Sardar Akhtar

Sardar Akhtar
Still shot from the film Asra (1941)
Born1915
Lahore, Punjab Province, British India
Died1986 (aged 70–71)
New York City, U.S.[1]
Resting placeBadakabarastan, Mumbai, India
NationalityIndian
OccupationActress
Years active1933–1945; 1971–1973
Spouse
​
(m. 1942⁠–⁠1964)​

Sardar Akhtar (1915–1986) was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi and Urdu films. She started her acting career on the Urdu stage. Her early films were with Saroj Movietone, where she did a majority of stunt (action) roles. She came into prominence as the washer-woman in the role of Rami Dhoban in Sohrab Modi's Pukar (1939). As a woman seeking justice for the death of her husband, it was a breakthrough role for her. A popular song she sang in the film was "Kaheko Mohe Chhede".[2] Her career defining role was as a "peasant woman" deserted by her husband, in Mehboob Khan's Aurat (1940), a role later made famous by Nargis in Mehboob's remake Mother India.[3]

She acted in over 50 films in a career span of 1933–45. Akhtar married Mehboob Khan in 1942, whom she had met when he cast her in Ali Baba (1940). She stopped after completing films like Fashion (1943) and Rahat. She resumed as a character actress in the 1970s, when she acted in O. P. Ralhan's Hulchul (1971).[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference DNA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Ashish Rajadhyaksha; Paul Willemen (10 July 2014). Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Taylor & Francis. pp. 1994–. ISBN 978-1-135-94325-7. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  3. ^ Gulazāra; Govind Nihalani; Saibal Chatterjee (2003). "The Emergence of Talkies". Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Popular Prakashan. p. 55. ISBN 978-81-7991-066-5. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  4. ^ Mahmood, Hameeddudin. "Sardar Akhtar-Profile". cineplot.com. Cineplot. Retrieved 19 July 2015.