Shabnam, a popular actress of Bangladeshi and Pakistani cinema, is turning 75 today. In other words, after crossing the Silver Jubilee, the Golden Jubilee, the Diamond Jubilee, she is setting foot on the Platinum Jubilee.
But she has no excitement or plan concerning the day. Shabnam said, “At this age, there is not much excitement or joy surrounding birthdays. However, since we have not been out of the house for a long time, there is a strong interest in having dinner together with our only son Ronnie outside today. Let’s see what happens.”
actor Waheed Murad introduced Shabnam to the Pakistani film industry by offering her a lead role in his film ‘Samundar’ in 1968. Shabnam remained active in Lollywood in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s. She has been nominated for Nigar Awards several times, winning it 13 times (the most for an actress). She has appeared in over 180 films.
Around 1988, she switched on to character acting and was again doing films in her native Dhaka and Lahore.
Shabnam lastly performed in movie ‘Ammajan’ in Dhaka film industry, which was directed by Kazi Hayat. She performed in that movie in the central role and it was released in 1999. In 2012 she visited Pakistan along with her husband after 13 years where they were awarded lifetime achievement award by Pakistani government.
Shabnam worked in total 160 films, including 152 Urdu films, 14 Bengali and 4 Punjabi films. Her debut film was a Bengali film. Her first Urdu film, ‘Chanda’ was filmed in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Shabnam was working on a TV serial in Pakistan. But for now, the work of that serial is also stopped. There was talk of working in a Pakistani movie. She was also rumoured to be starring in a remake of a movie starring her. But for now all the projectors are suspended.
These days, Shabnam is staying at her home in Baridhara, the capital. She is accompanied by her only son Ronnie.
