Zeenat Begum

• Name — Zeenat Begum • Birth Name — Shamim Akhtar • Born — 11 November 1931 • Birthplace — Malerkotla, Punjab, British India • Died — 11 December 2007 • Place of death — Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan • Other Names — Queen of Yesteryear • Occupation — * Playback singer • Actress • Producer • Years Active — 1942 – 2007 • Spouse — * Saqlain Rizvi • Children — 1

Zeenat Begum was born Shamim Akhtar on 11 November 1931 into a family of musicians at Malerkotla, Punjab, British India.

Zeenat Begum was a tawaif and a renowned classical singer. She was discovered by Pandit Amar Nath around 1937. Her first success as a playback singer came when she sang for Govind Ram's Punjabi film Mangti (1942) and she also made her debut as an actress in the film. The film was marked as the first Golden jubilee film produced in Lahore. Her first Hindi film was Nishani (1942). She sang for other notable films including Panchhi (1944), Shalimar (1946), Shehar se Door (1946) and Daasi (1944). Zeenat Begum relocated from Lahore to Bombay in 1944. She sang for several music directors in Bombay, including younger brothers of Pandit Amar Nath – Pandit Husnlal Bhagatram, Master Ghulam Haider, Pandit Gobind Ram, etc. The last film she sang for in India was Mukhda (1951). She migrated to Pakistan and joined Lahore station of Radio Pakistan and worked there until the late 1950s. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, many new playback singers arrived in Pakistan which affected the playback singing career of Zeenat Begum. Though she remained a prominent singer of Radio Lahore in the 1950s and 1960s.

Zeenat married Abdul Jabbar in 1949. They divorced in 1955. She married Saqlain Rizvi later and they had one child together.

She died on 11 December 2007 in Lahore, Pakistan.