Shamim Ara passed away at London last week after a protracted illness. She was in a coma for a couple of years after she suffered a stroke. She was 78.
She belonged to that rare breed of film actresses who preferred to speak through their facial expression and body language while they acted, keeping the use of words to their bare minimum. Her dialogue delivery was immaculate and her pronunciation superb——-a quality which is quite rare in the present day actors and actresses of the subcontinent. The film critics likened her and Nayyar Sultana, one of her contemporaries , who is also dead now, to the fabled Meena Kumari of Bollywood. All three of them were nicknamed queen of emotions.
Shamim Ara made her debut in films more or less at the same time when Nayyar Sultana was trying to establish herself as an actress in the Lollywood. At that time Sabiha Khanum and Mussarrat Nazir were dominating the silver screen. By dint of their ability and hard work both Shamim Ara and Nayyar Sultana made their mark on the film industry and soon established their separate identity. They went on to rule the roost for well over a decade in the Lollywood. Shamim Ara worked opposite to almost every famous hero of Lollywood like Santosh Kumar, Darpan, Waheed Murad, Ijaz, Habib and Mohammad Ali, to mention a few.
Shamim Ara’s acting touched new heights in films like Lakhon mai eik, Naila, Saheli and Chingari. She was known for playing serious romantic roles. Later on when age caught up with her she cut back on her acting and ventured into film production and direction producing a couple of films which were success at the box office.
Actresses like her are born once in a blue moon. They are a rare commodity. As they say they don’t make them like that any more. Whenever a detailed history of Lollywood would be written, her name will be listed among the most accomplished actresses of Pakistan’ s film industry.
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