---
name: "Begum Akhtar"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/begum-akhtar"
fi1m_id: "begum-akhtar"
tmdb_id: 4653723
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "7 October 1914"
died: "30 October 1974"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-25T08:28:37.667506+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Begum Akhtar

## Identity

Begum Akhtar

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/begum-akhtar
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** begum-akhtar
- **TMDB ID:** 4653723
- **Same entity:** https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4653723

Actor. Born 7 October 1914 in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Died 30 October 1974.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 7 October 1914, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
- **Died:** 30 October 1974
- **Also known as:** Akhtari Bai Faizabadi
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4653723

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*The Music Room*](https://film.one/film/the-music-room.md) (88)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## 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.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, grokipedia.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Music Room* (1958), Fi1m 88, as Durga Bai — [page](https://film.one/film/the-music-room.md)

## Complete filmography (3)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Music Room* (1958), as Durga Bai — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/the-music-room.md)
- *Nursemaid Panna* (1945), as Playback Singer
- *Roti* (1942), as Darling (as Akhtaribai Fayzabadi)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/begum-akhtar