Mukhtar Begum (singer)

Mukhtar Begum was born in 1901 in Amritsar, British India and Mukhtar was the older sister and she had four siblings, a sister including Farida Khanum and three brothers.[1]

She attended Patiala Gharana's School a Ustad Mian Meherbaan Khan there liked her singing and he was the teacher of Ustad Aashiq Ali Khan so he trained Mukhtar Begum in Hindustani vocal music since the age of seven.[1]

In 1930s she moved to Kolkata and she did stage plays and threatre which were written by famous Urdu playwright and poet Agha Hashar Kashmiri.[3][1] Mukhtar Begum also went to Bombay there she also worked in theatre.[4] After doing theatre she started working in silent films and made her debut in 1931 and she appeared in both Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu films including Nala Damayanti, Dil ki Pyas, Ankh ka Nasha and Muflis Ashiq.[1] Mukhtar Begum also composed songs for two films in which she worked including Prem ki Aag and Bhesham.[5]

In Calcutta She met Noor Jehan and her family and she encouraged Noor Jehan and her sisters to join films and theatre so she introduced them to some producers and to her husband Agha Hashar Kashmiri.[6]

Mukhtar Begum along with her family moved to Pakistan after Partition and she settled in Lahore.[7][1] She contined to sing ghazals for radios and television.[8][9][10] At Lahore Mukhtar Begum then went to Radio Pakistan from there she singed many songs.[11][12][13]

Mukhatr Begum also worked as a teacher and she trained singer Naseem Begum and her younger sister Farida Khanum in classical singing and ghazals.[14]

Mukhtar married urdu poet, playwright and dramatist Agha Hashar Kashmiri and Mukhtar's younger sister Farida Khanum is a famous ghazal singer.[15][1]

Mukhtar Begum died on 25th February at age 80 in Lahore and she was laid to rest at Wadi-a-Hussain Cemetery in Lahore.[1]

• Mukhtar Begum at IMDb