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KARACHI: Noted character actress Tamanna Begum passed away here on Monday; She was 68.
She was suffering from kidney-related ailments and had been bedridden for quite some time. She is survived by a daughter.
Tamanna was born in Aligarh. She began her showbiz career in 1960 with Radio Pakistan Lahore and gradually moved to the realms of theatre and films. It was her close-to-life performances as a character actress in films, ranging from an out-and-out vamp to a churlish, funny sidekick to the heroine that earned her fame.
Daman was the first film that she appeared in as an actress. It was released in 1962. The movie that catapulted her to fame was Ashiana (1964). She went on to work in critically acclaimed and commercially successful films such as Umrao Jan Ada, Susral, Bharosa, Anmol, Muhabbat and Sohra Te Jawai. The last film that she worked in was Ghar Da Kharak. In total, she did 263 films.
Tamanna also acted in many television plays and theatre productions alongside distinguished TV artistes. Some of the plays in which her performance stood out were Mehndi, Khandan, Vani and Chandni Raatein.
As the Lahore film industry shrank, Tamanna moved to Karachi to settle here.
In one of her last television interviews, Tamanna complained of an indifferent attitude of her colleagues as well as of government institutions to her financial needs and physical condition.
Peerzada Salman is the Special Correspondent for Arts & Culture for Dawn in Karachi, having been associated with the newspaper since 2003. He writes weekly columns on Karachi’s history and Pakistani showbiz alongside his coverage of cultural events.
