M. Zahoor, also written as M. Zahur or Zahoor Ahmed, was an actor known for playing villains in

Hindi films Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Hollywood". The industry, producing films in th ...

in India during 1930s and 40s. He was the maternal uncle of the Indian actress-singer,

Suraiya Suraiya Jamal Sheikh (15 June 1929 – 31 January 2004), mononymously known as Suraiya, was an Indian actress and playback singer who worked in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of the greatest and finest actresses in the history of Indian c ...

, and was instrumental in her getting entry into Hindi films in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. In 1941, he took her to the sets of the movie ''

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

'', where she was spotted by the director of the film,

Nanubhai Vakil Nanubhai Vakil (23 May 1902 – 29 December 1980) was a Hindi and Gujarati film director. He directed the first Gujarati feature film, in 1932, with a biopic on the saint Narsinh Mehta, '' Narsinh Mehta'', whose cast included the actress Meh ...

, who selected her to play the role of the young

Mumtaz Mahal Mumtaz Mahal (; ; born Arjumand Banu Begum; 27 April 1593 – 17 June 1631) was the empress consort of Mughal Empire from 1628 to 1631 as the chief consort of the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan. The Taj Mahal in Agra, often cited as one of t ...

. Zahoor also wrote the story of the film ''

1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, '' Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * Ja ...

'' (1946), starring Suraiya and

Surendra Surendra is an Indian masculine given name. Notable people with this name include: * Surendra (actor), Indian singer and actor * Surendra Bhave * Surendra Chaturvedi * Surendra Dubey * Surendra Gambhir * Surendra Hiranandani * Surendra Jain * ...

. He migrated to Pakistan along with his mother (who was also Suraiya's maternal grandmother) later after India's

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

Films

Some of the films in which he acted are the following:

Silent films

*''

Khooni Katar ''Khooni Katar'' also called ''Golden Dagger'' is a 1931 Indian cinema's action adventure silent film directed by A. R. Kardar. The film was also called ''Sunheri Khanjar'' and the fifth film to be produced by Kardar for his United Pictures Co ...

'' (1931) *''

Farebi Daku ''Farebi Daku'' also called ''Mysterious Bandit'' is a 1931 action silent film produced and directed by A. R. Kardar. Kardar set up his own production company "United Players Corporation" in 1928 and in quick succession produced and directed s ...

'' (1931)

Talkies

*''

State Express ''State Express'' is a 1938 Indian Hindi-language action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been ...

'' (1938) *''Leatherface aka Farzande Watan '' (1939) *'' Hero No. 1'' (1939) *''

Hukum Ka Ikka Hukum (foaled 2 April 2017) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He won the second of his two starts as a juvenile in 2019 and improved to become a high-class middle-distance performer in the following year when he took the King Georg ...

'' (1939) *'' Alaudin Laila'' (1941)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zahoor, M. Indian male film actors Male actors in Hindi cinema Male actors from Mumbai 20th-century Indian male actors Possibly living people