Swaran Lata (), (), 20 December 1924 – 8 February 2008) was a Pakistani film actress. She started her career in the film industry in

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 ...

and later moved to

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# ...

. She was known as ''The Tragedy Queen'' after she proved her mettle in her emotional, tragic roles, her presence on the film screen and her moving dialogue delivery. She worked both in

Bollywood 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 "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

and in

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

cinema.

Early life

Swaran Lata was born into a Siyal

Khatri Khatri () is a caste system in India, caste originating from the Malwa (Punjab), Malwa and Majha areas of Punjab region of South Asia that is predominantly found in India, but also in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Khatris claim they are war ...

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

family in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

, now in

on 20 December 1924. She did her

Senior Cambridge The Senior Cambridge examinations were General Certificate of Education examinations held in India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Singapore. They were preceded by the Junior Cambridge and Preliminary Cambridge examinations. History India The ...

diploma from

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 ...

and then joined the Academy of Music and Arts,

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

. In the early 1940s, her family moved to

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 ...

. She acted in a total of 22 movies in

from 1942 to 1948. Swaran Lata later converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

after she married Nazir Ahmed, a famous actor, director and producer at the time. She changed her name to ''Saeeda Bano''. The ''Swaran-Nazir'' pair was a very creative couple, churning out many movies together both before and after the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in 1947.

Film career

An exceptional and wondrous story about how she entered the realm of acting trails Swaran. Her parents died when she was very young and she lived most of her adolescent life with her elder brother, whom she recalls "very strict" on her. However, it is the story of how she got discovered that Swaran tells with great passion: ''"I was a student at a college in Lucknow, India. When I was traveling from Delhi to Lucknow, a few film directors happened to see me. They approached me to act in films but I was not interested at first. One of them then went to my elder brother with the offer, and to my utmost surprise he agreed"''.Team of actress Swaran Lata and film director Nazir on Dawn (newspaper)
Published 17 Dec 2008, Retrieved 25 April 2022 Swaran Lata started her career as a stage actress. Her first film was ''Awaaz'' released in 1942. Swaran and Nazir migrated to

at the time of the

in 1947. They left everything they had behind in

and shifted 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 ...

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 ...

. The duo had to start from scratch and were considered among the pioneers of the early

Pakistani film industry The film industry of Pakistan, consisting of motion pictures, has had a large effect on Pakistani society and culture since the nation's independence. Pakistani cinema is made up of various sub-industries, including Lollywood, which mak ...

. Swaran Lata was the lead actress of Pakistan's first ever silver jubilee film '' Pheray'' (1949). This film was a Punjabi film but she was comfortable as an

Urdu 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 ...

language speaker who was educated in

, the home of

''littérateurs''. For the film, she was coached in

Punjabi language Punjabi, sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It is one of the most widely spoken native languages in the world, with approximately 150 million native sp ...

by Baba Alam Siahposh, a Punjabi poet, who was also one of the lyricists of the film songs. As a lead actress, ''Laarey'' (1950), ''Naukar'' (1955), ''Heer'' (1955) were her famous films, and as a supporting actress, ''Sawaal'' (1966) was her famous film. From 1960 onwards, she cut back her film appearances and mainly shifted towards supporting roles until she gracefully retired in 1971.Profile of actress Swaran Lata on upperstall.com website
Retrieved 25 April 2022 In her lifetime, Swaran worked with great names like

Prithviraj Kapoor Prithviraj Kapoor (born Prithvinath Kapoor; 3 November 1906 – 29 May 1972) was an Indian actor who is also considered to be one of the founding figures of Hindi cinema. He was associated with IPTA as one of its founding members and establish ...

and Motilal in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and with Santosh Kumar, Darpan,

Inayat Hussain Bhatti Inayat Hussain Bhatti (; 12 January 1928 – 31 May 1999) was a Pakistani film playback singer, film actor, producer, director, script writer, social worker, columnist, religious scholar and an active advocate of the development of the Punjabi ...

and

Habib Habib (; ; also romanized as Habeeb) is an Arabic masculine given name, occasional surname, and honorific, with the meaning "beloved" or "my love", or "darling". It also forms the famous Arabic word ''"Habibi"'' which is used to refer to a friend ...

Personal life

She married actor

Nazir Ahmed Khan Nazir Ahmed Khan (1904 26 August 1983) () was one of the founding fathers of Pakistan film industry. He was a versatile filmmaker, actor, director and producer. Personal life Nazir was born in 1904 in a Kakazai Pathan family in Lahore, P ...

and had four children including three daughters and one son. Her grandson is actor Nauman Ijaz.

Death

Swaran Lata died at the age of 83 in

, Pakistan on 8 February 2008.

Filmography

Television shows

Film

Other appearance

References

External links

* , Swaran Lata filmography on IMDb website
Filmography of actress Swaran Lata on Complete Index To World Film (CITWF) website Archived
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lata, Swaran 1924 births Actresses from British India People from Rawalpindi District Actresses from Lahore Pakistani film actresses Converts to Islam from Sikhism 20th-century Pakistani actresses Actresses in Punjabi cinema 2008 deaths Indian emigrants to Pakistan 21st-century Pakistani actresses Actresses in Urdu cinema 20th-century Indian actresses Indian film actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema