Tun Tun (11 July 1923 – 24 November 2003) was the screen name of Indian playback singer and actress-comedienne, Uma Devi Khatri, who was called "Hindi cinema's first-ever comedienne". Childhood Uma was born in a small village near Amroha District of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India in 1923. Her parents and brother were murdered for land arrogate. Just before two days of her demise she had been interviewed by film critic and historian Shishir Krishn Sharma. She said : "I don't remember who my parents were and how they looked, I would be two to two and half years when they passed away, I had a brother eight or nine years old whose name was Hari, I just remembered that we were living in a village named Alipur. One day brother was killed and left for maid servant to relatives in exchange for two times meal, that time I was four or five years old". Uma Devi's childhood was marked by poverty. She later met Akhtar Abbas Kazi, an Excise Duty Inspector, who helped and inspired her. At the time of the India-Pakistan partition, Kazi moved to Lahore, Pakistan. She was fed up with the circumstances of the time and she moved to Bombay to pursue singing in movies. Kazi also eventually moved to Bombay, where they got married in 1947. Career She arrived in Bombay (Mumbai) at the age of 23, having run away from home, and knocked on composer Naushad Ali's door. She told him that she could sing and that she would throw herself in the ocean if he didn't give her a chance. He auditioned her, and hired her on the spot. She made her debut as a solo playback singer in Nazir's Wamiq Azra (1946). She soon signed a contract with the producer-director A.R. Kardar, who used Naushad as music director, and went on to make a place for herself amidst music stalwarts like Noor Jehan, Rajkumari, Khursheed Bano and Zohrabai Ambalewali. In 1947, she had huge hits with "Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon Dil-e-Beqarar Ka", "Yeh Kaun Chala Meri Aankhon Mein Sama Kar" and "Aaj Machi Hai Dhoom Jhoom Khushi Se Jhoom", which she sang for actress Munawar Sultana in A.R. Kardar's Dard (1947), again under the music direction of Naushad, she also sang a duet; "Betaab Hai Dil Dard-e-Mohabat Ke Asar Se", with Suraiya. In fact, a gentleman from Delhi was so enamoured by her