Veena
Born: 1924-07-04 in Quetta, Baluchistan Agency, Pakistan
Died: 2004-11-14
Known For: Acting
Biography
Veena (4 July 1926 – 14 November 2004), also known as Veena Kumari, real name Tajour Sultana, was an Indian actress. Veena was born as Tajour Sultana on 4 July 1926 in Quetta, Baluchistan, Pakistani. At some point of time, her family shifted to Lahore and she belonged to Lahore's Chuna Mandi.[1] She married actor-hero Al Nasir in 1947 and had two children. She started out playing heroine roles in pre-partition films. She made her debut with Garib and Gawandhi (1942) at around sixteen years of age. Garib was made in Urdu and Gawandhi was made in Punjabi and directed by Mehboob Khan. In Garib, she played the role of Lata and in Gawandhi she played heroine opposite Shyam, who played the hero. She became known for her roles in pre-partition Hindi and Urdu films. Her early years in films came with films such as Najma (1943), Phool (1945) and Humayun (1945). Her last film before the Partition of India was Rajputani (1946), in which she played a supporting role. She decided to remain in India after the partition, and she acted through the mid-to-late-1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. She played roles in big productions such as Halaku (1956), Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), Taj Mahal (1963) (for which she received the Filmfare's Award for Best Supporting Actress), Do Raaste (1969) and Pakeezah (1972). She retired in 1983 after the release of Razia Sultan (1983) in which she played Empress Shah Turkhan. She died in Bombay in 2004 after 21 years of retirement when she was 78 years old after suffering from a protracted illness. She had appeared in over 70 feature films in a career spanning 41 years (1942 till 1983).
Filmography
1986
- Mazloom as Purnima's mother
1983
1981
1980
1977
- The Chess Players as Queen Mother
1974
- Madhosh as Raj's Mother
- 5 Rifles as Maharani
- Raja Shiv Chhatrapati as Vadisohabeen
1973
1970
1969
- Do Raaste as Mrs. Gupta
- Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai as Gurmukh Singh's wife
1968
- Saathi as Rajni's Mother
- Kahin Din Kahin Raat
- Aashirwad as Leela S. Choudhary
- Shrimanji
1967
- Noorjehan as Mrs. Hayat Baig
1966
1965
1964
1963
- Taj Mahal as Empress Nur Jahan
- Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon
1959
- Kaagaz Ke Phool as Veena Varma / Veena Sinha
- Chhoti Bahen as Yashoda
1958
- Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi as Kamini
- Khota Paisa as Geeta
- Mehndi
1956
- Halaku as Maharani
- Delhi Durbar
1951
- Afsana as Meera
1945
- Phool
- Pehli Nazar
- Humayun as Rajkumari (as Veena Kumari)
1943
- Najma as Najma
1942
- Garib as Lata