Mumbai, Oct 23 (UNI) Minoo Mumtaz, veteran character actress and the sister of late comedian Mehmood, passed away in Canada early on Saturday, a family member said here in Mumbai.
Famed as the ‘Reshmi Salwarwali girl', Minoo, whose real name was Malikunisa, had started her career as dancer and also danced in various stage shows.
Her brother and former actor, Anwar Ali, informed media that Minoo Mumtaz passed away (in Canada) and her last rites will be performed there only.
Earlier, the family used to reside in Nadiadwala Compound in Malad (west), and later she specialised in dancing which got her a break in the film industry in early 1950s, and thereafter she was known by her sobriquet the ‘Dancing Queen of Bollywood’, successfully carving her own niche alongside other top dancers of the film industry.
Over the years, Minoo went on to dance and act in over 75 films.
She is especially remembered for O P Nayyar's superhit dance-duet, 'Reshmi Salwar, Kurta Jaali ka…' (Naya Daur–1957), sung by Asha Bhosle and Shamshad Begum, and filmed on her and Zaibunissa Khan alias Kumkum, who passed away in July 2020.
Minoo excelled and performed effortlessly either as a classical, courtesan or cabaret dancer, with popular songs like “Saaqiya Aaj Mujhe Neend Nahin Aayegi”, “Jaa Re, Jaa Re” and “Main Tumhise Puchhti Hoon, Tumse Pyar Kyun Hai” filmed on her.
She worked with a majority of the top stars of the black-and-white era and then the early colour films featuring Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Guru Dutt, Kishore Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Raaj Kumar, Balraj Sahni, Pradeep Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Suraiya, Geeta Dutt, Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Waheeda Rehman, Sadhna, Bina Rai, Nutan, Vyjanthimala Bali, comedians like Johny Walker, Om Prakash, Mehmood, and many others.
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