Happy Birthday - Some Pictures Options

[jamalf_akbar]

Hi guys,

On this occasion I thought I would upload some pics that I captured from VCD and some I found on the internet a long time ago. I've not seen them on the forum before so I hope they are new for you.

Enjoy !

Priya, Inaam - so sorry I couldn't take part in your show. I tried to access the forum from work but they have even banned that now. I can't even access the forum !

[Inaam]

Simply amazing! Many thanks for these rare pictures, Jamal Last 8 pictures are new for me. I wish I could find them in big size. (These are almost in thumbnails na ), BTW what is the source of these pics? Any link?

[Priya]

Excellent pix, Jamal. Thanks a ton!

[jamalf_akbar]

No link I'm afraid, I downloaded them a very long time ago and they were on my old computer. I recently connected my old hard drive to this computer and transferred the lot. I'll do some more digging, I may have saved the web link somewhere.

[jamalf_akbar]

Forgot to say, I love the last set of pictures because they seem so natural and off the cuff, we can see Madam Noor Jehan in a completely different light here.

[jamalf_akbar]

I found the article, it was from the online version of the Friday Times on December 23, 2001. I saved the whole webpage including the pictures and have tried to zip the whole package up for download -



Unzip and open up the html page then everything should fall in place.

I have many other articles saved like this, I'll scan through them and upload some more on a separate thread

[Ummer]

Pics 2-4 were uploaded by me on SKS yahoo group and were captured directly from Koel VCD just for Priya. At that time Priya newly discovered NJ and was crazy about her. I still remember those days... when priya used to ask why NJ looks slim in Dopatta and Koel, and I said I am not her personal trainer, maybe she used to wear corsets haha!!


And some member said, NJ is such a strong topic for Priya that every topic leads to NJ

[Priya]

Beete dinon ki yaadon ko
kaise main bhula doon....

[Inaam]

I found the article, it was from the online version of the Friday Times on December 23, 2001. I saved the whole webpage including the pictures and have tried to zip the whole package up for download -



Unzip and open up the html page then everything should fall in place.

I have many other articles saved like this, I'll scan through them and upload some more on a separate thread

Jamal, I unziped, but nothing was visible, I found the WebPage and folder was hidden. Just checked the WebPage. It is amazing Yaar, there are some more rare pics and a wonderful article. I am reading it first time. Thank you for this stuff. Tum hamesha hi kuchh zabardast laatey ho!

I am putting here the rest of pics, there is one thing very special I found by this link ---- Madam's letter (in her own handwriting) to her son, and a couple of Asha'rs (Yes!! Of course --- her own poetry) again to her beloved son Akbar.
I have an article of Kishwar Nahid (fomous poetess) in Urdu, she wrote 'Kabhi kabhi wo (Madam) sher bhi likh detin thiin... Apni yaadein bhi kabhi kabhi likhne beth jaatin thiin...'.
I know most of you can not read Urdu, will transcript it for you all in ROMAN.

[Priya]

Ok!!! So that was the problem--hidden file!!!
Just saw the link. WOWWWWWWWWWWWW
Inaam, U have not added all the pix but.
Will add them as well as the article.

[Priya]

Madam and her accolades




With Mehdi Hassan and others.




With the recordist at Shah Noor Studios



With Lata




With her son Akbar Rizvi




With her grand daughter

[Priya]

On December 23, 2000, which according to the lunar calender was the 27th of Ramadan, the most sacred day in the Islamic calendar, the nightingale of Asia sang her last song. Malika-e-Tarranum Noor Jehan was put to rest in a hurry, by her former husband Ijaz Durrani and the couple's three daughters, in a grave that had originally been reserved for a relative, Khawaja Waheed. Noor Jehan’s children from her first marriage to Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, Akbar, Asghar and Huma, barely made it to Karachi for the funeral.

President General Pervez Musharraf and the armed forces of Pakistan wanted to give Noor Jehan the state funeral she deserved. But her Karachi family would have none of it. The people of Pakistan and music lovers around the globe were outraged, at Ijaz Durrani and his daughters, for giving Noor Jehan such an unceremonious and hasty burial. Noor Jehan’s younger son Asghar, who could play the part of a Punjabi film villain to perfection, raised hell in Karachi during the funeral and wanted his mother to be buried in Kasur, the place of her birth. The people of Kasur whom I met during the filming of a documentary on Noor Jehan, “ Aik Maan Aur Aik Baita” , were furious at the way their glorious daughter had been "disposed of". Akbar Rizvi, the director of the documentary and Noor Jehan's first born, had a hard time cooling the tempers of Kasuris, for whom his mother had sung her immortal song “ Meera Sohna Sheher Kasur Neen”. Members of her clan who still live in the same house where Noor Jehan was born and lived as a child were grief-stricken at not being able to get to Karachi at such a short notice.

Journalists across the country and abroad wrote their hearts out for Noor Jehan, newspapers carrying front page obituaries and acres of extra newsprint was expended on extolling Malika-e-Tarranum's services to the national life of Pakistan. These acres of newsprint on which were written eulogies on Noor Jehan, put to shame all our political leaders, sports heroes, and religious leaders. She was paid rich tributes by the crème de la crème of Bollywood, past and present superstars. Yousuf Khan, better known as Dilip Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Pran and music director Khayam in their telephonic interviews with me for the documentary “ Aik Maan Aur Aik Baita” , showered praise on her and spoke with unmistakable feeling. Lata Mangeshkar was in tears whilst speaking of her “ Deedi” , for that is how she always addressed Noor Jehan. In fact, my friend Akbar Rizvi gave me private videotapes of Noor Jehan and Lata that divulge the most amazing information about the mutual respect that these two great singers had for each other. After the 1965 war, Noor Jehan was not issued an Indian visa to visit Lata in Bombay. So Lata decided to beat officialdom and the restrictions imposed by them by traveling to the India-Pakistan border at Wagah from Bombay, to meet Noor Jehan, in No-Man’s Land. The Sikh soldiers across the border could not say no to Noor Jehan while the Rangers on our side were fans of Lata and simply could not prevent her from walking across the divide. According to Lata, this occasion was one of the most exciting experiences of her life. The Pakistani guards spread out their prayer rugs for the two women to sit on. And Noor Jehan unpacked the tiffin carrier she had brought from Lahore, stuffed with food she had cooked with her own hands for her friend Lata. Lata promised Akbar Rizvi that she would sing Noor Jehan’s songs (something that Lata has never done) for his documentary.

There can be no doubt that Noor Jehan was a superb artiste and an honest human being, who lived like a superwoman in a male dominated society, riven by double standards. She had the courage to do what she wanted, without a care for scandals or criticism. In fact, a part of her may have relished the scandals for they added many dimensions to her glamorous personality. She behaved like the queen of show business that she was all her life; she was ruthless with her opponents and generous to a fault with those who were unequivocally in her camp. According to Noor Jehan, she never kept account of her songs, her clothes, her diamonds and her love affairs. I am sure that is what kept her youthful to the end and her voice so enchanting. No living legend, in our hypocritical society has ever accepted and paraded his or her personal weakness with such honesty and grace.

There are people like Egypt's Umme Kulsoom, India's Lata Mangeshkar and our own Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, to name a few, who attained legendary status in their lifetimes without a whiff of personal scandal. But then, who can match the beauty, the irresistible charm and voluptuousness of Noor Jehan? I was spellbound by her beauty, as a youth of 11 years, when I saw her first at Sadiq Public School Bahawalpur and that magnetic charm continued to attract me till her death. She, like the Pyramids of Egypt, defeated time; in my eyes and I am sure in the eyes of millions of her fans, she never aged.

Noor Jehan never met her match except perhaps in the person of Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, her first love. They were an ideal couple, both successful in their respective fields, in the cinema world of pre—partition India. They both abandoned thriving careers in India for an uncertain future in a new country, Pakistan. This couple it was who took up the challenge at the birth of Pakistan, to build the film industry, when they came to live in Lahore. Hard working Rizvi got so involved in building Shah Noor Studios in Lahore, that he totally forgot Noor Jehan, the wife after whom the place had been named. By the time the studios were completed, their marriage had broken down irrevocably. The shattered marriage had a devastating effect on the entire family, especially the children. Noor Jehan, though an equal partner in Shah Noor, left everything in Rizvi's custody for her children and moved to Faletti’s Hotel. At that time her sons were studying at Saint Anthony's School, from where they would sneak out to meet their mother, without the knowledge of their father. Mr. Rizvi had forbidden their meetings and he was furious on learning that Noor Jehan was meeting her sons so he packed them off to Sadiq Public School Bahawalpur, in the hope that there they would be out of her reach. But who could stop Noor Jehan from seeing her children? In fact, who could stop Noor Jehan from doing anything that she had set her mind on?

This was the most difficult time of her life, emotionally as well as financially. But she was always a warrior and came out of the shadows, on her own, with flying colours. It is perhaps correct to conclude that due to the bitter experience of her first marriage to a towering personality like Rizvi's in whom she had met her match, she later chose unthreatening pygmies as her partners. That does not mean that she was not wholeheartedly involved with Ijaz Durrani. She was besotted by him and made him a hero from zero. In return, he gave her three daughters to look after, and much pain to bear. His hit film “Heer Ranjha” turned out to be a Punjabi classic of all times due to Noor Jehan's immortal melodies which had been composed by Khawaja Khursheed Anwer. The songs contributed in no small measure to the success of the film "Heer Ranjha". While Noor Jehan was singing her heart out to make her husband’s film a resounding success, Ijaz Durrani was playing a real life “ Ranjha” to Firdous, the “ Heer” of the film. It was on the rocks of Ijaz's infidelity that Noor Jehan's second marriage foundered. She became embittered and lost her belief in the durability of love and commitment.

Noor Jehan, although the object of juicy scandals, was a devoted mother of two sons and four daughters. She loved them immensely, brought them up like royalty and pampered them like princes and princesses. Akbar, the eldest and her first son was naturally her favourite and she would do anything for him. Akbar told me a touching story of his mother's devotion to him. According to him, when Rizvi first married Noor Jehan, he had forbidden her to meet her parents. But at the birth of their first grandson, Akbar, Noor Jehan’s parents traveled all the way from Kasur to Bombay to see their daughter and her baby. On seeing the in-laws with whom he wished to have no contact at his door, Mr. Rizvi picked up the baby by the legs and told Noor Jehan that if she stepped out of the door to meet her parents he would tear their son apart like a chicken. Noor Jehan realised that Rizvi was serious, so she closed the door on her parents to save her son.

A sound recordist of Shah Noor Studios told me another touching incident that tells of Noor Jehan’s love for her eldest son. According to him, whenever Noor Jehan came to Shah Noor to record a song after her falling out with Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, she would send for Akbar. Akbar habitually asked for money and she always gave it to him. This time was no exception. He told his mother that he wanted to visit Karachi to see his son and needed the money for the journey. Noor Jehan refused on the pretext that she had no money to give. Akbar, cleverly, played on her emotional nature by turning his back on her and walking away, saying that if he could not go to see his son Sikander in Karachi, then she would also not see her son Akbar in Lahore. Noor Jehan stopped her son and proposed an interesting bargain that Akbar could not refuse. She said, “ give your mother a kiss and for each kiss I will give you Rs 1000” . Akbar couldn't have asked for easier money and quickly proffered his cheek. To that Noor Jehan said with tears in her voice, “ Baita Tum Puppy Daitay Daitay Thak Jao Gay Magar Tumahari Maan Hazaaron Rupay Daity Naheen Thakay Gee”, (You will tire my son, of giving me kisses but I will never tire of giving you money). That is the story of our documentary, “ Aik Maan Aur Aik Baita”.

It was towards that that I went to Chexbres, a pretty mountain village on the northern shores of lake Geneva in Switzerland to interview Noor Jehan’s first daughter-in-law Simone, who is divorced from Akbar and lives there with her son Jehangir Rizvi and daughter Samina Rizvi. Finding them was simple because they are the only Rizvis in the whole of Switzerland who are registered in the telephone directory. Simone was sad at Noor Jehan’s death, but other than that her opinion was typical of a daughter—in-law. She held Noor Jehan responsible for her divorce from Akbar. Simone believes that Noor Jehan wanted Akbar to marry a Pakistani girl and that is why she poisoned his mind against her.

It is true that Noor Jehan was a very possessive mother and that may have been the reason for the conflict between the two but it is also true that in those days Noor Jehan was too busy finding husbands for herself to bother finding a girl for Akbar. Moreover, soon thereafter Akbar married Florence, who is French, and it was his falling in love with her that was the real cause of his divorce from Simone. Theatre seems to be in the blood for Noor Jehan’s grandson, Jehangir, works in Lausanne in for a theatre company while her granddaughter, Samina works in a hospital along with her husband, an American doctor. Both the grandchildren had happy memories of their grandmother and seemed to have loved her very much. She visited them twice in Switzerland and never tired of inviting them to Pakistan. Samina recalled that her "Dado" was insistent that she marry a rich Pakistani boy when she was barely fourteen. Randolf, Samina’s husband, was very impressed by Noor Jehan’s generosity and honesty. As a foreigner, he was very touched by the affection that he received from her. He vividly remembered Noor Jehan feeding him with her own hand and telling him, “ You must eat a lot of food, get fat and strong and produce a lot of children” . While he told me this anecdote, Samina and Randolf two young daughters, the eldest of whom is three years old, danced to Noor Jehan's songs.

I have learnt a great deal whilst working on the documentary. “ Aik Maan Aur Aik Baita" with Akbar Rizvi. Here I will relate accounts of some incidents which will be of interest to TFT's readers and Noor Jehan's fans. Akbar was born premature, in Kuman Mehta Hospital, Bombay, on April 14, 1944. This happened because Noor Jehan fell off her bed after the blast of a shipload of explosives that caused what subsequently became known as the great fire of Bombay. The child was born safely and Noor Jehan and Shaukat Hussain Rizvi never denied their firstborn anything. Barely past his first year, the toddler had developed a penchant for chocolate. The Second World War was then in full swing and the Japanese, after conquering Burma, were building the Death Railway in Thailand, for a secure supply route to India. Everything was rationed during the war, especially imported items, but Noor Jehan and Shaukat Rizvi still managed to get some chocolates for their son Akbar. In the words of Akbar, “ the hilarious part of my parents' last film in India, Jugnoo, was that my mother was expecting my younger brother, Asghar, but the film took so long in the making that in many sequences she was slim while in the intercuts she was in the full term of pregnancy”. Despite such unavoidable follies, “ Jugnoo”, was a super success at the box office, both in India and Pakistan. In the early days, thanks to the great film technicians who migrated to Pakistan, Lahore film productions were so successful that Bombay was reluctant to release their pictures simultaneously with those of Lollywood. That success, however, was short-lived because soon this great entertainment industry was taken over by un-educated, new-rich, sex starved financiers who brought it to the point of humiliation.

It is ironic to consider the backdrop of the circumstances that led to the eventual separation of Noor Jehan and Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. The seeds of this parting of ways were sown in Sheesh Mahal, the palace of mirrors, a 22 bedroom maharaja-style mansion spread over an acre of evacuee property on Lahore's Davies Road, that had been allotted to the couple. Both Noor Jehan and Mr. Rizvi, like most film wallahs, were superstitious and began to believe that the house was haunted. Noor Jehan was so scared that she would never enter her bedroom unless there were people around her. Mr. Rizvi too was apprehensive about the whole affair and the couple started blaming each other for the scary situation. However on the advise of some friends and off course a mullah it was decided to get rid of the ill omen by digging a grave in the bedroom to bury the malevolent spirit. Then the grave had to be washed with milk every Thursday.

However, the malevolent spirit was within them and not around them and that is what haunted their house and their lives. Eventually, they abandoned the house as well as each other. Their 12 years of a fairy tale marriage and an even longer romance ended on a sad and ugly note. They dragged each other through the courts for the custody of their children and a division of their property. Finally, it was Noor Jehan, the mother, who gave up every claim for the sake of her children. Once again, she started from zero and with sheer hard work and dedication bounced back to fame and fortune. Her spirit to fight never faded till the end.

During the last years of her prolonged illness, she was declared dead by the doctors all of three times but she fought for her life with determination and accepted and surrendered with dignity when her time came. There will always remain one regret, however, and it is that her last desire to visit Lahore, the city that she had loved and where she had lived for most of her life, was not fulfilled. A sad piece of poetry that she wrote to her son Akbar, from her Aga Khan hospital bed, urging him for help, unfortunately, also fell on deaf ears. Keeping her in Karachi meant keeping everything around her in Karachi too and that perhaps was more of a motivation than respecting her last wish.

[Priya]

Well Ummer, that solves the mystery. Madam was fat in the Indian movies bec she was pregnant then!!!!

[Inaam]

Thanks for adding the pics,Priya, I was adding them lekin electricity power was gone almost in whole country a 9 hours break-down. Ahhh

[jamalf_akbar]

Thanks for uploading the rest of the pics and the article, I was going to do it but was a bit rushed for time so uploaded the webpages !!

Inaam bhai, I am also interested in what the letter says and what the sher are so I am eagerly awaiting that. I visited my grandfather yesterday and have asked him that whenever he gets the chance to have a look for the Rizvi book on Noor Jehan.