Sabira Begum better known as Asha Posley ( Punjabi, ) (1927 – 25 March 1998) was the first heroine of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

i films.

Early life

Asha Posley was born as Sabira Begum in Patiala,

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

in 1927. Asha Posley was the daughter of music composer Inayat Ali Nath, who worked with

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

in Delhi, and the sister of renowned film playback singer Kausar Parveen and another sisters Rani Kiran and Najma Begum. She started singing at the age of four and used to sing in children's radio programmes at

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. Asha's younger brother Shamsher Ali was a musician. She started performing in theatres plays and dramas in Urdu and Punjabi. During that time her theatres dramas became very popular and she was trained in singing by her father Inayat Ali Nath. She was skilled in singing ghazal, geet, tappe, thumri and dadra. In 1940 she moved from Delhi to

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

along with her family. She accompanied her father to the studios to watch the shooting of director B. R Sethi's 1942 film ''Gawandhi'' and he offered her a role in the film which she accepted.

Career

She made her debut as a supporting actress in

-made Punjabi film ''Gawandi (1942)'', then the lead role in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

film ''Champa'' (1945), filmed in

. She was given her professional name Asha Posley by the renowned music director Ghulam Haider. After the

independence of Pakistan The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation th ...

in 1947, she migrated with her family to the newly created

. She was the heroine of the first-ever released film in

Urdu language Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, '' Teri Yaad'' (1948). She played the female lead opposite Nasir Khan, famous Indian actor

Dilip Kumar Dilip Kumar (born Muhammad Yusuf Khan; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021) was an Indian actor and film producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated Hindi cinema from the 1950s throughout t ...

's brother, who played the male lead in the film. After playing the female lead role in films during 1940s, 1950s and 1960s then she was cast mainly in supporting roles especially opposite comedian actors Nazar and ''Asif Jah'' in most of her films. She acted in 143 films during her film career spanning over 4 decades.(Karan Bali
Asha Posley profile on Upperstall.com website
Retrieved 28 June 2021 In 1982 she was honored with '' Nigar Award For 30 Years of Excellence'' which was given to her by

Ilyas Rashidi Ilyas Rashidi () was a Pakistani magazine publisher and editor in chief, editor who founded the film magazine Nigar (magazine), ''Nigar'' in 1948, dedicated to films and film personalities, and the historic and prestigious Nigar Awards on 17 Ju ...

for her contributions towards the film industry. Later she transitioned to television and worked in numerous drama serials by appearing in various character roles in television dramas. In 1995 she appeared in drama ''Red Card'' which was written by Rimsha it aired on both PTV and STN.

Personal life

Posley's younger sister Kausar Parveen was playback singer in 1950s and 1960s. Her other younger sister Najma was the actress of Urdu and Punjabi television dramas. Asha's younger brother Shamsher Ali was a musician.

Death

Asha Posley died on 26 March 1998 at

at age 70.

Filmography

Television series

Film

Awards and recognition

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Posley, Asha 1927 births Pakistani film actresses 20th-century Pakistani actresses Nigar Award winners 20th-century Indian actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema People from Patiala 20th-century Pakistani women singers 20th-century Pakistani singers Actresses in Urdu cinema 20th-century Indian singers Pakistani radio personalities 20th-century Indian women singers 1998 deaths Actors from Punjab, India Actresses in Punjabi cinema Indian film actresses Urdu-language singers Radio personalities from Lahore Pakistani ghazal singers Pakistani classical singers Indian musical theatre actresses Pakistani stage actresses Punjabi-language singers Pakistani playback singers Women ghazal singers Hindi-language singers Singers from Lahore People from Punjab Province (British India) Pakistani television actresses