{{short description|Pakistani singer}} {{EngvarB|date=June 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Zeenat Begum | image = Zeenat-begum.jpg | native_name = {{Nastaliq|زینت بيگم}} | birth_name = Shamim Akhtar<ref name=cineplot/> | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1931|11|11}} | birth_place = Malerkotla, Punjab, British India | death_date = {{death date and age|2007|12|11|1931|11|11|df=y}} | death_place = Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan | other_names = ''Queen of Yesteryear''<ref name=HimalSouthasian/> | occupation = {{Hlist | Playback singer | Actress | Producer}} | years_active = 1942 – 2007 | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Abdul Jabbar|1949|1955|end=div}} * Saqlain Rizvi }} | children = 1 }}
'''Zeenat Begum''' (born '''Shamim Akhtar'''; 11 November 1931 {{endash}} 11 December 2007), sometimes known as '''Zeenat''', was a Pakistani singer.<ref name=cineplot/> She was known as ''The Queen of Yesteryear'' for singing songs in films and on radio.<ref name=HimalSouthasian/>
==Early life== Zeenat Begum was born Shamim Akhtar in 1931 on November 11 at Malerkotla, Punjab, British India.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://urdu.arynews.tv/death-anniversary-zeenat-begum/|title=زینت بیگم: فلمی صنعت کی ایک بھولی بسری آواز|website=ARY News|date=January 23, 2022}}</ref>
==Music career== Zeenat Begum was a tawaif and a renowned classical singer.<ref name=HimalSouthasian/><ref name=cineplot/> She was discovered by Pandit Amar Nath around 1937.<ref name=cineplot>{{cite web|url=http://cineplot.com/music/zeenat-begum/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101141700/http://cineplot.com/music/zeenat-begum/ |title=Zeenat Begum profile|publisher=cineplot.com website|date=2 November 2010 |access-date=19 April 2019|archive-date=1 November 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1256664|title=Spotlight: World's greatest mums|website=Dawn News|date=June 8, 2021}}</ref> Her first success as a playback singer came in 1942 when she sang for Govind Ram's Punjabi film Mangti (1942) and she also made her debut as an actress in the film.<ref name=HimalSouthasian>{{cite web|url=https://www.himalmag.com/mallikas-of-yesteryear-music-queens-pakistan-2021|title=Mallikas of yesteryear|website=Himal Southasian|date=January 14, 2022}}</ref> The film was marked as the first Golden jubilee film produced in Lahore.<ref name=cineplot/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1572495|title=Mohammad Rafi remembered|website=Dawn News|date=February 26, 2022}}</ref>
Her first Hindi film was ''Nishani'' (1942).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cineplot.com/music/zeenat-begums-song-list-1942-1951/ |title=Zeenat Begum's Song List – (1942–1951) |publisher=Cineplot.com |date=21 May 2011 |access-date=19 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101132907/http://cineplot.com/music/zeenat-begums-song-list-1942-1951/ |archive-date=1 November 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> She sang for other notable films including ''Panchhi'' (1944), ''Shalimar'' (1946), ''Shehar se Door'' (1946) and ''Daasi'' (1944).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cineplot.com/zeenat-begum/|title=Zeenat Begum|publisher=Cineplot.com|access-date=19 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190913161909/http://cineplot.com/zeenat-begum/|archive-date=13 September 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Cinema Vision India Volume 2|publisher=Bombay S. Kak|page=34}}</ref>
Zeenat Begum migrated from Lahore to Bombay in 1944.<ref name=cineplot/> 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.<ref name=cineplot/> The last film she sang for in India was ''Mukhda'' (1951).<ref name=cineplot/> She migrated to Pakistan and joined Lahore station of Radio Pakistan and worked there until the late 1950s.<ref name=cineplot/> After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, many new playback singers arrived in Pakistan which affected the playback singing career of Zeenat Begum.<ref name=cineplot/> Though she remained a prominent singer of Radio Lahore in the 1950s and 1960s.<ref name=cineplot/><ref>{{cite book|title=Sangeet Natak, Issues 99-102|publisher=New Delhi : Sangeet Natak Akademi, 1965|page=72}}</ref>
==Personal life== Zeenat married Abdul Jabbar in 1949. They divorced in 1955. She married Saqlain Rizvi later and they had one child together.
==Death== She died on 11 December 2007 in Lahore, Pakistan.<ref name=cineplot/>
==Filmography== ===Film=== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Language |- | 1942 || ''Nishani'' || Hindi |- | 1942 || ''Mangti'' || Punjabi<ref>{{cite book|title=Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas|publisher=Routledge|page=165}}</ref> |- | 1943 || ''Sahara'' || Hindi<ref>{{cite book|title=A Woman of Substance: The Memoirs of Begum Khurshid Mirza, 1918-1989|publisher=New Delhi : Zubaan, an imprint of Kali for Women|page=147}}</ref> |- | 1944 || ''Daasi'' || Hindi |- | 1944 || ''Chand'' || Hindi |- | 1944 || ''Panchhi'' || Hindi |- | 1944 || ''Gul Baloch'' || Punjabi<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/features/punjabs-rafi-rafis-punjab-%E2%80%94-a-bond-of-love-118094|title=Punjab's Rafi, Rafi's Punjab — a bond of love|website=Tribune India|date=December 26, 2021|access-date=14 February 2022|archive-date=8 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108060508/https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/features/punjabs-rafi-rafis-punjab-%E2%80%94-a-bond-of-love-118094|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Remembering Mohammed Rafi|publisher=VIJAY. POOLAKKAL|page=2}}</ref> |- | 1945 || ''Champa'' || Hindi |- | 1946 || ''Kahan Gaye'' || Hindi |- | 1946 || ''Shehar se Door'' || Hindi |- | 1946 || ''Rehana'' || Urdu |- | 1946 || ''Shalimar'' || Hindi |- | 1946 || ''Khush Naseeb'' || Hindi |- | 1948 || ''Teri Yaad'' || Urdu |- | 1949 || ''Ek Thi Larki'' || Hindi |- | 1949 || ''Kaneez'' || Hindi<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rajadhyaksha|first1=Ashish|last2=Willemen|first2=Paul|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofi0000raja|year=1999|page=313|publisher=British Film Institute|isbn=9780851706696 }}</ref> |- | 1949 || ''Pheray'' || Urdu<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.desimoviesreviews.com/index.php/category/lollywood-reviews/|date=26 May 2020|archive-date=13 June 2020|access-date=4 February 2022|url-status=dead|author=Swami ji|website=Hot Spot Online website|title=Pheray (1949 film) - a film review (scroll down to read this title) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613171705/https://www.desimoviesreviews.com/index.php/category/lollywood-reviews/}}</ref> |- | 1950 || ''Jahad'' || Urdu |- | 1950 || ''Hamari Basti'' || Urdu |- | 1950 || ''2 Aansoo'' || Urdu |- | 1950 || ''Shammi'' || Punjabi |- | 1951 || ''Mukhda'' || Hindi |- | 1951 || ''Eid'' || Urdu |- | 1951 || ''Ghairat'' || Urdu |- | 1951 || ''Billo'' || Punjabi |- | 1952 || ''Shola'' || Urdu |- | 1952 || ''Nath'' || Punjabi |- | 1953 || ''Sailab'' || Urdu |- | 1953 || ''Ilzam'' || Urdu |- | 1963 || ''Ik Tera Sahara'' || Urdu |- | 1970 || ''Naya Savera'' || Urdu |- | 1975 || ''Mohabbat Zindagi Hai'' || Urdu |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0066834}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Begum, Zeenat}} Category:Indian women classical singers Category:Pakistani classical singers Category:Pakistani playback singers Category:Pakistani radio personalities Category:Indian women playback singers Category:Indian courtesans Category:2007 deaths Category:Punjabi women Category:Singers from Lahore Category:Punjabi-language singers Category:Radio personalities from Lahore Category:Hindi-language playback singers Category:20th-century Indian women singers Category:1931 births Category:20th-century Pakistani actresses Category:20th-century Pakistani women singers Category:Singers from British India Category:21st-century Pakistani women singers Category:Pakistani film actresses Category:21st-century Pakistani actresses Category:People from Punjab Province (British India) Category:Pakistani tawaifs Category:Pakistani ghazal singers Category:20th-century women musicians Category:Pakistani classical musicians