
Known for
Music and sound
Born
October 7, 1914
Died
October 30, 1974 (aged 60)
Begum Akhtar was born Akhtari Bai Faizabadi. She belonged to an aristocratic family of Lucknow that had fallen on hard times. Later in life she claimed that her father Asghar Hussein had been a judge, and that he had objected strongly to her taking up singing. However, the truth was her mother, Mushtari Begum, sang for a living, and was technically a tawaif. Mushtari Begum soon realised her daughter had the talent to reach the top. Begum Akhtar sang with her mother on stage when she was thirteen, and gave her first public performance at fifteen, where the head of HMV records became an instant fan and persuaded her to cut a record. Her face and eyes were very expressive, and she knew perfectl...
1971
as Self
1958
as Durga Bai
1945
Playback Singer
1942
as Darling (as Akhtaribai Fayzabadi)