SURAIYYA

Name                                     Suraiya Jamaal Sheikh

Date of Birth                         15^th June, 1929

Birth Place                             Gujranwala, Punjab (Now in Pakistan)

Father’s Name                      Sh. Debendranath Ghosh Roychoudhury
 

Mother’s Name                     Smt. Amiya Devi

Education                                New Girls' High School in Bombay

Suraiya Jamaal Sheikh was a Singer and Actress in Indian Films, and was popularly known as Suraiya in the film industry. Her films as a child artist ran between 1937 and 1941. She got a break in films with the help of her uncle Zahoor, who was a popular villain of his time. In 1941 during a holiday from school, she accompanied her uncle to Mohan Studios to see the shooting of the film Taj Mahal, a film by Nanubhai Vakil.

Vakil noticed the 12-year old girl and chose her to play the role of a young Mumtaz Mahal as they had nobody else to play the role. Her singing career soon found a mentor in music maestro Naushad. Naushad heard her on the radio and chose her to sing as a 13 year old for Mehtaab in Kardar's Sharda. She got the break as a heroine for the movie Tadbir at the recommendation of K.L. Saigal who liked her voice during a rehearsal. More opportunities appeared for Suraiya after reigning actresses Noor Jehan and Khursheed Bano migrated to Pakistan during the 1947 partition.

Suraiya had an edge over her contemporaries Kamini Kaushal and Nargis because she could sing her own songs. The years 1948-49 were the best of her career. After three hits Pyar Ki Jeet, Badi Bahen and Dillagi, she became the highest paid female star. Her reign at the top was brief and her films started flopping in the 1950s. She made a comeback with Waaris and Mirza Ghalib. Her last film was Rustom Sohrab following which she kept away from films.

Suraiya was romantically involved with actor Dev Anand and the two of them did six films together between 1948 and 1951. During the shooting of a song, a boat capsized and Dev Anand saved Suraiya from drowning. She fell in love with him but her grandmother opposed the relationship. Suraiya remained unmarried all her life.

She died in 2004 of old age at 75. In 2004, during the Sansui Awards, actress Jaya Bhaduri received the Lifetime Achievement Award and while she was on stage, she was disappointed that no one gave a tribute to the legendary actress Suraiya who had passed right around that time.