Nigar Award for Best Actress

Nigar Awards for Best Actress
The 2017/last recipient: Saba Qamar
Awarded for	Best performance by an actress in a leading role
Country	Pakistan
Presented by	Nigar
First award	Sabiha Khanum, Saat Lakh (1957)
Currently held by	Saba Qamar, Lahore Se Aagey (2017)

The Nigar Award for Best Actress, also known as Nigar Public Film Award for Best Actress is an award constituted for the cinema of Pakistan to recognise contribution of a lead actress in Lollywood. Established in 1958 by Ilyas Rashidi, it is presented annually by Nigar magazine as part of its annual ceremony of Nigar Awards. The award ceremony takes place independently and is not associated with government or for-profit entities such as production house or television channel.

First presented in 1957, the first Best Actress award was given to Sabiha Khanum for Saat Lakh (1957). The last award was given to Saba Qamar in 2017 for Lahore Se Aagey . ^[1]

Winners and nominees

Table key

‡	Indicates the winner

1950s

Year	Photos of winners	Actor	Role(s)	Film	Ref(s)
1957 (1st)		Sabiha Khanam ‡	N/A	Saat Lakh	[2]
1958 (2nd)	—	Musarrat Nazir ‡	Sanwali	Zeher-e-Ishq	[3]
1959 (3rd)	—	Musarrat Nazir ‡	Shadaan	Jhoomer	[3]

1960s

Year	Photos of winners	Actor	Role(s)	Film	Ref(s)
1960 (4th)		Nayyar Sultana ‡	Razia	Saheli	[4]
1961 (5th)	—	Musarrat Nazir ‡	Laila	Shaheed	[3]
1962 (6th)		Nayyar Sultana ‡	Tayyaba	Aulad
1963 (7th)		Sabiha Khanum ‡	Ismat	Shikwa	[2]
1964 (8th)		Shamim Ara ‡	Gul	Farangi	[5]
1965 (9th)		Shamim Ara ‡	Naila	Naila	[5]
1966 (10th)		Zeba ‡	Najma	Armaan	[6]
1967 (11th)		Shamim Ara ‡	Shakuntla	Lakhon Mein Aik	[7]
1968 (12th)		Shamim Ara ‡	Saiqa	Saiqa	[5]
1969 (13th)		Neelo ‡	Zarqa	Zarqa	[8]

1970s

Year	Photos of winners	Actress	Role(s)	Film	Ref(s)
Awards are also presented to Punjabi language films since 1970
1970 (14th)	—	Zeba ‡	N/A	Insaan aur Aadmi (1970)	[9]
	—	Firdous Begum ‡	Heer	Heer Ranjha	[10]
1971 (15th)		Shabnum ‡	Rani	Dosti
		Rani ‡	N/A	Babul
1972 (16th)	—	Zeba ‡	N/A	Mohabbat	[11]
	—	Aliya Begum ‡	N/A	Zulm Da Badla
1973 (17th)		Shabnum ‡	Bano	Anmol
	—	Firdous Begum ‡	N/A	Ziddi
1974 (18th)		Shabnum ‡	Najma	Dillagi	[12]
	—	Neelo ‡	N/A	Khatarnaak
1975 (19th)		Shabnum ‡	Nargis/ Zeenat	Zeenat	[13]
	—	Mumtaz ‡	N/A	Jadoo
1976 (20th)	—	Babra Sharif ‡	Shabana/ Farzana	Shabana	[14]
	—	Neelo ‡	N/A	Jat Kurian Taun Darda
1977 (21st)		Shabnum ‡	Rita	Aina	[15]
		Aasia ‡	N/A	Qanoon
1978 (22nd)	—	Sangeeta ‡	Rano	Mutthi Bhar Chawal	[16]
	—	Najma ‡	N/A	Shola
1979 (23rd)		Shabnum ‡	N/A	Pakeeza (1979)
	—	Mumtaz ‡	N/A	Nizam Daku (1979)

1980s

Year	Photos of winners	Actress	Role(s)	Film	Ref(s)
1980 (24th)		Shabnam ‡	N/A	Hum Dono (1980)
	—	Mumtaz ‡	N/A	Sohra Te Jawai (1980)
1981 (25th)		Shabnam ‡	N/A	Qurbani (1981)
	—	Anjuman ‡	N/A	Sher Khan (1981)
1982 (26th)	—	Babra Sharif ‡	N/A	Sangdil (1982)	[14]
	—	Anjuman ‡	N/A	Do Bigha Zameen (1982)
1983 (27th)	—	Shabnam ‡	N/A	Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (1983)
		Rani ‡	N/A	Sona Chandi (1983)	[17]
1984 (28th)	—	Babra Sharif ‡	N/A	Miss Colombo (1984)	[14]
	—	Durdana Rehman ‡	N/A	Ishq Nachaway Gali Gali (1984)
1985 (29th)		Shabnam ‡	N/A	Naraaz (1985)
	—	Mumtaz ‡	N/A	Dhee Rani (1985)
1986 (30th)	—	Babra Sharif ‡	N/A	Miss Bangkok (1986)	[14]
	—	Anjuman ‡	N/A	Qismet (1986)
1987 (31st)	—	Babra Sharif ‡	N/A	Kundan (1987)	[14]
	—	Anjuman ‡	N/A	Dulari (1987)
1988 (32nd)	—	Salma Agha ‡	Gori	Bazar-e-Husn	[18]
	—	Babra Sharif ‡	N/A	Mukhra	[18]
1989 (33rd)	—	Kaveeta ‡	N/A	Barood Ki Chahoon (1989)
	—	Neeli ‡	N/A	Madam Bawari (1989)

1990s

Year	Photos of winners	Actor	Role(s)	Film	Ref(s)
1990 (34th)	—	Anjuman ‡	Miss Rita	Insaniyat Kay Dushman
	—	Babra Sharif ‡	N/A	Gorian Dian Jhangra (1990)
1991 (35th)	—	Nadira ‡	Miss Sherin	Watan Kay Rakhwalay
	—	Neeli ‡	N/A	Bakhtawar	[19]
1992 (36th)	—	Rubi Niazi ‡	N/A	Mr. 420 (1992)
	—	Anjuman ‡	N/A	Majhoo (1992)
1993 (37th)	—	Reema Khan ‡	N/A	Haathi Mere Saathi	[19]
	—	Neeli ‡	N/A	Zamana
1994 (38th)	—	Neeli ‡	Sitara	Aakhri Mujra (1994)
	—	Reema Khan ‡	N/A	Rani Beti Raaj Kare Gi (1994)
1995 (39th)		Zeba Bakhtiar ‡	N/A	Sargam	[20]
	—	Reema Khan ‡	N/A	Jungle Ka Qanoon (1995)
1996 (40th)		Meera ‡	N/A	Khilona (1996)	[21]
	—	Saima Noor ‡	N/A	Sakahi Badshah (1996)
1997 (41st)	—	Neeli ‡	N/A	Mujhe Jeene Nahi Dete (1997)
	—	Reema Khan ‡	N/A	Kala Raj (1997)
1998 (42nd)	—	Reema Khan ‡	Bisma	Nikah
	—	Saima Noor ‡	Billo	Choorian	[22]
1999 (43rd)	—	Resham ‡	Salma	Jannat Ki Talash	[23]
	—	Reema Khan ‡	N/A	Nikki Jaee Haan (1999)

2000s

Year	Photos of winners	Actor	Role(s)	Film	Ref(s)
2000 (45th)	—	Zara Sheikh ‡	Preeti	Tere Pyar Mein
	—	Saima Noor ‡	N/A	Mehndi Waley Hath (2000)
2001 (46th)		Meera ‡	N/A	Khoey Ho Tum Kahan
2002 (46th)		Sana Fakhar ‡	Sitara	Yeh Dil Aap Ka Huwa	[24]
Not announced from 2003 to 2016
2017 (47th)		Saba Qamar ‡	Taara Ahmed	Lahore Se Aagey	[25]

References

1. Amer, Sameen (2021-11-05). "The News Weekly Magazine". The News International. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
2. "Sabiha Khanum, the First Lady of Pakistani Cinema, Passes Away". The Wire. 14 June 2020.
3. Amjad Parvez (31 August 2019). "Mussarat Nazir: the iconic heroine — Part II" . Retrieved 29 July 2022.
4. "'Saheli' screened". www.thenews.com.pk.
5. Omair Alavi (14 August 2016). "InMemoriam: 10 things you need to know about Shamim Ara" . Retrieved 9 July 2022.
6. "Zeba — a look back at the legendary actress's life". Daily Times. 17 November 2019.
7. "#ThrowbackThursday: When Nadeem, Shamim Ara won the Nigar Awards". Express Tribune. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
8. "The story of Neelo, the Shah of Iran and Zarqa — the first diamond jubilee film of Pakistan". Dawn Images. 1 February 2021.
9. "Zeba — a look back at the legendary actress's life". Daily Times. 17 November 2019.
10. "فلم ہیر رانجھا کی ہیر اداکارہ فردوس وفات پاگئیں". 16 December 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
11. "Film industry legend Zeba turns 72". Pakistan Today. 10 September 2017.
12. "Pakistan Affairs". 1973.
13. Aijaz Gul (25 November 2018). "'Zeenat' screened at Lok Virsa". The News.
14. Zeeshan Shah (16 July 2019). "The unforgettable iconic queens of 70s cinema". Tribune. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
15. Suhayb Alavi. "Aina: the 'greatest' of them all" . Retrieved 29 July 2022.
16. "Mandwa to screen 'Muthi Bhar Chawal' on 26th - Islamabad". The News International. 2016-11-24.
17. "#ThrowBackThursday: Cham Cham and Raani". Express Tribune. 23 July 2014.
18. "Pakistan Year Book". 1989.
19. Rafique Akhtar (1995). Pakistan Year Book. ISBN   9789698017002.
20. "STAR BIRTHDAY OF THE WEEK - Zeba Bakhtiar". Magazine - The Weekly. 10 November 2017.
21. "Meera - An ever enduring diva". Weekly Magazine.
22. "Lok Virsa screens Chooriyan to highlight Punjabi culture". The Nation. 2016-01-24. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
23. "Resham announces marriage plans". Daily Times. 27 December 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
24. "Sana Fakhar's mother breathes her last in Lahore". Daily Times. 6 October 2021.
25. "47th Nigar Film Awards Nominations announced". Nation . 20 February 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2022.

Further reading

• The Nigar Awards 1972 - 1986. The Hotspot Online.
• Showtime: A Brief History of the Nigar Awards. Youline Magazine.