a stir in Bollywood and she became the first ever actress to give a bold photoshoot. Since then, she has been called the original sex symbol of Bollywood.
The actress later got married to Dilip Kumar’s bother Nasir Khan and had three children, Lubna, Nadir, and actor Ayub Khan with him. However, after her husband’s death, she moved to Pakistan in 1975 to be with her family.
She left films and stayed away from the limelight for 50 years before making her comeback to films with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariyaa. The film also starred Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor but failed to impress the audience and tanked at the box office. In 2008, the actress died in her sleep and breathed her last at the age of 82.
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