Munawar Sultana

Munawwar Sultana (8 November 1924 – 15 September 2007) was an Indian cinema actress, who acted in Hindi films. She is cited as one of the "popular" actresses of the late 1940s to early 1950s period, along with Noor Jehan, Swarnalata and Ragini. Her specialty was playing a selfless woman, enduring the rough treatment meted by her husband and family, but who eventually "brought her erring husband back home".

She came into prominence with Mazhar Khan's Pehli Nazar (1945), her first film in a leading role. A discovery of actor-producer-director Mazhar Khan, she became inundated with film offers, becoming one of the busiest actresses by 1949, along with other leading ladies such as Suraiya and Nargis. She starred in films with the leading heroes of the era like Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Surendra, Motilal, Trilok Kapoor, Mahipal etc. Some of her successful films were Pehli Nazar, Dard (1947), Elaan (1947) Kaneez (1947), and Babul (1950).

Early life Munawar Sultana was born on 8 November 1924, in Lahore, Punjab, British India, into a strict Punjabi Muslim family. Munawar was born on the same day as Pakistani singer Munawar Sultana, and has the same name, but the two are not related.

According to an interview with son Sarfaraz and daughter Shaheen, conducted by Shishir Krishna Sharma, Munawar's father was a radio announcer. Munawar wanted to become a doctor, but was side-tracked by an offer in films. This was a small role in the film, Dalsukh Pancholi's Khazanchi (1941), where she played a barmaid, and had a song, "Peene Ke Din Aaye" picturised on her. She went by the screen name Asha for this period. According to Patel, Munawar came to Bombay from Lahore, courtesy of the actor-director Mazhar Khan in 1945. She became popular with her film Pehli Nazar, a role she stated was one of her favourites.

Career In 1945, she was visited in Lahore by producer-actor-director Mazhar Khan, who contracted her on a monthly fee of Rs. 4000 plus an apartment, and brought her to Bombay. Munawar's first film with Mazhar was Pehli Nazar, where she was cast opposite actor Motilal. In the popular song "Dil Jalta Hai Toh Jalne Do" (Let the Aflame Heart Burn) playbacked by singer Mukesh for Motilal, Khan focused on Munawar's close-ups during the picturisation. The hero of the film was Kardar's brother Nusrat (Kardar), while Suraiya played the second lead, with Munawar Sultana as the main heroine. Munawar lip-synced three songs voiced for her by Uma Devi, a Naushad discovery. The song "Afsana Likh Rahin Hoon" became a big success. Elaan garnered positive reviews for Munawar. A Muslim social, the film was praised for its "progressive attitude" towards the need of education. It was directed by Mehboob Khan and had Surendra as the male lead.

The year 1948 saw Munawar in four more films. Parai Aag was produced by Great India Pictures and directed by Najam Naqvi. The film starred Munawar with Madhubala and Ulhas. Sona (Gold) was another Mazhar Khan-directed film for his Mazhar Arts Production. Majboor was a Bombay Talkies production, under the direction of Nazir Ajmeri. It had Shyam opposite Munawar with music by Ghulam Haider. Bombay Talkies had gone through several changes following Himanshu Rai's death, and Devika Rani's partnership with S. Mukherjee had produced several box office hits. With first, Mukherjee, and then Devika Rani leaving as head of production of Bombay Talkies, Ashok Kumar and S. Vacha returned to Bombay Talkies and took over control. Their first film was Majboor. The story was an "inter-communal" love story, with a Muslim boy falling for a Hindu girl. Munawar formed a "hit-pairing" with Shyam in this film, while Lata Mangeshkar came into prominence under the music direction of Ghulam Haider. Meri Kahani was directed by cameraman Keki Mistry and produced by Sharaf for Super Team Federal Productions (Bombay). The film co-starred Munawar and Madhubala with Surendra. A comedy of errors, it has the hero in a double role leading to mistaken identities.

1949 was Munawar's busiest year with seven releases. Dil Ki Duniya was directed by Mazhar Khan for his Noble Arts Production. It co-starred Geeta Bali and Mazhar with Munawar. The film was praised for its "versatility" and "well-balanced production values", along with good performances by Munawar, Mazhar and Geeta Bali. The film was claimed to have done "well" at the box office. Her standout film that year was Kaneez, directed by Krishna Kumar for Caravan Pictures. A Muslim social, it had Munawar with Shyam, and Kuldeep Kaur. She played a suffering woman married to a wayward husband, who eventually returns to her. It was described as one of her best roles.

1950s Out of her four films released in 1950, Munawar's most notable film was Babul (Father's House). She acted opposite Dilip Kumar and Nargis in this love triangle. Directed by S. U. Sunny, the music was composed by Naushad. The film became a major success at the box office. She acted in a few more films till 1956, with Jallad being her last appearance.

Personal life While working in films, Munawar met Sharif Ali, an affluent businessman who supplied furniture for movie sets. He had financed and produced two films starring Munawar Sultana, namely Meri Kahani (1948) and Pyar Ki Manzil (1950). They got married in 1954, at which point Munawar Sultana quit acting. Her final film, Jallad was released in 1956, but had been completed before she got married. Munawar Sultana eventually had seven children. The family lived in a house on Ambedkar Road in the posh Pali Hill area of Mumbai, where many of Munawar's contemporaries in the film industry also lived. Her husband died suddenly in 1966, when the eldest of their seven children was only eleven years old. However, the family was still comfortably off as both Munawar Sultana and her husband had managed to keep their finances in good condition. For the last eight years of her life, she suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

Filmography List:

Year Film Director Co-stars Producer1941 Khazanchi Moti B. Gidwani M. Ismail, S.D. Narang, Ramola Devi D. M. Pancholi (Pancholi Productions, Lahore)1945 Pehli Nazar Mazhar Khan Motilal, Veena, Baburao Pendharkar, Bibbo, Cuckoo Mazhar Khan for Mazhar Art Productions1947 Andhon Ki Duniya Keshavrao Date Mahipal, Manmohan Krishna, Keshavrao Date Rajkamal Kalamandir1947 Dard A. R. Kardar Suraiya, Nusrat (Kardar), Husn Banu, Pratima Devi A. R. Kardar1947 Elaan Mehboob Khan Surendra, Himalayawala, Rehana, Zebunissa Mehboob Productions1947 Naiya Aslam Noori Mazhar Khan, Ashraf Khan, Balakram, Shahzadi, Suman Mohan Pictures1948 Majboor Nazir Ajmeri Shyam, Indu, Amir Banu Bombay Talkies1948 Meri Kahani Keki Mistry Surendra, Murad, Bhudo Advani S. T. F. Productions1948 Parai Aag Najam Naqvi Madhubala, Ulhas, Khalil Great Indian Pictures1948 Sona a.k.a. Gold Mazhar Khan Mazhar Khan, Dixit, Suman, Madan Puri Mazhar Art Productions1949 Dada Harish Sheikh Mukhtar, Shyam, Begum Para, Cuckoo, N. A. Ansari Omar Khayyam Films1949 Dil Ki Duniya Mazhar Khan Geeta Bali, Mazhar Khan, Suman, Madan Puri Noble Art Productions1949 Kaneez Krishna Kumar Shyam, Kuldip Kaur, Shyama, Urmila Caravan Pictures1949 Nisbat S. Shamsuddin Yakub, Zebu, Sofia, Jilloobai Hindustan Art1949 Raat Ki Rani Jagdish Sethi Shyam, Sulochana Chatterjee, Om Prakash, Madan Puri J. S. Pictures1949 Sawan Bhado Ravindra Dave Om Prakash, Indu, Ram Singh, Raj Adeeb Prakash Pictures1949 Uddhar S. S. Kulkarni Dev Anand, Bharat Bhushan, Nirupa Roy Pratibha Chitra Mandir1950 Babul S. U. Sunny Dilip Kumar, Nargis, Jankidas Sunny Art Productions1950 Pyar Ki Manzil Keki Mistry Rehman, Gope, Jankidas Super Team Federal Productions1950 Sabak Mohammed Sadiq Gajanan Jagirdar, Karan Dewan, Om Prakash, Kumar, Shyama Sadiq Productions1950 Sartaj S. Khalil Motilal, Shyama, Cuckoo Omar Khayyam1952 Apni Izzat Nanabhai Bhatt Motilal, Yakub, Yashodhra Katju Harishchandra Pictures1952 Tarang I. C. Kapoor Ajit, Jeevan, Manorama Solar Films1954 Ehsan R. Sharma Prithviraj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Naaz, K. N. Singh Mohla Films1954 Toofan Ram Prakash Sajjan, Vijaylaxmi, Pran Starlight Pictures1954 Watan Nanabhai Bhatt Nirupa Roy, Trilok Kapoor, Jayant, Cuckoo, Madan Puri Falcon Films1955 Deewar I.S. Bali Bhagwan, Karan Dewan, Sheikh Mukhtar Indralok Pictures1956 Jallad JayBee Nasir Khan, Veena Filmdom