Shahnoor Studios

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Shahnoor Studios (also spelt as Shahnur Studios) is the studio founded by Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi and his first wife the famous singer/actress Noor Jehan. The studio is one of the oldest studios in Lahore and is currently run by Rizvi's three sons Shahenshah Rizvi, Ali Mujtaba Rizvi, and Asghar Hussain Rizvi.

During the 1940s in Bombay, Syed Hussain Rizvi was a famous director/producer of Hindi films and his wife Noor Jehan, the most famous singer/actress in Bombay. The company he initially owned was Shaukat Art Productions. In 1948, after the holocaust of the partition, Noor Jehan and Syed Hussain Rizvi moved to Lahore, Pakistan. On the vandalised remains of the formerly Shorey Studios, they rebuilt a new studio called Shahnoor Studios from scratch and it was finally completed and opened in 1950. The first film to be made there was Noor Jehan's first film in Pakistan, the Punjabi venture Chanwey (1951). Noor Jehan and Syed Hussain Rizvi directed the film together, since Rizvi did not speak Punjabi. The film went on to become a big hit and brought Noor Jehan fame and fortune once again in Pakistan. The studio's early years brought great success as all of Rizvi's films were shot in this studio. However, with the divorce of Syed Hussain Rizvi and Noor Jehan in the mid-1950s, Noor Jehan had to write of her share of Shahnoor Studios to S.H. Rizvi to get the custody of her daughter, Zile Huma and she would not shoot films in this studio again. Syed Shaukat's career after the divorce wasn't as great, because in marrying Noor Jehan, he was a big success because of her. He was only able to make three films after his divorce. He married again to the actress Yasmin, she soon became Yasmin Shaukat and their marriage produced two more sons. To this day, Shahnoor Studios remains after over 55 years.

[edit] See also

Cinema of Pakistan
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