Veteran Pakistani film star Sabiha Khanum has passed away in Leesburg, Virginia. She was 85.
The actress who ruled the silver screen in the 50s and 60s was suffering from renal disease, according to family sources.
“It is with great sadness that we share the news of the demise of our beautiful and beloved Sabiha Raza (Sabiha Khanum) who passed away earlier today, June 13, 2020,” her granddaughter, Sarish Khan, said in a Facebook post.
Khanum starred in a number of movies, but directors mostly cast her opposite her husband, the late Santosh Kumar (Syed Musa Raza). Khanum and Kumar were branded as the “perfect couple” on-screen.
Having been in the public eye for four decades, she finally retired and migrated to the US where she lived with her eldest daughter. Her son and the youngest daughter are also settled there.
CINEMATIC JOURNEY
Khanum made her film debut in Masood Pervez’s ‘Beli’ (1950), which also starred her future husband, Santosh Kumar.
However, it was her next movie ‘Aaghosh’ that gave her the recognition in cinema, which was followed up by the 1953 hit, ‘Ghulam’.
Some notable films through her career included ‘Gumnaam’, ‘Dulla Bhatti’, ‘Sheikh Chilli’, ‘Toofan’, ‘Hatim’ and‘Ishq-E-Laila’, among others.
In 1986, she was awarded the Pride of Performance Award by the President of Pakistan.
