Kumkum was born as Zaibunnisa Khan on April 22, 1934,  was an Indian actress.

Kumkum was trained in Kathak by the noted Pandit, Shambhu Maharaj. She migrated with her family to Bombay in 1952. Kumkum got the break in the Sheesha (1952) by Shaheed Lateef. She danced to the Shamshad Begum song Angana baje shehnai re, aaj moi jagmag atariya, composed by Ghulam Mohammed. Though she appeared on the screen only for a few minutes, she created a good impression and soon work started coming in.

Her claim to fame was Guru Dutt’s Aar Paar (1954). The song Kabhi aar kabhi paar was first picturised on Kumkum. It became hugely famous and Kumkum became a star. Guru Dutt gave her an acting role as well. She played his bhabhi in the Mr and Mrs ’55 (1955) and played the mother of three children despite being quite young at that point of time.

Her evergreen dance numbers include Ae Dil Hai mushkil jeena yahan from CID (1956), Ja, ja re ja balma from Basant Bahar (1956) Reshmi salwar kurta jali ka from Naya Daur (1957), Tera jalwa jisne dekha from Ujala (1959), Daga daga vai vai vai from Kali Top Lal Rumaal (1959), Mera naam hai chameli from Raja Aur Runk (1968) and many more.

Kumkum was seen in a small role in Pyaasa  (1957). She was also paired alongside Shammi Kapoor in a side role in Mem Saheb (1956) and also in lead opposite Shammi Kapoor in Char Dil Char Raahein  (1959).

She showed her dancing talents in the film Kohinoor  (1960) with Dilip Kumar. “Madhuban Mein Radhika Nache Re” and “Haye Jaadugar Qaatil, Haazir Hai Mera Dil”, sung by Ahsa Bhosle  for Naushad were picturized on Kumkum. She was paired opposite Kishore Kumar in films like Ganga Ki Laharen, Shreeman Funtoosh, Haaye Mera Dil and Mr. X in Bombay. She was leading heroine in all-time favorite Hindi Sad song “Mere Mehboob Kayamat Hogi” from Mr. X in Bombay. This was a science fiction movie of that time and Kumkum was a great star. The songs like “Khoobsurat Haseena” from Mr. X in Bombay, “Ijazat Ho Toh” from Haaye Mera Dil, “Sultana Sultana” from Shreeman Funtoosh and “Machalti Hui” from Ganga Ki Lahren, which were picturized on the pair Kishore-Kumkum remains popular since their release to this day.

Kumkum was a favorite choice for writer director Ramanand Sagar.  Sagar decided to cast Kumkum as Dharmendra’s sister in  Ankhen, a super hit film of 1968. In 1970, for Geet, Kumkum was Ramanand Sagar’s choice for a small role. But in Lalkar  (1972), she was paired with Dharmendra. Kumkum was paired with Kiran Kumar in Jalte Badan (1973), produced, directed and written once again by Sagar. She was paired opposite Vinod Khanna in Dhamkee  in 1973 and the duet song “Chand Kya Hai Roop Ka Darpan” became hugely popular. She was paired opposite Pran in the comedy film Ek Kuwara Ek Kuwari, directed by Prakash Mehra, which was a blockbuster.

Kumkum was one of the top stars in the first phase of Bhojpuri films  which began with Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo (1962). In his book, Cinema Bhojpuri, Avijit Ghosh writes that she also acted in Laagi Nahi Chhute Ram  (1963), Balma Bada Nadaan (1964), Naihar Chhutal Jaye (1964), Bhauji (1965) and Ganga (1965), which was also her home production. “Two heroines who ruled the first phase of Bhojpuri films were Kumkum and Naaz. Scripts were often written around their characters and to their credit, they often proved equal to the task,” Ghosh writes in the same book.

Kumkum was a rare female star of the classic era who did not shy away from playing supporting parts.

Photos courtesy Google. Excerpts taken from Google.