By: Sumana Vishwanath

She was a child prodigy and went on to become a great singer and a star. Suraiyya Jamal Sheikh was born in the year 1929. Without any formal training in singing she started singing career at a very young age. The then famous music director Naushad heard her on the AIR and offered her a song in the film SHARDA (1942). It is said that this child prodigy had to stand on the stool to reach the microphone.

From singing she moved on to acting. Her stint in acting began when she played young Mumtaz Mahal in Prakash Pictures' TAJ MAHAL. First she started as a supporting actress. She played as a supporting star in ANMOL GHADI (1946) and DARD (1947) soon she was asked to play lead roles. During her initial years of acting she acted opposite great stalwarts like K L Saigal in TADBIR (1945), OMAR KHAIYYAM (1946) and PARWANA (1947).

Suraiyya reached the peak of her acting career in the late forties. 1948-49 witnessed her in PYAR KI JEET(1948), BADI BAHEN(1949) and DILLAGI(1949). At that point of time she was the highest paid actress in the industry. In Sohrab Modi's MIRZA GHALIB she played the role of the married Ghalib's lover. It was her best performance ever. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru praised her for that emotionally charged performance. He said that she with her performance had brought Ghalib to life.

It is said that she was so beautiful that she was responsible for traffic jams in Mumbai. Yester year's evergreen star Dev Anand was also one of the victims of her beauty. Dev Anand's proposal of marriage to Suraiyya was rejected by her grandmother. This resulted in Dev Anand marrying his co-star Kalpana Karthik. And Suraiyya remained single till she breathed her last.

After this she returned to films, but in vain. She had lost that magic. Suraiyya did not rise higher as a singer and an actress. She acted RUSTOM SOHRAB in 1963 and SHAMA in 1961. All these films did not make much news. RUTOM SOHRAB was her last film then on she never acted. She led a lonesome life and became a distant memory to all. The star of the 40's and 50's died recently at her Marine Drive flat.

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