Begum Khursheed Shahid (1 January 1926 – 27 June 2021) was a Pakistani actress and singer.^[1] She was also the mother of actor Salman Shahid.^[3][4]

Khursheed Shahid was born in 1926 in Delhi, where her father was a government official and her mother was an educated housewife.^[1][5] Khursheed along with her sisters and brother used to watch performances of Ram Leela a religious theatre.^[1] She along with her sisters used to act in Ram Leela Theatre portraying different characters on stage at age seven.^[5] Khursheed completed her education from Delhi.^[1][5] Khursheed father was a liberal man and he believed that education was important for girls.^[1] Khursheed sibling included four sisters and one brother.^[1] Khursheed's father supported her career.^[1]

Khursheed Shahid began acting and singing at the age of nine.^[6][1] When Khursheed was in grade six a Congress leader Aruna Asaf Ali came to her school looking for someone young and her classmates told Ms. Ali about her singing and acting talents.^[1] Ms. Ali selected Khurhseed for a musical performance. Later after the performance Ms. Ali took her to the All India Radio to renowned music composer Feroz Nizami, he listened her singing and encouraged her to sing.^[1] He gave her a poem to sing after listening to Khursheed so he told her to visit him the next day so that he will composed it for her.^[1] The following day when she sang the poem for Feroz, he liked it and told her that it was of Raag Darbari.^[1] Khursheed was nine when she started singing at All India Radio, Delhi.^[2] She also read poems wrote by Mukhtar Siddiqui at All India Radio.^[1]

Later she moved to Parliament Street there she meet music director Roshan Lal Nagrath paternal grandfather to popular Indian actor Hrithik Roshan.^[2] He saw Khursheed's potential for singing and he started to have rehearsing for her and gave her lessons about singing.^[1] Kursheed befriend his wife and she would visit his family.^[1]

After the Partition in 1947, she along with her family moved to Lahore in Pakistan.^[2] Khursheed went to Radio Pakistan for audition and she start doing musical programmes by station director Mehmood Nizami.^[2] He liked her classical singing and gave her lessons.^[2] Mehmood Nizami introduced Khursheed to Bhai Lal and she learned classical singing from Bhai Lal Mohammad.^[2] She was also inspired by Roshan Ara Begum, she started copying her style and singing that many people acknowledged that Khursheed sounded like Roshan Ara on the radio.^[1] Khursheed met Roshan Ara Begum at Lahore Arts Council.^[1] There Khursheed and Roshan Ara Begum became friends and she would take Khursheed to places she would visit and then she taught Khursheed to play Tanpura.^[1]

Khursheed used do theatre before the launch of PTV in 1964 and she did a lot of quality theatre plays written by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Manto and Sadequain.^[2][1] Khursheed made a name for herself in theatre.^[1] After PTV was launched in 1964 in Pakistan the executive Aslam Azhar of PTV offered her work. She agreed on a condition that she would be the highest paid actress and he accepted her condition.^[1] Khursheed did her first play for PTV was Ras Malai a comedy drama.^[1] Then she regularly worked for PTV in dramas Wadi-e-Purkhar, Kaanch Ka Pul, Fehmida Ki Kahani, Ustani Rahat Ki Zabani, Kiran Kahani and Dhund.^[2][1]

Then Khursheed appeared in Khurshid Anwar's film Chingari on the insistence of Faiz Sahib.^[1] Khursheed performance in Punjabi movie Bhola Sajan directed by Ashfaque Malik was regarded as a finest acting even Khursheed admitted herself.^[1]

In 1995 Khursheed was honoured for her contributions towards the singing, film and television industry, she was honored by the Government of Pakistan with the Pride of Performance.^[1][2]

Khursheed worked in popular TV dramas series to her credit, including Parchaiyan, Zair, Zabar, Pesh and Uncle Urfi all these dramas series were written by playwright and scriptwriter Haseena Moin.^[1] Later in late 2003 she retired and went to live with her son, she moved to Lahore permanently to be with her son Salman Shahid.^[2][1]

Kursheed married producer Salim Shahid at a very young age the marriage did not last long, they did not divorced.^[7] Salim left for BBC London a few years after their marriage there he stayed till his death.^[7] She has one son Salman Shahid who is also an actor.^[8]

Khursheed Shahid was admitted to a hospital a few days back after she suffered a cardiac arrest.^[8] She died on 27 June due to cardiac arrest while she was in hospital, age 98.^[8][9] She was laid to rest in a Phase 7 cemetery after her funeral prayers were held at Defense mosque in Defense Phase 2, Block T.^[10]

She was awarded the Pride of Performance by the President of Pakistan in 1995^[1][7][2]