Biography
Begum Akhtar, born Akhtari Bai Faizabadi, was an Indian singer and actress known for ghazal, thumri and dadra. She began performing publicly in her teens and made her first recordings for HMV in 1927. She appeared in films from 1933, including acting and singing roles in Roti (1942), and later provided playback singing for Dana Pani (1953) and Ehsaan (1954).
In 1945 she married barrister Ishtiaq Ahmed Abbasi and withdrew from public performance for several years. She resumed in 1949 and became a leading concert and radio artist. Her final screen appearance was as the thumri singer Durga Bai in Satyajit Ray's The Music Room (1958). She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1972 and was awarded the Padma Shri; the Padma Bhushan was conferred posthumously.
