From being an extra dancing girl to the top Lollywood leading lady was a journey that tells you of Mumtaz’s utter commitment to cinema. Now that she has returned to base camp, she wants to work in films again. Instead, she is getting offers from drama serials by the dozens. Well, surely, with Shabnam and Mumtaz ready to do TV serials, it seems the seniors of celluloid will be a great source of inspiration for the younger lot.

A petite beauty in her heyday, Mumtaz was picked early, probably in her teens, from a bevy of dancing girls to star in item numbers. A sensual, husky delivery and a good figure aided her in bit roles. In Nazrul Islam’s Ehsas, she danced provocatively on Runa Laila’s yaadgaar ghazal, Hamein Khokar Bohat Pachhtaogay. Then, she did sexy cameos in films like Banarsi Thug and Ziddi, where her dance number Ve Chad Meri Veeni catapulted her to heroine status in Punjabi films. She starred in the lead with Munawar Zarif in Pyar Ka Mausam, and that was the hit she needed to mount the stairs to stardom.

In the later phase, though, Nazrul Dada took a fancy to her, and coached her to get into a sensitive skin with films like Sheeshay Ka Ghar and Ambar, which saw her become a very capable actress. In Khushboo, alongside Shahid and Rani, she excelled as never before. If she agrees to do a new serial, Mohini Mansion kee Cinderalla, she would be crossing paths with Shabnam, who is back from Bangladesh. There is certainly a promising drama coming up!