Ameeta

Ameeta
Born	Qamar Sultana (1940-04-11)April 11, 1940 Kolkata, British India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1953–1968

Ameeta, born Qamar Sultana, is an Indian actress.

Early life

Ameeta was born as Qamar Sultana on April 11, 1940 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) to actress Shakuntala Devi and Choudhary Riaz Ahmed. Showbiz ran in her family and well known Pakistani actor Aslam Parvez was her maternal uncle. When she was one her father passed away and her mother moved to Bombay (now Mumbai) and where young Qamar did her schooling.

Career

Beginning

A fan of Madhubala she was enacting her idols swordfight from the movie 'Baadal' when she caught the eye of Lekhraj Bhakhri who signed her for his movie 'Thokar'. This was her debut film in a side role where she was credited as Jayjaywanti. Qamar's debut movie as heroine was a 1953 release Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and directed by Vijay Bhatt. The screen name 'Ameeta' too made its appearance in this movie. This film incidentally had Asha Parekh in a child role. The film failed but Ameeta kept on working in films like Amar Kirtan, Badal Aur Bijli, Baaghi Sardar and Indrasabha. But her career took a positive turn when she worked with her idol Madhubala in Shirin Farhad (1956). She was then chosen for lead roles in Abhimaan and Zamana.

Breakthrough

The turning point in her career though came when she became the protégé of Filmistan Studios' owner Tolaram Jalan who produced Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957), as a vehicle for promoting Ameeta as a new star. Great care was taken with her make-up, wardrobe and lighting, to present her in the most flattering and advantageous way possible. Furthermore, much of the film's extensive publicity also centered on the actress. The film was a big success but ironically Ameeta's thunder was stolen by the until then struggling Shammi Kapoor. This got her the female lead of Goonj Uthi Shehnai, a role originally intended for Asha Parekh. The film starred a then up-and-coming Rajendra Kumar and an exceptional music score went on to become one of the top grossing films of 1959. Here despite a mature and sensitive performance, Ameeta was overlooked and Rajendra Kumar was given credit for the film's emphatic success.

Later work

Although she fired up the careers of Shammi Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar with these hits, Ameeta could never capitalize on them and stardom never materialised. Further roles in multi star-cast films like Raakhi (1962) and the lead in the blockbuster Mere Mehboob (1963) did not help her career graph and she now dropped to playing lead grade-B movies which though successful at the box office didn't do much for her star status. By the mid-sixties she was playing negative and villainous characters in films like [Rishte Naate]] (1965), and Aasra (1966). Worse still, she was seen in supporting roles to fledgling starlets Rajshree and Babita, in films like Around the World (1967) and Haseena Maan Jayegi (1968). A sad end to the career of an actress who had once shown great promise as the leading lady of prominent stars such as Rajendra Kumar and Shammi Kapoor. After her last film Haseena Maan Jayegi (1968) a disillusioned Ameeta left the film industry and settled into matrimony.

Personal life

After she retired from the film world she married and had a daughter Sabeeha. Sabheeha tried her hand in Bollywood as a lead actress in Khiladi (1990), Qayamat Ki Raat (1992), Anokha Rishta before she too disappeared from the Hindi movie scene.

Awards

Ameeta came out of seclusion only once to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Cine & TV Artistes Association on November 20, 2005 and then disappeared again.

Filmography

• Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1954)
• Munimji (1955)
• Ab-e-hayat (1956)
• Hum Sab Chor Hain (1956)
• Zamana (1957)
• Dekh Kabira Roya (1957)
• Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957)
• Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959)
• Sawan (1959)
• Chhote Nawab (1961)
• Piya milan ki aas (1961)
• Teen Ustad (1961)
• Maa Beta (1962)
• Rakhi (1962)
• Mere Mehboob (1963)
• Samson (1964)
• Hum Sab Ustad Hain (1965)
• Around The World (1968)
• Haseena Maan Jayegi (1968)
• Kabhi dhoop kabhi chhaon (1971)

External links

• Ameeta at the Internet Movie Database