Jharna Basak (known by the stage name Shabnam; born– 17 August) is a Bangladeshi stage and film actress. Actor Waheed Murad introduced her to the Pakistani film industry by offering her a lead role in his film Samundar in 1968. Shabnam remained active in Lollywood in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s. She has been nominated for Nigar awards several times, winning it 13 times (the most for an actress). She has appeared in over 180 films.
Shabnam is actually her film-name. Her real name is Jharna Basak. Her father is Nani Basak, the well known Scout master and football referee from Dhaka. Shabnam is married to Robin Ghosh, a well known music composer.
She shot to fame with the hit Bengali film Harano Din (1961) and attained all Pakistan stardom with the box office Urdu hit Chanda (1962). Both the films were produced from Dhaka, East Pakistan.
Talaash was an even bigger than all Pakistan hit that followed next year. By the mid 1960s, she became one of the most popular actresses of Pakistan. Professional commitments eventually took her to Karachi, Pakistan where she settled down in 1968. By the early 1970s, Shabnam established her position in Lollywood (Lahore) to ultimately become the most popular heroine in the history of Pakistan films. She reigned supreme as an actress in Pakistan until the lull in the Pakistan film industry in the late 1980s. She is probably the only film actress in the world to have continuously and successfully played the romantic lead in films for almost three decades, from the early 1960s to the late 1980s.
Shabnam is a Bengali actress.
Shabnam may also refer to: