Mehtab (1918–1997) was a popular Indian actress of Hindi/Urdu films who worked from 1928-1969. She was born in Sachin, Gujarat, to a Muslim family and named Najma. Her father, Sedee Abraham Khan, was the Nawab of Sachin, near Surat in the state of Gujarat. Starting her career in the late 1920s with small roles in films like Second Wife (1928), Indira B. A. (1929), and Jayant (1929) she went on to do character roles before acting in the lead opposite Ashraf Khan in Veer Kunal (1932). After almost a decade of doing mainly action-oriented roles, she came into prominence with the Kidar Sharma directed Chitralekha (1941) due to her bathing scene in the film.