| Chand Burke | |
| Birth Date: | 1932 2, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Lyallpur, Punjab, British India (present-day Punjab, Pakistan) |
| Nationality: | Indian |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Spouse: | Sundar Singh Bhavnani |
| Children: | 2 |
| Family: | See Singh-Burke family |
Chand Burke (2 February 1932 – 28 December 2008), also known as Chand Burque, was an Indian character actress in Hindi and Punjabi language films.
Chand Burke made her debut in Maheshwari Productions’ Kahan Gaye (1946). Chand appeared in a number of films made in Lahore, and was widely known as “the Dancing Lily of the Punjab.” The Partition of India led to her migration to Mumbai (then Bombay) thus adversely affecting her career.
She was given her first break in Bollywood by the veteran actor Raj Kapoor in the film titled, Boot Polish (1954), where she played the pivotal role of Baby Naaz and Rattan Kumar's tormenting aunt.[1] [2]
Burke was born in a Punjabi Christian family of twelve brothers and sisters in the Punjab Province of British India (in what is now Pakistan). Her grandfather Chaudhry Allah Ditta was a convert to Christianity while her father Janab Khairuddin, the first graduate from his village, was a school headmaster who wrote Urdu poetry under the pen name Burq (lightning), which later would be Anglicized as Burke.[3] Her brother, Samuel Martin Burke, was Indian Civil Service officer who later became a diplomat to the Scandinavian countries for Pakistan.[4] After divorcing her film writer-director husband Niranjan in 1954, she married businessman Sundar Singh Bhavnani in 1955 with whom she had a daughter named Tonya and a son named Jagjit, who is the father of Indian film actor Ranveer Singh.
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Pardesan | Rakhi | |
| 1968 | Kahin Din Kahin Raat | Pran's scientist assistant | |
| 1967 | Mera Bhai Mera Dushman | Rajan's wife | |
| 1965 | Mohabbat Isko Kahete Hain | Kundan's mother | |
| 1964 | Apne Huye Paraye | Rampyari | |
| 1960 | Ghar Ki Laaj | Moti's aunty | |
| 1960 | Rangeela Raja | Madhuri | |
| 1960 | Shravan Kumar | Jamuna | |
| 1959 | Pardesi Dhola | Reshma | |
| 1958 | Adalat | Urmila | |
| 1958 | Lajwanti | Actress | Uncredited |
| 1958 | Sohni Mahiwal | Nargis | |
| 1957 | Dushman | Raam Singh's mother | |
| 1956 | Basant Bahar | Leelabai | |
| 1955 | Raftar | Jaya | |
| 1955 | Shahi Chor | Sushma | |
| 1954 | Ferry | Elizabeth | |
| 1954 | Amar Kirtan | Nirmala | |
| 1954 | Gul Bahar | Nirupa | |
| 1954 | Boot Polish | Kamla Devi | |
| 1954 | Vanjara | Sati | |
| 1953 | Aag Ka Dariya | Actress | Uncredited |
| 1953 | Kaude Shah | Poonam | Punjabi film |
| 1951 | Sabz Baag | Zubeida | |
| 1951 | Posti | Bhag Bhari | Punjabi film |
| 1948 | Dukhiyari | Sati | |
| 1946 | Kahan Gaye | Salma | |