21 Facts About Shabnam

Shabnam remained active in Lollywood in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Shabnam has been nominated for Nigar awards several times, winning it 13 times.

Shabnam was a leading actress in the Pakistani film industry for 28 years.

Shabnam migrated from East to West Pakistan in 1968, and lived in the country until the late 1990s, later she returned to her native Bangladesh.

Shabnam was born on 17 August 1946 in Dhaka, in the erstwhile British India in a Bengali Hindu family.

Shabnam's father was Nani Basak, a football referee from Dhaka.

Shabnam was offered a role in a movie as a supporting dancer, thus beginning her career in arts.

Shabnam began her career when her father got her admitted into the Bulbul Lalitakala Academy.

Shabnam moved to West Pakistan after the director Ehtesham cast her in his Urdu movie Chanda in the erstwhile West Pakistan.

Shabnam retained that position until the mid-1980s, when she slowly started to retire.

Shabnam is considered to probably be the only film actress in the world to have continuously and successfully played the romantic lead in films for almost three decades, from the early 1960s to the late 1980s.

Shabnam left Pakistan and its film industry in the late 1990s.

Shabnam planned on retiring after her super-hit blockbuster film Aaina.

Shabnam performed in that movie in the central role and it was released in 1999.

In 2012, Shabnam visited Pakistan along with her husband after 13 years, where they were awarded lifetime achievement award by the Pakistani government.

Shabnam won 13 Nigar Awards for best actress, which is a record to date.

In 2017, Shabnam announced that she would be returning to the Pakistani entertainment industry with television series Mohini Mansion Ki Cinderellayain, which is directed by Ali Tahir, and its music is composed by Sahir Ali Bagga.

Shabnam is committed to star in Aina 2, a sequel to her 1977 film Aina, which will be directed by Syed Noor.

Shabnam now leads a retired life as a housewife, in Dhaka.

The accused were later commuted by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq after Robin Ghosh and Shabnam granted them a pardon, and it was later changed to a life sentence.

Shabnam worked in a total of 170 films, including 152 Urdu films, 14 Bengali and 4 Punjabi films.