Andaleeb (actress)

Andaleeb was born in 1943 in Calcutta during British India. Her mother was from Calcutta, and her father hailed from Iran. After the partition of India, her parents migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi.^[4]

At school she joined drama stage and tableau presentations.^[5] She completed her matriculation from Karachi College later she got a job as an air hostess with the national flag carrier PIA and worked there for five years.^[4] She was spotted by a PTV director who invited her to work in an advertisement. She accepted and did a commercial for Rexona soap and soon after left PIA and begin to work in dramas.^[4]

She started her acting from PTV Karachi Centre and made her debut in drama Khuda Ki Basti. The drama was written by Shaukat Siddiqui based on his novel and she portrayed the role of Mrs. Kamal but the serial turned out to be a super-hit and won many laurels and accolades.^[6]

In 1969, Mohsin Shirazi was making a skit show called Gar Too Bura Na Maney. He noted Andaleeb in a commercial and her expressions seemed to stand out so he cast her in the show.^[5] In 1972, Parvez Malik cast Andaleeb in his film Suhag and Andaleeb had the role of sister, opposite Nadeem and Rozina and immediately after this film that Andaleeb got popular as a vamp.^[6]

In 1972, S. Suleman was making his film and he cast Andaleeb in a vamp role. He directed his film Mohabbat, which presented a story of a typical upper-middle `60s household.^[7] Mohammad Ali and Zeba portrayed the role of husband and wife who meet and later they both get lost from each other but the pair meet again, Mohammad Ali portrayed the role of a responsible and warm hearted husband and gets involved with a poor girl. Santosh Kumar and Sabiha Khanum were also part of the cast. Andaleeb portrayed the role of fiancée and takes her marriage to Ali for granted. Nisar Bazmi composed a super hit song which was sung by Tahira Syed, titled Yeh Mehfil Jo Aaj Saji Hai, Iss Mehfil Main Hai Koi Hum Sa, Hum Sa Ho To Samne Aaey and it was picturized on Andaleeb.^[8]

Later in 1973, Mohsin Shirazi had selected Andaleeb mentally for the film he was making Badal Aur Bijli along with Nadeem and Shabnam.^[5] In 1995 she portrayed the role of Sakeena in drama Dukh Sukh which was written by Abdul Qadir Junejo and directed by Muhammad Saleem Tahir.^[9]

Later she was noticed by film director Shahzad Rafique in a drama on PTV and was impressed by her acting skills. In 1996, she was cast by Shahzad and Syed Noor in film Ghunghat which became a super hit film at the box office and she won Nigar Award for Best Supporting Actress.^[4][10]

Then she worked in films such as Ham Kisi Say Kam Nahin, Dil Valay, Fareb, Muhafiz, Qaid and Sheru Badshah.^[11][12]

In 2006, she retired and went to live with her children in Karachi.^[9]

Andaleeb married her former neighbor. They have a son and daughter. She divorced him and took the custody of her two children and went to live with her parents.^[9] Later she married Karim and she had one daughter, singer and actress Amna Karim.^[13]

Andaleeb contracted tuberculosis from which she died in Karachi on August 16, 2016.^[9]