Meena Shorey (13 September 1926 â€" 3 September 1989) was a Pakistani
film actress who worked first in Indian cinema and later Pakistani
cinema. She appeared Hindi/Urdu and Punjabi films. Credited in films
by her mononym, Meena, her real name was Khurshid Jehan. She started
her acting career playing a character role, as Ambhi, Raja of Taxila's
sister in Sohrab Modi's Sikandar (1941). Married to her third husband,
Roop K. Shorey, by the mid-1940s, she found fame when she acted in her
husband's film Ek Thi Larki (1949), opposite actor Motilal. The story
was written by I. S. Johar, who also starred in the film. The
"foot-tapping" music composed by Vinod became a "huge hit", with Meena
becoming an "icon" for the "new liberated" young women. Meena was
acclaimed as the "Lara Lappa Girl", from the song of same title in the
film. She was one of the first women to be recognised in Indian cinema
as a "comedienne of calibre".In 1956, she went to Lahore, Pakistan
with her husband, where they were invited by Pakistani producer J.C.
Anand to make a film there following her mass popularity with the
public in both India and Pakistan.. The film Shorey made was Miss 56,
a copy of the Guru Dutt-Madhubala starrer Mr. & Mrs. '55. Instead of
returning to India when her husband did, she decided to stay back in
Pakistan, continuing her acting career there. Some of her best films
in India included the Punjabi film Chaman (1948), Actress (1948), Ek
Thi Ladki (1949), Dholak (1951), and Ek Do Teen (1953).Meena was born
Khurshid Jehan, on 17 November 1921, in Raiwind, Punjab, British
India, the second of four children. Her family was poor and her father
squandered what little property they had. He then worked at a dyeing
business in Lahore, which also failed. Meena's elder sister, Wazir
Begum, who was married and lived in Bombay, had their mother and
siblings come there. Sohrab Modi noticed Meena at the launch of his
film Sikandar (1941), which she attended with her brother-in-law, and
offered her a supporting role in the film, giving her the name, Meena.
film actress who worked first in Indian cinema and later Pakistani
cinema. She appeared Hindi/Urdu and Punjabi films. Credited in films
by her mononym, Meena, her real name was Khurshid Jehan. She started
her acting career playing a character role, as Ambhi, Raja of Taxila's
sister in Sohrab Modi's Sikandar (1941). Married to her third husband,
Roop K. Shorey, by the mid-1940s, she found fame when she acted in her
husband's film Ek Thi Larki (1949), opposite actor Motilal. The story
was written by I. S. Johar, who also starred in the film. The
"foot-tapping" music composed by Vinod became a "huge hit", with Meena
becoming an "icon" for the "new liberated" young women. Meena was
acclaimed as the "Lara Lappa Girl", from the song of same title in the
film. She was one of the first women to be recognised in Indian cinema
as a "comedienne of calibre".In 1956, she went to Lahore, Pakistan
with her husband, where they were invited by Pakistani producer J.C.
Anand to make a film there following her mass popularity with the
public in both India and Pakistan.. The film Shorey made was Miss 56,
a copy of the Guru Dutt-Madhubala starrer Mr. & Mrs. '55. Instead of
returning to India when her husband did, she decided to stay back in
Pakistan, continuing her acting career there. Some of her best films
in India included the Punjabi film Chaman (1948), Actress (1948), Ek
Thi Ladki (1949), Dholak (1951), and Ek Do Teen (1953).Meena was born
Khurshid Jehan, on 17 November 1921, in Raiwind, Punjab, British
India, the second of four children. Her family was poor and her father
squandered what little property they had. He then worked at a dyeing
business in Lahore, which also failed. Meena's elder sister, Wazir
Begum, who was married and lived in Bombay, had their mother and
siblings come there. Sohrab Modi noticed Meena at the launch of his
film Sikandar (1941), which she attended with her brother-in-law, and
offered her a supporting role in the film, giving her the name, Meena.
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