In 1945, Akhtari Bai married a Lucknow-based barrister, Ishtiaq Ahmed Abbasi, and became known as Begum Akhtar. However, after marriage, due to restrictions by her husband, she could not sing for almost five years and subsequently, fell ill and emotionally depressed. That is when her return to music was prescribed as a befitting remedy, and in 1949 she returned to the recording studios. She sang three ghazals and a dadra at Lucknow All India Radio station. She started crying afterwards and returned to singing in concerts, which she continued to do unto death. She sang publicly in Lucknow, in a women's only concert in aid of the war with China, which was held in 1962.