Niggo

Niggo (died 5 January 1972) was a popular traditional Pakistan dancer and film actress.^[1] She mainly worked on Punjabi and Urdu films in the 60s.

Niggo hailed from Lahore,she was born in Heera mandi, a red-light district in Pakistan. Although Heeramandi had become a red-light district at that time, there were still some courtesans(tawaifs) active there. At that time, the tawaifs of Heeramandi became the first choice of Pakistani filmmakers, and tawaifs who were good at dancing joined the film industry.^[2][3]

Niggo's mother was also a tawaif who made a living by performing mujra. Niggo inherited her mother's profession and she worked as a tawaif and performed mujra dance.^[4]Niggo has good dancing skills,the film producers came to heeramandi to select actresses for the film and her dance performance caught the attention of the film producers.^[5]It was common for the girls to join Lollywood and become famous actresses. Niggo's career in the film industry started the same way.^[6][7]Niggo quickly became a favorite. Because of her exceptional dancing skills, she was usually the first choice for the mujra dance role in films.^[8] Her first film Ishrat was released in 1964. Niggo performed in almost a hundred movies altogether. She was the top item girl for most films.

While shooting for her film Qasu in 1972, Niggo fell in love with the film's producer Khawaja Mazhar. During this time, the couple got married.But niggo's mother did not agree to their marriage,because marriage of tawaifs was always not recognized.^[9]According to the old tradition of Lahore’s Shahi Mohalla, no girl can marry or travel without her family being compensated financially.Niggo's family tried to bring back their daughter, but she refused to come back.To get her back home, Niggo's mother pretended to get sick and emotionally blackmailed her daughter to visit her one last time. Niggo visited her family, but was later brainwashed into not leaving. While her husband tried to convince Niggo to come back, Niggo due to her family's pressure, refused to return to her husband's home.^[10][11]

She was killed at her residence on January 5, 1972, in Lahore. Her husband, after trying and failing to get her to return home, lost his temper, drove to Heera Mandi and opened fire on Niggo at her mother's house.^[8][12] Niggo's uncle and two musicians were also murdered in the incident.^[13][14] Niggo's husband was sentenced to life imprisonment by the court in a public trial. The murderer died a natural death and was buried in his home town of Gujranwala.^[15][16] She was laid to rest at Miani Sahib Graveyard, Lahore.^[17][18][19]

• Ishrat (1964)
• Shahansha-e-Jahangir (1968)
• Nai Laila Naya Majnu (1969)
• Andaleeb (1969)
• Love in Jungle (1970)
• Afsana (1970)
• Mohabbat (1972)