Bibbo (actress)

Bibbo (born Ishrat Sultana 1906 – 1972) was a music composer, singer and actress who worked in both Indian and Pakistani films. She acted in

Bibbo became the first female music composer of Indian cinema, when she composed the music for Adal-e-Jahangir in 1934, a year before Jaddanbai, mother of actress Nargis, composed music for Talash-e-Haq (1935).^[5] She was also the music director for a second film called Qazzak Ki Ladki (1937).^[5][6]

She worked with actors like Master Nissar,

Bibbo was born Ishrat to a famous singer Hafeezan Begum. She was cited as being a famous singer from Delhi who came to Bombay to join films.[7]^[9] Bibbo was a trained singer with a "coarse husky quality" like Zohrabai Ambalewali and Shamshad Begum.^[10]

Career

In India

Bibbo's first recorded film was the successful Rangila Rajput (The Gay Cavalier) (1933),^[11] directed by M. D. Bhavnani and starring Master Nissar, with popular music by B. S. Hoogan. Her second film that year for Ajanta was Mayajaal, a fantasy directed by Shanti L. Dave for Ajanta Cinetone Ltd., co-starring Master Nissar, P. Jairaj and Shahzadi, with music composed by B. S. Hoogan. Her acting was appreciated by the Hindi journalist Pitambar Jha, who predicted a bright future for her in his article in the Hindi magazine, Chitrapat 1934.^[7]

In 1934, Bibbo acted in five films. Vasavdatta or the Shahi Gawaiya (The Royal Musician) was her third film. It was produced by Ajanta and directed by P. Y. Altekar, with B. Sohni and Jairaj as co-stars. The music was by B. S. Hoogan. The story revolved around King Udyan, who is obsessively in love with his wife, ignoring his kingdom in the process.^[12] She was then cast in her fourth film, M. D. Bhavnani's Sair-E-Paristan, produced by Ajanta Cinetone Ltd. and co-starring P. Jairaj, Khalil Aftab, Master Nissar and W. M. Khan. A fantasy, the story was about three Princes falling in love with the same girl. The music was composed by B. S. Hoogan.^[13]

It was in 1934, that Bibbo composed music for a film called Adal-e-Jehangir, thus becoming the first Indian female composer.^[14] The Mill, also called Mazdoor was directed by M. D. Bhavnani (Mohan Dayaram Bhavnani), and starred Bibbo, who played the mill owner's daughter in the film with Motilal as the hero.^[15] The film was controversial and was banned for a few years.

In 1936, she acted in Garib Parivar and Manmohan. She was cast by

1937 saw her acting in four films, out of which Jagirdar, directed by Mehboob Khan and co-starring Surendra, was the most famous. The film was a "romantic melodrama", with Bibbo and Surendra playing actor Motilal's parents in the latter part.^[16] Though made on a small budget, it went on to do big business commercially for Sagar Movietone.^[17] She acted in, and once again composed music for the film Qazzak Ki Ladki, using the name Ishrat Sultana as composer. The film co-starred Surendra and was directed by Sultan Mirza and S. Varman for Rainbow Films.

1938 proved to be a successful year for her with all five films doing well at the box office. Watan, produced by Sagar Studios and directed by Mehboob Khan was a quasi-historical costume drama involving Tartars, with a nationalistic element. The film starred Kumar, Yakub and Maya Bannerjee with music by Anil Biswas.^[18]

Gramaphone Singer (1938) and Dynamite (1938), had her pairing with Surendra again. Both films went on to become successful. Gramaphone Singer was a love triangle directed by V. C. Desai, which had Bibbo playing the other woman, with Prabha playing Surendra's wife.^[19] Teen Sau Din Ke Baad, also called 300 Days And After, was a Sagar film directed by Sarvottam Badami. It had Motilal, Sabita Devi and Yakub starring with Bibbo. With music by Anil Biswas, the film went on to do well. Baburao Patel of Filmindia called it "easily the best picture to come out of Sagar".^[20]

In 1939,