Suraiya Jamal Sheikh (15 June 1929 – 31 January 2004) Suraiya, was an Indian actress and playback singer who worked in Hindi films. She was born in Lahore, Suraiya settled in Bombay with her family when she was1 years old. In a career spanning from 1936 to 1964, Suraiya acted in over 70 films and sang 338 songs. Regarded among the finest and greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinema. She was known for her strong on-screen portrayals. Suraiya was the most celebrated actress between the mid- to late 1940s and early 1950s and was paid more than her male counterparts.
Suraiya was also a renowned playback singer, who mostly sang for herself. She sang her first song for Nai Duniya (1942), when she was only 12 years old. Suraiya made her first appearance as a child artist with the film Madame Fashion (1936), directed by Jaddan Bai. She made her acting debut in 1941, with Taj Mahal in which she played the role of Mumtaz Mahal. Suraiya went onto establish herself as one of the leading actresses in Hindi cinema with films such as – Ishaara (1943), Tadbir (1943), Phool (1945), Anmol Ghadi (1946), Omar Khaiyyam (1946), Parwana (1947), Dard (1947), Shair (1949), Dastan (1950), Afsar (1950), Diwana (1952), Bilwamangal (1954) and Mr. Lambu (1956).
Suraiya was known as Malika-e-Husn (queen of beauty) and Malika-e-Adakari (queen of acting). Suraiya’s career marked a significant turning point in 1948-1949 with the highest grossing releases of the year – Vidya (1948), Pyar Ki Jeet (1948), Dillagi (1949) and Badi Behen (1949). Her most notable portrayal was of a tawaif, Moti Begum in Mirza Ghalib (1954), which earned her critical acclaim and praises from two Prime Ministers of India. In December 1998, Suraiya then over 68 years old, while in New Delhi to receive the Sahitya Academy Award during Mirza Ghalib’s bi-centenary celebrations.
Suraiya’s final film release was Rustam Sohrab (1963), after which she took retirement due to poor health.[ Suraiya received the Screen Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996, for her contribution to Indian cinema. She died on 31 January 2004, after suffering from various ailments, including hypoglycemia, ischaemia and insulinoma. See Full Bio at Wiki
Personal life-
Suraiya was in a relationship with actor Dev Anand for four years from 1948 to 1951. Anand nicknamed Suraiya “Nosey”, while to Suraiya, Dev Anand was “Steve”, a name chosen from a book Dev Anand had given her. Suraiya also called Anand “Devina” and he called her “Suraiyana”, while faking an Italian accent. Kamini Kaushal, who worked with Suraiya and Anand in Shair (1949), said in an interview to Filmfare in 2014, that Suraiya would pass on her letters to her to be delivered to Anand, when her grandmother started keeping an eye on their love-affair. During the shooting of Jeet (1949), both Anand and Suraiya, had made plans for marriage and elopement, but at the last minute, an assistant director, jealous of their marriage, informed Suraiya’s grandmother, who dragged her home from the scene. In the ‘Star and Style’ interview, Suraiya said that she gave in only when both her grandmother and her maternal uncle threatened to get Dev Anand killed. While shooting Afsar (1950), Dev Anand again proposed to her and gave her an engagement diamond ring worth rupees 3000. Suraiya’s maternal grandmother, was fiercely opposed to Suraiya marrying Anand. Her grandmother had opposed the relationship, mainly because they were Muslims and Anand was a Hindu. Suraiya and Anand were stopped from acting together after their last film in 1951 by her grandmother. Thereafter, Suraiya remained unmarried by her own choice for the rest of her life.
Illness and Death –
Suraiya died at Mumbai’s Harkishandas Hospital on 31 January 2004 aged 75, after being admitted there for a week previously suffering from various ailments, including hypoglycemia, ischaemia and insulinoma.
Birth Chart of Suraiya-
