Ragini

Ragni (born Shamshad Begum; October 1924 – 2007), also known as Shaado, was a Pakistani actress. She worked in Urdu and Punjabi films under her stage name Ragni. She also worked in Hindi films in cinema of India. She was known for her beautiful doe like eyes and was known as Almond-eyed Beauty. Ragni is considered to be the highest-paid actress of her time in 1940s, being paid 1 lakh rupees by AR Kardar for her role in Shahjehan. Early life Ragini was born as Shamshad Begum in Gujranwala in 1924. Her mother died when Ragni was very young and her father Seth Diwan Parmanand took her with him to Lahore and they lived at a house on Fleming Road. In Lahore filmmaker Roshan Lal Shorey was a neighbour of Ragni and noticed her and convinced Diwan to let Ragni act in films. Career She started her acting career in a film which launched by Roop K Shorey in the Punjabi film Dulla Bhatti (1940) opposite MD Kanwar. The film was a major success and Ragni became a star overnight. Ragni went on to act in several Lahore based productions in Hindi and Punjabi like Sehti Murad (1941), Nishani (1942), Ravi Par (1942), Poonji (1943), Daasi (1944) and Kaise Kahun (1945). In 1945, she left Lahore for Bombay and teamed up with A. R. Kardar. In 1946, she played the titular role in S. M. Yusuf's Nek Pervin. The film was successful at the box office and consolidated her position as a leading actress. Following the success of Nek Pervin, she was approached by Kardar to play Ruhi in Shahjehan. It is said that she was paid rupees one lakh for the film, making her the highest-paid actress of that time.