Name: Suraiya Age: The count is off at 75 Nationality: Indian Claim to fame: India’s first mega movie star
NEITHER a classic beauty nor trained in classical music, still she became a superstar singer-actress. Suraiya Jamaal Sheikh was independent India’s first big movie star — someone who moved people to frenzy like no other star had done during her time. Even the prime minister of the country, Nehru, was so moved by her ethereal beauty and her stunning voice after watching the movie Mirza Ghalib that he was reported to have said: “You have brought Mirza Ghalib alive”.
Suraiya passed away on January 31 after a brief illness. Living almost like a recluse since her retirement four decades ago, Suraiya did not marry and had no close relatives. However, she did have a liaison with co-star Dev Anand who was the love of her life.
And now that she is no more, there are many who are claiming to have been near and dear to her. All this is because she has left behind property and jewellery worth crores of rupees. As there are no legal heirs and no known will of the actress, several claimants have surfaced, leading to a mad scramble for the star’s vast fortune. For the moment though, the provincial Maharashtra government has sealed Suraiya’s various properties following a High Court directive.
Suraiya’s solicitor Dhimant Thakker has staked claim to her property claiming that he had looked after her in the last months of her life and was with her till she breathed last. Meanwhile, a Saudi Arabia based businessman Mehfooz Ahmed, claiming to be Suraiya’s first cousin, is also staking a claim. And to add to the chaos, her jewellery, estimated to be at least Rs50 lakhs, has mysteriously gone missing.
Born in Lahore, Suraiya debuted as a child star with Taj Mahal (1941). She did playback as a 13-year-old for Mehtaab in Sharda and was effectively launched as a singing star in Bombay Talkies’ Humaari Baat. She made her presence felt in India’s first multi-starrer K. Asif’s Phool and played strong supporting second lead role to Noorjehan in Mehboob Khan’s Anmol Ghadi. What gave Suraiya an edge over contemporaries was her ability to sing her own songs.
The years 1948-1949 were the best of her career. A trio of hits — Pyar Ki Jeet, Badi Behan and Dillagi — made Suraiya the highest paid female star. However, Suraiya’s reign at the top was brief. She had many flop films in the 1950s. Then she got involved with Dev Anand and the two of them did six films together, but her strict grandmother put an end to their affair by throwing the ring Dev Anand gave her into the sea!
In 1963, to the strains of Yeh Kaisi Ajab Dastaan Ho Gayee Hai, Suraiya bade farewell to the studios and surprisingly choose not to sing anymore. Suraiya’s ajeeb dastaan, becomes more so after her death.
NEITHER a classic beauty nor trained in classical music, still she became a superstar singer-actress. Suraiya Jamaal Sheikh was independent India’s first big movie star — someone who moved people to frenzy like no other star had done during her time. Even the prime minister of the country, Nehru, was so moved by her ethereal beauty and her stunning voice after watching the movie Mirza Ghalib that he was reported to have said: “You have brought Mirza Ghalib alive”.
