Uzra Butt

Uzra Butt was a film actress, director and producer who made her film debut as an actress in the 1960 Urdu language film, Neelofar. She was also a dancer and acted in more than 300 films, mostly in Punjabi, during her career. She was the sister of theatre and Bollywood film actress Zohra Sehgal, who, unlike her, lived in India. She began her stage career with Uday Shankar's ballet company in 1937 and went on to become the leading lady of the Prithvi Theatre in the 1940s and 50s. She entered Uday Shankar's ballet troupe as a dancer and also taught dance before joining the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) in 1944 as an actress. Here Khwaja Ahmad Abbas cast her as the lead in the play Zubeda. Prithivi Raj Kapoor was impressed by her role and chose her as his lead heroine, Zohra too joined her. In the coming years, she played leading lady opposite Prithviraj Kapoor in Prithvi Theatre productions. She played a heroine's part in Sakuntala in 1944, partnering her sister in Ghaddar in 1948 and taking the lead role in Kisan and performed in 100 towns and cities all over India. Uzra Butt was also an art director of Prithvi theatre and worked for Prithvi theatre, until 1960, when it closed. ² In 1964 she migrated to Pakistan with her husband, Hameed Butt. Here she formed a dance troupe in Rawalpindi, acted on stage and television from time to time and served the Pakistan National Council of the Arts. Later she moved to Lahore and joined the Ajoka Theatre in October 1985. Her inaugural group performance was 'Chaak Chakkar' and she went on to act in the plays: Barri, Dukhini, Dukh Darya, Takey Da Tamasha, Talismati Tata, Teesri Dastak, Kali Ghata, Adhuri and Surak Gulaban Da Mousam. She assumed the leadership role of chairperson of the group. She resumed acting after a forty-year hiatus in 1993 when she performed in Aik Thi Nani with her sister Zohra Sehgal.