Dilip Kumar's sister-in-law, did India's first BOLD shoot, moved to Pakistan after..., name was..., Sonam Kapoor was her...
Today, we will highlight the journey of this actress who became Bollywood's original sex symbol. In 1950s, she became a popular name due to her bold scenes and sizzling photoshoots, hence, breaking the norms and shifting the mindset of conservative Indians. She is none other Begum Para, the actress who started her career at 17, and was a huge name after acting in films like Neel Kamal, Jharna, and Kar Bhala. Begum Para Became one of the Highest-Paid Actresses in 1950s
Born in Zubaida ul Haq, Jhelum, Pakistan, Begum Para moved to Bombay after her brother's marriage with Bengali actress Protima Dasgupta. Fascinated by the city's allure, she often used to accompany her sister-in-law on shoots. Soon, she started receiving film offers. Her grand debut in Bollywood happened at the mere age of 17 with the film Chand. Her debut was a superhit, and shot her to overnight stardom.
Initially, her salary was Rs 1500 per month, and soon became one of the highest-paid actresses of her time. For the unversed, In 2008, she portrayed Sonam Kapoor's grandmother in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya. Begum Para did India's First-ever Bold Photoshoot
In 1951, Begum Para created a stir in Bollywood with her bold photoshoot for Life Magazine, shot by then photographer James Burke. She became the first actress to do so and garnered massive attention with her surprising yet bold style.
After establishing herself as a prominent name in the industry, Begum Para tied the knot with Nasir Khan, the younger brother of actor Dilip Kumar. The couple were blessed with three children, out of whom Ayub Khan entered films and became a well-known actor. Begum Para quit acting after her marriage but was still remembered for her impressive style and path-breaking choices.
Following her husband's demise in 1974, Begum Para resided in Pakistan with her family for two years but moved back to India, where she spent the rest of her life. She passed away at the age of 82 in 2008.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
3 hours ago
- NDTV
Racist Comments Flood Video Of US University Graduates Securing Top Tech Jobs
A video from NYU Tandon School of Engineering showcasing students securing jobs at tech giants like Google and Amazon sparked racist backlash online. The video showed an interviewer approaching students with a microphone during their graduation ceremony, asking them about their post-college plans and capturing their responses. Shared on Instagram by @nyutandon, the video featured students, many of whom appeared to be of South Asian descent, announcing their job offers. While intended to celebrate their achievements, it drew hateful comments on platforms like Instagram and X, targeting their perceived Indian or Chinese backgrounds. In the video, one woman said that she landed a software engineer role at Google, and another secured a position at Amazon in Seattle. Users noted the students' South Asian descent based on their appearance and accents, sparking debate. "Engineering students reveal their job offers in the tech industry," the video was captioned. Watch the video here: View this post on Instagram A post shared by NYU School of Engineering (@nyutandon) Comments on Instagram and posts on X revealed a barrage of hateful rhetoric, with users mocking the students' accents, names, and ethnicities. Some expressed resentment, claiming that "foreigners" were "stealing" high-paying tech jobs from American citizens. One user wrote, "Indians and Chinese joining big tech giants in US, meanwhile Mr. Donald Trump." Another commented, "They are all Asian and they got a scholarship to study in America given by America, but American students can't get scholarships when their parents are the one paying taxes. It doesn't make sense to me." A third said, "Americans raise their kids to worship taylor swift and Beyonce while other cultures are raising tech powerhouses and scientists." A fourth added, "All these immigrants making amaerican great." The comments reflect a broader wave of anti-immigrant sentiment, particularly against South Asians, amid debates over skilled immigration and H-1B visas. Indians make up a significant portion of H-1B visa recipients--about 70% of the 85,000 visas issued annually, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data.
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Smriti Mandhana opens up on pressure, purpose & patriotism in Herbalife India's Independence Day week podcast
As India heads into Independence Day with pride and optimism, Herbalife India's new podcast episode featuring Smriti Mandhana is the kind of conversation that speaks directly to the soul of a young, changing India. In this special episode of Live Your Best Life, Unscripted, host Ajay Khanna (Managing Director, Herbalife India) sits down with Smriti to talk about the realities behind the spotlight, pressure, discipline, heartbreak, leadership, nutrition, and the quiet moments that keep her grounded. From her beginnings as a five-year-old playing cricket with her brother, to now being one of India's most celebrated sports icons, Smriti has built a career not just on talent, but on mental clarity and relentless work ethic. She reflects on: Learning from the matches she's lost more than the ones she's won Writing down her goals to stay focused How music & gaming help her unwind How leadership is less about control and more about listening Why she surrounds herself with people who tell her the truth 'If you don't enjoy what you do, what's the point? Every day should end with a smile.' Nutrition, recovery, and hydration are central to her regimen. She shares how Herbalife supplements, especially H24 Hydrate, have helped her in high-temperature games, making performance sustainable. The episode arrives as India reflects on 78 years of freedom, and Smriti's message couldn't be more timely. She emphasizes the power of individuality, encouraging young Indians to stop chasing perfection and start honoring their own path. 'Everyone's journey is different. Don't be afraid of failure. It's the only way to grow.' The conversation wraps up with Smriti's now-signature charm, from admitting she'd have become a chef if not a cricketer, to sharing her travel essential (headphones!), and even calling out bad cricket terminology with a grin. Watch the full episode: Also streaming on: Spotify Apple Podcasts Amazon Music This Independence Day, Smriti Mandhana reminds us that being Indian is about more than where we're born, it's how we rise, support each other, and stay true to ourselves through every innings of life. Herbalife (NYSE: HLF) is a premier health and wellness company, community and platform that has been changing people's lives with great nutrition products and a business opportunity for its independent distributors since 1980. The Company offers science-backed food products to consumers in more than 90 markets through entrepreneurial distributors who provide one-on-one coaching and a supportive community that inspires their customers to embrace a healthier, more active lifestyle to live their best life. Live Your Best Life, Unscripted is an extension of that mission, a platform where real stories meet real science, helping listeners make better choices, one episode at a time. Stay tuned, new episodes drop monthly with more inspiring guests and wellness insights.
Mint
5 hours ago
- Mint
A new book about Aparna Sen, the star who became an indie film pioneer
In 1961, exactly 20 years prior to her directorial debut with 36 Chowringhee Lane, the world was introduced to Aparna Sen, née Dasgupta, the daughter of eminent film critic Chidananda Dasgupta, as the young Mrinmoyee of 'Samapti', a part of Satyajit Ray's Teen Kanya (1961). Sen says that this was in keeping with the fact that she had always wanted to be an actor, and her parents indulged her dreams and even promised to send her abroad to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. In 1969, she returned in a brief role in Ray's cinema to play Samit Bhanja's love interest in Aranyer Din Ratri. While her career as an actor was not exactly stellar to begin with, very soon she went on to become one of the most popular actresses of Bengali cinema. Her pairing with some of the top male stars of the industry, such as Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterjee, lent a certain sheen and appeal to her films and made her an extremely popular star in turn. Bhranti Bilas (1963), Baksa Badal (1970) and Jay Jayanti (1970) continue to remain some of her most popular films. Even as an actress, she played the roles of educated, working and empowered women, so it really does not come as a surprise that the women in the cinema which she would go on to create would be superior creatures compared to the men therein. While she does not like to talk about her career as an actress, it is worthwhile to probe her career as one. Most of the earlier films she acted in—being products of the mainstream Tollygunge-based Bengali film industry—fetched stardom and an iconic status for her, which have still not waned. Aparna Sen is not only one of a very small group of female actors-turned-directors (others include Sai Paranjpye, Hema Malini, Pooja Bhatt, Nandita Das and Revathi), but also the best known of them. She is recognized not only for her direction and acting, but also as a cultural and sociopolitical commentator. She was also the editor of the immensely popular Bengali magazine called Sananda from 1986 to 2005, when Madhumita Chattopadhyay took over as the editor-in-chief…. Like Sharmila Tagore who made her cinematic debut with Ray, Aparna Sen too straddled both worlds—she appeared in parallel or art films while having a remarkable presence in the 'commercial' genre of Bengali cinema in which she was often cast opposite the matinee idol Uttam Kumar. However, as Sen repeatedly expresses with displeasure, she was never happy acting in commercial films, and given her exposure to world cinema and other avant-garde art forms, she was extremely critical of such films with clichéd plots, a lack of innovation in form and content, and melodramatic acting. In fact, her condescension towards the commercial film earned her the tag 'snob' within the film industry. The first draft of her debut film as a director, 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981), as Sen likes to recount, came into being in the make-up room of a Bombay studio, as she waited to be called for the next shot of one of those many commercial films she could not intellectually connect to: 'I began writing a short story out of exasperation. I asked myself whether I should continue to act in such films in which I did not believe.' Sen did not stop acting in these films, though. For that earned her a livelihood. But she was creatively inclined to art-house cinema which, however, did not have as many viewers. In the 1960s and 1970s, she acted in films as aesthetically diverse as Akash Kusum (1965) directed by Mrinal Sen, and Satyajit Ray's Aranyer Din Ratri, at the same time as a commercially successful film such as Jay Jayanti (1971) with the reigning superstar of the day, Uttam Kumar, as well as others such as Mem Saheb (1972), Basanta Bilap (1973), Rater Rajanigandha (1973), Chhutir Phande (1974) and Proxy (1977), and several others that soon followed. And in all of them, Aparna Sen was portrayed as a sophisticated, sometimes rather westernized, if not too radical, woman. In recent years, she has become extremely selective about acting in films. If she happens to appear in one at all, it is usually in a meaningful role, central to the plot. Her last film was the Mandira Basu-directed Basu Paribar (loosely based on James Joyce's 'The Dead') in 2019, where she played Soumitra Chatterjee's wife. In her later films, Sen—who evolved with changing times—continued to play emancipated urban characters, often breaking stereotypes and emerging iconic in her dignified rebellion against patriarchal norms. One such film was Rituparno Ghosh's Unishe April (1994), which dramatized a widowed dancer's difficult relationship with her daughter, who failed to empathize with her mother's uncompromising pursuit of her career and apparent neglect of her household. In Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's 2009 film Antaheen, she played the role of a successful journalist-cum-photographer who prioritized her career over family and lost it. In Srijit Mukherji's 2018 film Ek Je Chhilo Raja, she played the role of the prosecution lawyer who came across as an independent and fiery individual. Excerpted with permission from Rupa. The book will be available for sale next week.
