Begum Para

Begum Para (née Zubeda Ul Haq; 25 December 1926 – 9 December 2008) was an Indian Hindi film actress. She was active mostly in the 1940s and 1950s. After almost 50 years of absence in the industry, she returned to films with her last role in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya as Sonam Kapoor's grandmother. In her time during the 1950s, she was considered a 'glamour girl' of Bollywood, so much so, that Life magazine had a section devoted to her photographs.

Early life Begum Para was born as Zubeda Ul Haq in Jhelum in British India (present day in Punjab, Pakistan) to an aristocratic Punjabi family. Her father, Mian Ehsan-ul-Haq, was a judge from Jalandhar who, at some point in his life, entered the judicial service of the princely state of Bikaner, which is now part of northern Rajasthan, where he eventually became chief justice of its highest court. He was a fine cricketer of his time. Her family settled in Aligarh. She was brought up very disciplined yet liberal. She was educated at the Aligarh Muslim University. Her elder sister, Zarina Haq, married Madan Mohan Bimbet, and the couple had a daughter Meenu Bimbet (who later became known for her political activism as Rukhsana Sultana). Bimbet's daughter Amrita Singh (Para's grandniece) went on to become a Bollywood star in the 1980s. Also, Para's elder brother Masrurul Haq, had gone off to Bombay in the late 1930s to become an actor. There he had met and fell in love with the Bengali actress Protima Dasgupta, and married her.

In 1951 she posed for photographer James Burke for a Life magazine photo shoot. Para's last role was in the movie Kar Bhala in 1956. She was also offered to play Nigar Sultana’s role 'Bahar' in Mughal-e-Azam (1960). However, she refused to play the role because she considered it against her image. They had three children, Lubna, Nadir and actor Ayub Khan. She had three granddaughters, Kichu Dandiya a jewellery designer, Tahura Khan and Zohra Khan. Her husband died in 1974. Following her husband's death, she briefly moved to Pakistan in 1975 to be with her family, two years later she relocated back to India.

Death She died in her sleep on 9 December 2008 at the age of 81.

Filmography

Saawariya (2007) - Sakina's grandmother Naya Daur (1957) Kismet Ka Khel (1956) Pehli Janak (1955) Sau Ka Note (1955) Shahzada (1955) Sitara (1955) Laila Majnu (1953) Naya Ghar (1953) Najariya (1952) Baghdad (1952) Pagle (1950) Meharbani (1950) Jharna (1948) Shahnaz (1948) Suhaag Raat (1948) - Paro Mehandi (1947) Neel Kamal (1947) Zanjeer (1947) The Chain (1947) Sohni Mahiwal (1946) Chhamia (1945) Chand (1944)