Aasia Begum, better known as simply Aasia, (13 November 1952 – 9 March 2013) was a Pakistani film actress who was active in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

Early life

Aasia was born in 1952 as Firdous in

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak'' (the 'Fortunate Castle') construct ...

Punjab, India Punjab (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Himachal ...

. She emigrated from India to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. She resided in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

after retiring from her career, where she died on 9 March 2013, aged 60.

Career

She had made her debut in the

Pakistani film industry Cinema of Pakistan, popularly known as Lollywood ( ur, ), refers to the filmmaking industry in Pakistan. Pakistan is home to several film studios centres, primarily located in its three largest cities – Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad. ...

in 1970 in a film by producer

Shabab Kiranwi Shabab Kiranwi (born Nazir Ahmed; 1925 5 November 1982) was a Pakistani film director, producer, and occasional screenwriter, lyricist and a novelist. He debuted in the Pakistani film industry as a producer and lyricist with ''Jalwa'' (1955) whi ...

. In the same year, she also acted in film director

Riaz Shahid Riaz Shahid (1927 – 1 October 1972) was a Pakistani filmmaker, film writer, and a journalist. Early life and career Riaz Shahid was born in 1927 in Quetta, British India. He belonged to a Kashmiris in Punjab, Punjabi Kashmiri family. He ...

's movie ''Gharnata'' (1970). Aasia acted in more than 179

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

movies, including also several Urdu films. Aasia is best remembered for her role of 'Mukkho' in the Punjabi film '' Maula Jatt'' (1979). This role redefined the concept of 'Jatti' and 'Chaudhrani' in Pakistani Punjabi language films. In that film, she had based her Punjabi language accent on the

Sargodha Sargodha (Punjabi and ur, ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Punjab province, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's 12th largest city by population and one of the fastest-growing cities of the country. Sargodha is also known as t ...

and

Jhang Jhang ( Punjabi, ur, ), ) is the capital city of Jhang District, in the central portion of the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Situated on the east bank of the Chenab river, it is the 18th largest city of Pakistan by population. The histori ...

accents.

Personal life

She had married a Karachi-based businessman, and they had four children together.

Death

Aasia quit the film industry in the mid 1990s, and had been residing in New York with her family. She had sought treatment for some health issue in 2011 at the

Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) in Karachi, established in 1985, is the primary teaching site of the Aga Khan University's (AKU) Faculty of Health Sciences. Founded by the Aga Khan, the hospital provides a broad range of secondary and t ...

and then quietly went back to

. She died on 9 March 2013 in New York aged 60, from undisclosed causes.

Filmography

Film

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aasia 1952 births Actresses in Pashto cinema 2013 deaths People from Patiala district Punjabi people Pakistani film actresses Actresses in Urdu cinema Nigar Award winners 20th-century Pakistani actresses Pakistani emigrants to Canada 21st-century Pakistani actresses Actresses in Punjabi cinema