Shagufta Rafiqe

Shagufta was an adopted child. To-date she remains unaware about her actual parents. Her foster mother was in a relationship with a Kolkata based businessman, who left his second family unsupported after his death. His sudden death brought the family into poverty and Shagufta had to start supporting family at a young age of 11 by dancing at 'private parties'. Her mother also trained her as a classical dancer hoping that she'd be able to make it big in bollywood. A few years later, at the age of 17, Rafique became the mistress of a wealthy man to get some financial stability in her life. After years of living with the unhappiness in exchange for "stability", she finally broke up and turned to prostitution, before going on to work as a bar dancer to make a living. As a bar dancer she worked in Bombay before moving to Dubai. At the age of 25 one of her Pakistani fans who was 20 years her senior offered to marry her and Shagufta agreed. However just before the marriage could be solemnized, he unfortunately died. It was during these tumultuous years that she discovered her love for writing, and her desire to be a storyteller. She kept writing - at bars and in seedy hostels while she travelled - jotting down the stories of people she met, all the while still working as a bar dancer to pay the bills.[2]

Shagufta gained initial success when she joined Mahesh Bhatt's production company, Vishesh Films, where she wrote her next eleven films. After working for many films as a writer and screenwriter she made her directorial debut with the Bengali action thriller film, Mon Jaane Na which was released on Holi 2019.[3][4]

• Shagufta Rafique on IMDb