LAHORE, Feb 27: Raagni, a film star of yesteryears, died of renal failure here on Tuesday. She was 82. The almond-eyed beauty, who once ruled over the hearts of thousands and won the title of aahoo-chashm with her first film, spent the last days of her life in obscurity in the house of a nephew of hers in Madina Colony, Gulberg.
Her daughter, Saira, told Dawn that Raagni was rushed to the Services Hospital on Tuesday morning in an extremely serious condition and passed away at around 11:30am.
Raagni was born in Gujranwala in 1925. Named Irshad Begum at birth, she moved with her family to a house on Fleming Road, Lahore, in the 1940s, where Roshan Lal Shori, a known filmmaker, was a neighbour. Shori spotted Raagni and introduced her to the world of celluloid.
Her early films included Sehti Murad, Himmat, Dasi and Shah Jahan. She set a record for the highest fee by a heroine when she charged Rs100,000 for Shah Jahan in which she played Mumtaz Mehal. She was paired with Kundan Lal Sehgal, and this puts her in the league of heroines such as Kanan Bala and Suraiya.
In 1945, she left Lahore for Bombay and teamed up with A R Kardar. Later on Naik Parveen by S M Yousaf turned out to be one of her most memorable films. Among her other famous films were Nyla, Mundri, Patan and Lado. Back in Lahore after partition, her portrayal of Dil Aram in Anarkali in the 1950s earned her a lot of appreciation.
Raagni married for the first time in the 1940s and had two children from that marriage. She lost her son Abid to cancer some years ago. Her daughter Saira lives in Karachi.
Raagni was married a second time to S Gull. The couple produced Beqarar in 1950.
