Nayyar Sultana

Nayyar Sultana
نیر سلطانہ
Nayyar Sultana in 1963 film Baji
Born
Tayyaba Bano

(1937-03-04)4 March 1937
Died27 October 1992(1992-10-27) (aged 55)[1]
Other namesMalka-i-Jazbaat (Queen of Sentiments)
Queen of Emotions
EducationAligarh Muslim University
OccupationActress
Years active1955 – 1992
Spouse
(m. 1962; died 1980)
Children2
RelativesSantosh Kumar (brother-in-law)
Mansoor (brother-in-law)
S. Suleman (brother-in-law)
AwardsNigar Awards in 1957, 1960, 1962, 1974 and 1994

Nayyar Sultana (born Tayyaba Bano; 1937 – 27 October 1992), known as Malka-i-Jazbaat (Queen of Sentiments) and Queen of Emotions, was a Pakistani film actress.[1][2] She became one of the foremost screen actresses of Lollywood in the 1950s and 1960s.[3]

Early life

Nayyar Sultana was born Tayyaba Bano in Aligarh (British India) in 1937 to a Muslim family.[4] She had her education in Women's College, Aligarh.[5] Her family migrated to Karachi, after the independence of Pakistan in 1947.

Career

Sultana's parents were related to actress Shamim Bano, the wife of famous Pakistani film producer and director Anwar Kamal Pasha, who cast her in his directorial Qatil in 1955 in a supporting role with the screen name Nazli, marking her acting debut.[4][6] Later the same year, she landed the second lead in Humayun Mirza’s Intikhab.[4] Thereafter, she appeared with the screen name of Nayyar Sultana. She came into prominence in 1957 with Jaffar Malik's Saat Lakh, where she portrayed a tawaif opposite Santosh Kumar, and earned a Nigar Award for best supporting actress for her performance.[4][7] S. M. Yusuf's Saheli in 1960 proved her greatest success till that point. The film celebrated its golden jubilee on the box office and Sultana's portrayal of a loving wife and a selfless friend earned her another Nigar Award for Best Actress.[1][8] In 1962, she played a newlywed bride who elopes soon after her marriage in Khawaja Khurshid Anwar's Ghunghat. A reviewer from the Outlook found her performance as "indifferent but tolerable".[9] She played the titular role in S. Suleman's Baaji and earned praise for the portrayal of a young frustrated widow. While reviewing Baaji, Herald called her performance "the strongest element of the film".[1][4][10]

She briefly left the industry after her marriage with Darpan. With her portrayal of a blind country girl in Ek Musafir Ek Haseena, released in 1968, she made a comeback to the films,[11] but it couldn't push her carrer further as most of her films at that time like Meri Bhabhi (1969), Hamjoli (1970) and Azmat (1973) were not commercially successful at the box office.[4]

In the 1970s, she moved to performing character roles in S. Suleman's Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon and two films by Hassan Tariq, Mazi Haal Mustaqbil and Seeta Maryam Margaret.[4] These were her last critically acclaimed films before she gradually faded away from the screen. After the death of her husband Darpan in 1981, Sultana appeared in a handful of films and managed his recruiting agency till her own death a decade later. Sultana had worked in over 225 films during her 37-year film career and received a number of awards. She was known for performing tragic roles.[4]

Personal life

She married Darpan, her co-star and one of the foremost romantic heroes in Pakistani film industry, at the pinnacle of her movie career and had two sons Qaisar and Ali. Darpan's elder brother Santosh Kumar was also an actor, and another brother, S. Suleman, was a film director.

Sultana owned a travel agency called "Darpan International".[12]

Illness and death

Nayyar Sultana died of cancer on 27 October 1992 at Aga Khan Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan.[4][2][1]

Artistry and legacy

Through her on-screen portrayals, Sultana contributed to the development of profound and prudent women characters in Pakistani cinema during the 1960s.[13]

Filmography

Television shows

Year Title Role Notes
1992 Yes Sir, No Sir Herself PTV

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1955 Qatil
1955 Intekhab
1957 Saat Lakh
1958 Dil Mein Tu
1958 Mukhra
1958 Touheed
1958 Akhri Dao
1958 Aadmi
1959 Bacha Jamoora
1959 Lalkar
1959 Mazloom
1960 Rahguzar [14]
1960 Behrupiya [14]
1960 Aik Thi Maa [14]
1960 Ayaz [14]
1960 Khaibar Mail [14]
1960 Daku Ki Ladki [15]
1960 Saheli Razia [15]
1961 Surayya Surayya [15]
1961 Son of Ali Baba [15]
1961 Bombay Wala [15]
1961 Gulfarosh [15]
1961 3 Phool [16]
1962 Aulad [16]
1962 Mehtab [16]
1962 Ghunghat Naheed / Usha Rani [16]
1962 Barsat Mein [17]
1962 Shake Hand [16]
1963 Baghawat [17]
1963 Maa kay Aansoo [17]
1963 Yahudi Ki Ladki [17]
1963 Baaji Farzana / Baaji [17]
1963 Dulhan Shabnum [18]
1963 Tangay Wala [18]
1963 Aurat Ek Kahani [18]
1965 Devdas Chandramukhi
1968 Nadir Khan
1968 Aik Musafar Aik Haseena [4]
1969 Saza [19]
1970 Chann Sajna
1972 Farz Aur Mohabbat
1972 Jagde Rehna
1972 Umrao Jaan Ada Khanam
1973 Khuda Te Maa
1974 Bahisht Sarkar Maa
1974 Dillagi Baji
1975 Pehchan Fakirni guest appearance
1975 Sheeda Pastol
1975 Aik Gunnah Aur Sahi
1976 Chitra Tay Shera
1976 Badtameez
1977 Naya Suraj
1978 Kora Kaghaz
1979 Khushboo
1980 Smuggler
1980 Aag Aur Sholay
1982 Ek Din Bahu Ka Malika Aliya
1983 Sher Mama Sabara
1983 Wadda Khan
1984 Miss Colombo [20]
1989 Shaani
1994 Sarkata Insaan

Awards and recognition

Year Award Category Result Title Ref.
1957 Nigar Award Best Supporting Actress Won Saat Lakh [21]
1960 Nigar Award Best Actress Won Saheli [21]
1962 Nigar Award Best Actress Won Aulad [21]
1974 Nigar Award Best Supporting Actress Won Bahisht [21]
1994 Nigar Award Best Supporting Actress Won Sarkata Insaan [21]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e M. Shoaib Khan (6 January 2013). "Nayyar Sultana forgotten? (includes profile of Nayyar Sultana)". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Nayyar Sultana's 18th death anniversary observed". AAJ TV News. 27 October 2011. Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Silver Screen: Golden Girls". Dawn (newspaper). 17 December 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Nayyar Sultana (a profile)". Cineplot.com website. 27 September 2009. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  5. ^ Nayyar Sultana's education at Women's College of Aligarh Muslim University TwoCircles.net website, Published 12 July 2009, Retrieved 9 June 2022
  6. ^ Trishla Goyal (1966). The Marketing of Films. Intertrade Publications. p. 256.
  7. ^ Mushtaq Gazdar (1997). Pakistan Cinema, 1947-1997. Oxford University Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-19-577817-5. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  8. ^ Aijaz Gul (1 March 2016). "'Saheli' screened". Islamabad. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023.
  9. ^ Outlook. Vol. 1. 1962. p. 12.
  10. ^ The Herald. Vol. 29. Pakistan Herald Publications. 1998.
  11. ^ Library of Congress, New Delhi (1991). "Library of Congress Office, Karachi". Accessions List, South Asia. Vol. 11. E.G. Smith for the U.S. Library of Congress Office, New Delhi. p. 77.
  12. ^ Engineer Dr.Mohammad Niqab Khan (2021). The Uphill Struggle. Vol. 1. Engineer Dr.Mohammad Niqab Khan. p. 49.
  13. ^ Mathew Joseph C., ed. (2016). Understanding Pakistan: Emerging Voices from India. Taylor & Francis. p. 210. ISBN 9781351997256.
  14. ^ a b c d e Gazdar, Mushtaq (1997). Pakistan Cinema, 1947-1997. Oxford University Press. p. 248. ISBN 0-19-577817-0.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Gazdar, Mushtaq (1997). Pakistan Cinema, 1947-1997. Oxford University Press. p. 249. ISBN 0-19-577817-0.
  16. ^ a b c d e Gazdar, Mushtaq (1997). Pakistan Cinema, 1947-1997. Oxford University Press. p. 250. ISBN 0-19-577817-0.
  17. ^ a b c d e Gazdar, Mushtaq (1997). Pakistan Cinema, 1947-1997. Oxford University Press. p. 251. ISBN 0-19-577817-0.
  18. ^ a b c Gazdar, Mushtaq (1997). Pakistan Cinema, 1947-1997. Oxford University Press. p. 252. ISBN 0-19-577817-0.
  19. ^ Artistic Pakistan. Vol. 3. S.Y. Raza. 1969. p. 66.
  20. ^ Esha Niyogi De (2024). Women's Transborder Cinema. University of Illinois Press. p. 186. ISBN 9780252047473.
  21. ^ a b c d e "The Nigar Awards (1957 - 1971)". The Hot Spot Online website. 17 June 2002. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2022.