Uzra Butt nee Mumtaz (22 May 1917 – 31 May 2010) was a theatre personality of the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, who 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# ...

in 1964. She was the sister of theatre and

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 ...

film actress

Zohra Sehgal Zohra Mumtaz Sehgal (born Sahibzadi Zohra Mumtazullah Khan Begum; 27 April 1912 – 10 July 2014) was an Indian actress, dancer, and choreographer. Having begun her career as a member of a contemporary dance troupe, she transitioned into acting ...

, who, unlike her, lived 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 ...

. Starting in 1937, breaking traditional barriers, she and her sister joined with

Uday Shankar Uday Shankar (born Uday Shankar Choudhary; 8 December 1900 – 26 September 1977) was an Indian dancer and choreographer, best known for creating a fusion style of dance, adapting European theatrical techniques to Indian classical dance, imbu ...

ballet company A ballet company is a type of dance troupe that performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-rou ...

as actors and dancers and toured through Europe and the United States. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

ended their tour, she joined IPTA and subsequently remained the leading lady with

Prithvi Theatre Prithvi Theatre is a Theater (structure), theatre located in the upscale neighbourhood of Juhu, Mumbai. Prithviraj Kapoor the spearhead of one of the most influential actor and director families in Bollywood, the Kapoor family, founded the trave ...

in the 1940s and 1950s.

Early life

She was born as Uzra Mumtaz in Rampur,

in a land-owning

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

family of Mumtazullah Khan and Natiqua Begum, belonging to

Rohilla Rohillas are a community of Pashtuns, Pashtun heritage, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region ...

Pathans Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

of Rampur, Uttar Pradesh.

Career

She began her stage career with

in 1937 and went on to become the leading lady of the

in 1940s and 50s. She entered Uday Shankar's ballet troupe as a dancer and also taught dance before joining the

Indian People's Theatre Association Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) is the oldest association of theatre-artists in India. IPTA was formed in 1943 during the British rule in India, and promoted themes related to the Indian freedom struggle. Its goal was to bring cultur ...

(IPTA) in 1944 as an actress. Here

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (7 June 1914 – 1 June 1987) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, novelist, and journalist in Urdu, Hindi and English. He won four National Film Awards in India. Internationally, his films won the ( Golden Palm Gr ...

cast her as the lead in the play ''Zubeda''. Prithivi Raj Kapoor was impressed by her role and chose her as his lead heroine, Zohra too joined her. In the coming years, she played leading lady opposite Prithviraj Kapoor in Prithvi Theatre productions. She played a heroine's part in ''Sakuntala'' in 1944, partnering her sister in ''Ghaddar'' in 1948 and taking the lead role in ''Kisan'' and performed in 100 towns and cities all over India. Uzra Butt was also an art director of Prithvi theatre and worked for Prithvi theatre, until 1960, when it closed. In 1964 she migrated to Pakistan with her husband, Hameed Butt. Here she formed a dance troupe 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 ...

, acted on stage and television from time to time and served the

Pakistan National Council of the Arts Pakistan National Council of the Arts (, or PNCA) was established through an Act of Parliament in 1973 with the mandate to lead the development of arts in Pakistan. PNCA policies are framed by its Board of Governors which reports to the Federa ...

. Later she moved 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 ...

and joined the Ajoka Theatre in October 1985. Her inaugural group performance was 'Chaak Chakkar' and she went on to act in the plays: ''Barri'', ''Dukhini'', ''Dukh Darya'', ''Takey Da Tamasha'', ''Talismati Tata'', ''Teesri Dastak'', ''Kali Ghata'', ''Adhuri'' and ''Surak Gulaban Da Mousam''. She assumed the leadership role of chairperson of the group. She resumed acting after a forty-year hiatus in 1993 when she performed in ''Aik Thi Nani'' with her sister

. They played the lead roles and the cast included their grandniece,

Samiya Mumtaz Samiya Mumtaz () (born 1970, Karachi), is a Pakistani film and television actress. She has performed in several TV dramas. Her accolades include two Hum Awards and three Lux Style Awards nominations. Early life Mumtaz was born to Khawar an ...

and niece, Salima Raza. The play opened in Lahore in 2003 and toured India, Pakistan and Britain, including a performance at the Prithvi theatre in 2004. Uzra was presented the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

Acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...

(Urdu) in 1994 by the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama; it is India's highest recognition that is presented to practicing artists. Her last stage performance was in 2008 after that she retired and would give interviews.

Personal life

She married Hameed Butt a writer and singer with him she had three children.

Death

She died in

Lahore, Pakistan Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is the second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and 27th largest in the world, with a population of over 14 million. Lahore is one of Pakistan ...

at age 93.

Filmography

Television series

Film

Awards and recognition

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butt, Uzra 1917 births 2010 deaths Pakistani ballerinas People from Rampur, Uttar Pradesh Pakistani stage actresses Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Muhajir people 20th-century Pakistani actresses Disease-related deaths in Punjab, Pakistan Hindi theatre Actresses from Lahore Indian emigrants to Pakistan Actresses in Punjabi cinema Pakistani television actresses 21st-century Pakistani actresses Actresses in Urdu cinema Pakistani film actresses