CharliVangundy at 04:36, 31 March 2026

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{{Short description|Indian actress and director (1892–1983)}}
{{redirect|Fatima Begum|the Pakistan Movement politician|Fatima Begum (politician)|the member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab|Fatima Begum (Pakistani politician)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Fatma Begum
| image = Fatima Begum (vers 1925).jpg
| imagesize = 150px
| birth_name = Fatma Bai
| birth_date = 1892
| birth_place = [[Gujarat]], [[Surat district]], [[British Raj]], [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|British India]]
| death_date = {{death year and age|1983|1892}}
| death_place = [[Gujarat]], [[India]]
| alias = ''First Female Film Director of Indian Cinema''
| occupation = {{Hlist | Actress | director | screenwriter | producer}}
| years_active = 1922–1940
| parents =
| spouse = [[Sidi Ibrahim Muhammad Yakut Khan III|Nawab Sidi Ibrahim Muhammad Yakut Khan III]] (divorced)<ref name=OxfordUniversityPress/>
| children = 3, including [[Zubeida]] and [[Sultana (actress)|Sultana]]
| relatives = [[Jamila Razzaq]] (granddaughter) <br/> [[Rhea Pillai]] (great-granddaughter)
}}
'''Fatma Begum''' (1892 {{endash}} 1983) was an Indian actress, director, producer and screenwriter. She is known as ''The First Female Film Director in [[Cinema of India|Indian Cinema]]''.<ref name=Cinemaazi>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinemaazi.com/people/fatma-begum|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 January 2022|access-date=29 March 2025|title=Fatma Begum profile|website=Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation (Cinemaazi.com) website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118183438/https://www.cinemaazi.com/people/fatma-begum}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.himalmag.com/culture/a-southasian-filmmaker-sumitra-peries-2022|title=A Southasian filmmaker unlike any other|website=Himal Southasian|date=April 19, 2022}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema |publisher=Routledge |year=1999 |isbn=1579581463 |editor-last=Rajadhyaksha |editor-first=Ashish |edition=2 |location=New York |pages=95 |editor-last2=Willemen |editor-first2=Paul}}</ref>

Within four years, she went on to write, produce and direct many films. She launched her own production house, Fatma Films, which later became Victoria-Fatma Films, and directed her first film, ''Bulbul-e-Paristan'', in 1926.<ref name=TOI>{{Cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Bollywoods-unforgettable-women/articleshow/5650530.cms|title=Bollywood's unforgettable women|newspaper=The Times of India |access-date=29 March 2025|archive-date=2 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202001530/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Bollywoods-unforgettable-women/articleshow/5650530.cms|url-status=dead|last1=Khurana|first1=Ashleshaa}}</ref><ref name=Cinestaan>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cinestaan.com/articles/2017/feb/9/4220 |title=Fatma Begum, Jaddanbai: The earliest female filmmakers of Indian cinema|last=Pandya|first=Sonal|website=Cinestaan.com website|access-date=29 March 2025|archive-date=26 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226220137/https://www.cinestaan.com/articles/2017/feb/9/4220|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Early life==
Fatma Begum was born into an [[Urdu]]-speaking [[Muslim]] family in India and came from a background in the Urdu language theater, her family of Muslim background having spoken that tongue. She was trained in theater and mostly acted in Urdu and Hindi plays.<ref name=Cinemaazi/><ref name=SachinPrincely/>

==Career==
She began her career on the Urdu stage. She later shifted to films and debuted in [[Ardeshir Irani]]'s silent film, ''[[Veerabhimanyu|Veer Abhimanyu]]'' (1922).<ref name=Cinemaazi/><ref name=":0" /> It was common practice for men to play women in plays and movies, so she became a huge woman superstar. Fatma Begum was fair skinned and wore dark make-up that suited the sepia/black & white images on the screen. Most of the roles required wigs for the heroes as well as the heroines.

In 1926, she established Fatma Films which later became known as Victoria-Fatima Films in 1928. She became a pioneer for fantasy cinema where she used trick photography to have early special effects. She was an actress at Kohinoor Studios and [[Imperial Studios]], while writing, directing, producing, and acting in her own films at Fatma Films.<ref name=Cinemaazi/><ref name=TOI/>

Begum became the first female director of [[Cinema of India|Indian cinema]] with her 1926 film, ''Bulbul-e-Paristan''.<ref name=Cinemaazi/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ibnlive.com/news/india/100-years-of-indian-cinema-the-first-women-directors-599939.html |title=100 Years of Indian Cinema: The first women directors |website=IBNLive |access-date=29 March 2025|archive-date=12 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312133532/http://www.ibnlive.com/news/india/100-years-of-indian-cinema-the-first-women-directors-599939.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The film was a high budget production has been described as a fantasy film featuring many special effects and her daughters [[Sultana (actress)|Sultana]], [[Zubeida]] also Shehzadi worked in the film.<ref name=OxfordUniversityPress/> The film places Begum among early pioneers of fantasy cinema such as [[Georges Méliès|George Melies]].<ref name=OxfordUniversityPress>{{cite book |last=Gazdar |first=Mushtaq |author-link=Mushtaq Gazdar |year=1997 |title=Pakistan Cinema, 1947-1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=8 |isbn=0-19-577817-0}}</ref> She directed many other films, her last being the ''Goddess of Luck'' in 1929. While continuing to produce and appear in her own work, Fatma worked for Kohinoor Studios and Imperial Studios in the film ''Duniya Kya Hai?'' in 1937.<ref name=Cinemaazi/>

She worked in her last film ''[[Diamond Queen (1940 film)|Diamond Queen]]'' as Faima in 1940.

==Personal life==
She was married to Nawab [[Sidi Ibrahim Muhammad Yakut Khan III]] of [[Sachin State]].<ref name=SachinPrincely>{{Cite web |url=http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/ips/s/sachin.html |title=Sachin Princely State (9 gun salute) |access-date=29 March 2025|archive-date=23 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423041551/http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/ips/s/sachin.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Her husband didn't approve of her acting career, as it was not then considered an appropriate profession for girls from respectable families. In response, she divorced him and took custody of her daughter.<ref name=OxfordUniversityPress/> She was the mother of silent superstars [[Zubeida]], [[Sultana (actress)|Sultana]] and Shahzadi.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=Cinestaan/> She was also the grandmother of Humayun Dhanrajgir and Durreshahwar Dhanrajgir, son and daughter of Zubeida and Maharaja Narsingir Dhanrajgir of Hyderabad and [[Jamila Razzaq]] daughter of Sultana and Seth Razaaq, a prominent businessman of Karachi. She also happened to be the great-grandmother of model turned actress [[Rhea Pillai]] who is the daughter of her grand daughter Durreshahwar Dhanrajgir.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://mdaily.bhaskar.com/news/SPO-OTS-who-is-rhea-pillai-4602228-PHO.html |title=Who is Rhea Pillai- Daily Bhaskar |access-date=22 August 2019 |archive-date=22 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822173622/https://mdaily.bhaskar.com/news/SPO-OTS-who-is-rhea-pillai-4602228-PHO.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Death==
She died in 1983 at the age of 91.<ref name=Cinemaazi/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bengali/movies/news/womens-day-2023-almost-forgotten-a-look-back-at-the-firsts-of-indian-cinema/photostory/98472382.cms?picid=98472812|title=Women’s Day 2023: Lost in history! A look back at the 'FIRSTS' of Indian Cinema|newspaper=Times of India|date=March 8, 2023}}</ref>

==Filmography==
===Silent Movies===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Film !! Role !! Notes
|-
| 1922 || ''Veer Abhimanyu''<ref name=Cinemaazi/><ref name=TOI/> || Subhadra || Debuted in [[Ardeshir Irani]]'s silent film<ref name=Cinemaazi/>
|-
| rowspan="5"|1924 || ''[[Prithvi Vallabh (1924 film)|Prithvi Vallabh]]'' || Mrinalwati || Silent film
|-
| ''Kala Naag'' || || Silent film
|-
| ''Sati Sardarba'' || || Silent film
|-
| ''Gul-e-Bakavali'' || || Silent film
|-
| ''Raja Harishchandra'' || || Silent film
|-
| rowspan="6"|1925 || ''Social Pirates'' || Mohini || Silent film
|-
| ''Nahar Singh'' || || Silent film
|-
| ''Gaud Bangal'' || || Silent film
|-
| ''Devdasi'' || || Based on Novel
|-
| ''Naharsingh Daku'' || || Silent film
|-
| ''The Magician of Bengal'' || || Silent film
|-
| rowspan="4"|1926 || ''Indrajal'' || || Silent film
|-
| ''Khubsurat Bala'' || Actress || Silent film
|-
| ''Bulbul-e-Paristan'' || Actress || First female director of [[Cinema of India|Indian cinema]]<ref name=OxfordUniversityPress/>
|-
| ''Swarga Kankan'' || || Silent film
|-
| rowspan="2"|1927 || ''Mumbai Ni Biladi'' || || Silent film
|-
| ''Kul Dipak'' || || Silent film
|-
| 1928 || ''Rup Basant'' || || Silent film
|-
| rowspan="3"|1929 || ''Maha Sunder'' || || Silent film
|-
| ''Mahasundar'' || || Silent film
|-
| ''Nasib Ni Devi'' || || Silent film
|-
| rowspan="2"|1930 || ''Am Rande Der Sahara'' || || Silent film
|-
| ''Zalim Zulekha'' || Zulekha || Silent film
|}

===Talkie Movies===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Film !! Role !! Notes
|-
| 1931 || ''Discarded Love'' || Actress ||
|-
| 1933 || ''Satan's Victim'' || Actress ||
|-
| rowspan="3"|1934 || ''Seva Sadan'' || Actress ||
|-
| ''Sant Tulsidas'' || Actress ||
|-
| ''Neki Ka Taj'' || Actress || Starred with [[Noor Jehan]]
|-
| 1938 || ''Duniya Kya Hai?'' || Actress ||<ref name=Cinemaazi/>
|-
| 1939 || ''Romancero Marroquí'' || Actress ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|1940 || ''Jai Swadesh'' || Actress ||
|-
| ''[[Diamond Queen (1940 film)|Diamond Queen]]'' || Faima ||
|}

===Writer===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Film !! Role !! Notes
|-
| 1926 || ''Bulbul-e-Paristan'' || Writer || Screenplay
|-
| 1928 || ''Heer Ranjha'' <ref name=Cinemaazi/>|| Writer || Screenplay
|-
| 1929 || ''Wonderful Prince'' || Writer || Screenplay
|}

===Director===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Film !! Role !! Notes
|-
| 1926 || ''Bulbul-e-Paristan''<ref name=Cinemaazi/>|| Director || First female director of [[Cinema of India|Indian cinema]];<br/>Used own production house 'Fatma Films'<ref name=Cinemaazi/>
|-
| 1927 || ''Goddess of Love'' || Director ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|1928 || ''Chandravali''<ref name=Cinemaazi/> || Director ||
|-
| ''Heer Ranjha'' || Director || Director and writer
|-
| rowspan="6"|1929 || ''Goddess of Luck''|| Director || Director
|-
| ''Kanakatara'' || Director ||
|-
| ''Milan Dinar''<ref name=Cinemaazi/> || Director ||
|-
| ''Shakuntala'' || Director ||
|-
| ''Kanak Tara''<ref name=Cinemaazi/> || Director ||
|-
| ''Nasib Ni Devi''<ref name=Cinemaazi/> || Director || She also acted in the film
|}

===Producer===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Film !! Role !! Notes
|-
| 1928 || ''Heer Ranjha''<ref name=Cinemaazi/> || Producer || Producer, director and writer
|}

==Legacy==
Her legacy was carried on by her daughters [[Sultana (actress)|Sultana]], Shahzadi and [[Zubeida]] acted in India's first ever talkie, ''[[Alam Ara]]'', in addition to being a [[silent film]] star.<ref name=Cinemaazi/><ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}
* {{IMDb name|0066828}}

{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fatima Begum}}
[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:Indian film actresses]]
[[Category:Indian silent film actresses]]
[[Category:Indian women film directors]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian actresses]]
[[Category:1983 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian women screenwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from Gujarat]]
[[Category:People from Surat district]]
[[Category:Women writers from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Film directors from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Actresses from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Indian women film producers]]
[[Category:Indian silent film producers]]
[[Category:Indian silent film directors]]
[[Category:Businesswomen from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Gujarat]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian screenwriters]]
[[Category:Indian courtesans]]

Fatma Begum - Revision history

CharliVangundy at 04:36, 31 March 2026