Asha Posle was the heroine of Pakistan's first released film Teri Yaad

Asha Posle was the heroine of Pakistan's first released film Teri Yaad (1948).

Asha Posle was not a new face to the filmgoers of that time but had worked as a heroine and supporting actress in more than a dozen films made in Lahore before the establishment of Pakistan. Go failed as a film heroine but was Pakistan's first all-round actress who was successful in side heroine, vamp, and comedy roles.

Asha Posle's debut film

Asha Posle was first seen in Gawandhi, a Punjabi musical film made in Lahore before the creation of Pakistan, which was released on 25 June 1942 in Sanobar or Prabhat cinema.

The special thing about this film was that it was the first film of its hero Shyam, who had worked in more than thirty films in a short span of time. Dil Lagi (1949) was his big hit, but at the age of just 31, he fell off a horse while shooting for a film and died.

Actor Shyam was a Hindu born in Sialkot but married to a Muslim woman who gave birth to famous Pakistan TV actress and producer Saira Kazmi who is the wife of actor Rahat Kazmi.

To mention the film Gawandhi (1942), which was released 80 years ago, and not mention its songs, would be a huge transgression. It was a musical film of high caliber in which the songs sung by the regular singers of Lahore Center, Zeenat Begum, and SD Batish are still ear-splitting.

Asha Posle, pre-partition as heroine

Before the establishment of Pakistan, Asha Posle worked only in films made in Lahore. Out of more than a dozen films, she was in lead roles in four films. Amarnath was the hero of the first film Kamali (1946) as the first heroine. Produced at the Leela Mandir Film Studio on Ferozepur Road in Lahore, this Punjabi film was composed by Master Inayat Hussain, whose first film it was.

In the same year, Asha Posle was featured on the film poster of Shauri Pictures' Hindi/Urdu film Badmani (1946) in Lahore. It seems to be a bold type of film with famous Indian villain actor Pran, the hero who was Asha Posle's hero in Prai Bus Mein (1946) as well as Barsaat Ki Ek Raat (1949). The film was made at Shorey Studios (later Shah Noor Studios) on Multan Road, Lahore, but it was considered an Indian film by Asha Posle, released after Partition.

Another unfinished film from Lahore, Vasakhi Ya Baisakhi (1951), was Asha Posle's last film to be released as an Indian Punjabi film. Of course, due to the riots of 1947, Asha Posle may have traveled to Bombay or Calcutta to complete these incomplete films of Lahore, but there is no reference to any such film that Asha Posle was directly cast in films by any other center other than Lahore. what happened.

Asha Posle as a heroine in Pakistan

When the first film Teri Yaad (1948) was made after the reconstruction of the destroyed film studios of Lahore a year after the creation of Pakistan, Asha Posle was chosen as Pakistan's first heroine. She might not have received this honor if she had not been approved by Dewan Sardari Lal, the owner of Pancholi Film Studios. His hero in this film was Dilip Kumar's brother Nasir Khan, who had moved to India after working in another film, Shahida (1949). A very detailed article has been written on this film, which does not need to be repeated here.

With Asha Posle as the heroine, the second film Ghalat Fahmi (1950) was also the second and last Pakistani film made by Dewan Sardari Lal. Earlier it was produced under the name "Miss 49". Asha Posle's hero in this film was Jahangir Khan who was another failed actor. Asha's father, Inayat Ali Nath, composed the music for the second and final time and sang songs with his daughter, Asha Posle, apart from comedian Nazar.

Sudhir's first Punjabi film

Sudheer, the first superstar of Pakistani films, had his first Punjabi film Bulbul (1955). Asha Posle also got the honor of being her first Punjabi film heroine, her first Punjabi and third Pakistani film as a solo heroine. No song was popular in Baba Chishti's music.

Before partition, Asha Posle had four films as the lead heroine, one in Punjabi and the other three in Hindi/Urdu. Interestingly, even after partition, in Pakistan, Asha Posle has only four films as the first heroine, out of which one was Punjabi and the other three were Urdu films.

Asha Posle's fourth and last film as a heroine was Genghis Khan (1959) in which her hero was an actor named Kamran, who was originally an artiste of Radio Pakistan Peshawar. Based on Naseem Hijazi's novel "Akhri Chitan", the title role of this historical film was played by filmmaker Chaudhry Hasan Deen.

Asha Posley as Vamp

Asha Posle's first two films, Teri Yaad (1948) and Misunderstanding (1950) as the first heroine were flops. Shola (1952) was the first film in which she appeared in the role of a side heroine, but her breakthrough in supporting and negative roles came in Sasi (1954) (1954). The famous song of this movie is "Neh Yeh Chand Ho Ga Ni Tare Rahe Ga.." Kausar was in the voices of Parveen and Pakhraj Pappu and was filmed on Sabiha Khanum and Asha Posle. In the same film, Asha Posle showcased her dancing skills when her older sister Kausar Parveen's song "Nach Naachge Ga Re Mughnia, Esa Aaj Tarana" was filmed on her.

In most of the 1950s Dhai films, Asha Posle played vamp roles and proved to be a successful supporting actress. Among such roles was the memorable film Intizar (1956) in which he acted opposite Queen Tarnam Noorjahan. Apart from Ishq Laila (1957), Naukar (1955), Qastam, Chhoti Begum, Hatim, and Gudi Gada (1956) were big films.

Asha Posle, in comic roles

Asha Posley was popular in the mid-1950s/60s for vamp roles as well as comedy roles. She was paired opposite Nazar and Asif Jah in many films. In such roles, the film Patan (1955) was the first major film in which she was paired with Nazar and also starred in the Zubaidah Khanum and Inayat Hussain Bhatti comedy song "Ve Bheda Botha Le Ja Nazar (Nazar) Te". far off.."

In the film Dalla Bhatti (1956), Asha Posle's role as Sheikh Iqbal's unfaithful wife and Asif Jah's greedy lover was the life of the film. The comedy role of a polygamous woman opposite Alauddin in Maa Ke Ansu (1963) was also unforgettable. In the film Bay Kasur (1970), Asha Posle and Rangeela were filmed with this song by Ahmed Rushdi and Tani "Look carefully at me that I am one in a million." Asha Posle had more than thirty joint films with Masood Rana, but no joint song was found.

Asha Posle as Supporting Actress

In the mid-1960s, when the film business was booming and artists were in full swing, Asha Posle's importance declined. During this period, he was cast in very few films. If there was a role, it was a small fat unimportant role, usually of a heroine or comedian's mother. In such a situation, when the superstar of Urdu films Wahid Morad made his first Punjabi film Mastana Mahi (1971), he surprised the audience by casting Asha Posle in the serious role of his mother. Earlier, he had also cast another controversial actress named Babu as his mother in his famous film Armaan (1966).

Film heroines of the early days of Pakistan

Asha Posle was Pakistan's first film heroine, but there were other heroines during this era that must be mentioned.

If we talk about the film heroines of the first seven years of Pakistan i.e. from 1948 to 1954, Queen Tarnam Noor Jahan is known by a scholar. A lot has been written about this great artist and a lot is yet to be written. Before the partition, Soran Lata, Meena Shorey, and Ragini were also named Grammy heroines. Sabiha Khanum and Yasmeen, discovered after the establishment of Pakistan, were also very big names. Here only those film heroines who are not known to common people but are part of history and like Asha Posle acted as the first heroine in films in the first seven years of Pakistan.