A film star of yesteryears and mother of Lollywood actor Shan Shahid, Neelo Begum, died of cancer on Saturday.
Shan took to twitter to break the news of death of his mother of cancer.
He wrote: “It is with the saddest of heart I share the departure of my mother as she has gone to her creator. May Allah bless her.”
Born on 30 June, 1940 in Bhera, Sargodha, Neelo debuted on silver screen at the age of 16 in Bhowani Junction in 1956, a Hollywood film shot in and around Lahore.
She got her big breakthrough from the film Saat Lakh (1957) as she performed at the song “Aaye mausam rangeele suhanay”, a song by the noted music director Rasheed Attre.
Neelo won the Best Actress Nigar Award for the film Zarqa (1969), produced and directed by her husband Riaz Shahid.
She was born into a Catholic family as Cynthia Alexander Fernandes. Neelo converted to Islam and was married to film screenwriter and film director Riaz Shahi. She was named Abida Riaz and Neelo was her screen name.
The iconic Lollywood actress has more than 136 films to her credit in her five decades-long acting career in the Pakistani film industry. Her notable films, other than Zarqa, include Do Raste, 1962: Ghunghat, 1966: Badnaam, 1975: Sultana Daku, 1977: Sadqay Teri Mout Tun, 1979: General Bakht Khan, 1990: Bulandi, 2013: Waar.
