Meet India’s first female film director!

Fatima Begum directed ‘Bulbul-e-Paristan’, the first Indian film to be ever by directed a woman. The movie was a big-budget fantasy film with special effects set in a Parastan or fairyland. Meet Fatima Begum, India’s first female film director.

Fatima began her career on the Urdu stage and debuted in the silent film, ‘Veer Abhimanyu’ that came out in 1922. In 1926, she came up with Fatima Films which later came to be known as Victoria-Fatima Films in 1928. She was an actress at Kohinoor Studios and Imperial Studios, while writing, directing, producing, and acting in her own films at Fatima Films.



Fatima continued acting till her last film in 1938, ‘Duniya Kya Hai?’. She died at the age of ninety-one but her legacy was carried on by her legendary actress of a daughter, Zubeida, who besides being a silent film star, acted in India's first ever talkie, ‘Alam Ara’.