A tribute to Noor Jehan

Gaayegi duniya geet mere…
Goes one of Noor Jehan’s songs. And how true the words are. For India and Pakistan’s legendary singer, Mallika-e-Tarrannum or Melody Queen Noor Jehan (74) was laid to rest after suffering a massive heart attack last week, but her songs live on.

Noor Jehan leaves behind a legacy which can be surpassed only by India’s won Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar. The two were close friends and maintained their bond even when Noor Jehan migrated from India to Pakistan in 1947 after the Partition. The duo would regularly hold long conversations on the telephone and their mutual admiration society was never threatened by the political tensions between the two countries.

The late composer Sajjad Husain, who was instrumental in shaping the early careers of both the divas, once said, "God created Noor Jehan and Lata Mangeshkar to sing. Then I don't know why he bothered to create any more women at all."

Born at Kasur in Punjab on September 21, 1926, her real name was Allah Rakhi. This child was unique. At five she could reproduce the style of most leading singers of the subcontinent. Two years later, she rendered her first playback song for a Calcutta-based production.

Child prodigies usually fade out early. Only a few live up to their initial promise, but with that first playback started a career that spanned seven decades. In time Baby Noor Jehan became Madam Noor Jehan, then Melody Queen. While she got her start from Calcutta, it was in Lahore, close to hometown Qasur where the limelight flooded her. Master Ghulam Haider, a master in the truest sense of the expression put the raw gold in the child's voice in Gul Bakawli (1939) with "Shala jawanian mane..." on the road to lasting fame. In another movie, the same composer's "Bas bas wey dholna" accorded her instant mass popularity. As a child, Noor Jehan acted in a number of plays in Calcutta. She was brought to the big screen by Krishna Dev Mehra, known as the father of Punjabi cinema, in a film called Sheila. But it was popular filmmaker Dalsukh Pancholi who presented her as a star in the musical Gul-e-Bakavali.

It was on the sets of Khandaan (1942) that she met her future husband, director Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. The duo had a tumultuous real-life affair, elopement which ended in marriage. But the happiness was short lived as the couple snapped ties and spent years running each other down.

In a period when singer-actresses ruled the silver screen, Noor Jehan was amply endowed with talent. She not only looked good but was vivacious had possessed a vitality that kept eyes glued to the screen.

Marriage to Rizvi took her to Broadway, to new and vaster horizons. One of India’s finest film-makers Mehboob Khan cast her in Anmol Ghadi (1946) in which she had a chance to work with one of the greatest composers of India, Naushad. The film where her character was named Lata was a love triangle featuring another female singing-star, Suraiya. In Anmol Ghadi, Noor Jehan sang some of her best-loved songs including the immortal Awaaz De Kahan Hai and Jawan Hai Mohabbat.

Next Rizvi paired her with a young and promising but little known actor, Dilip Kumar in Jugnoo (1947). Both films were big hits at the box office. The teenaged singer-actress had taken Bollywood by storm; she was heralded as a star of dazzling luminosity.

Before migrating to Pakistan she acted in a number of super-hit films in India. These included the family social Badi Maa in 1945 in which Noor Jehan played the lead while Lata Mangeshkar was cast in a supporting role. She was also Pakistan’s first woman director with Chan We (1951).

Noor Jehan leaves behind two sons and five daughters. Two years back, Noor Jehan had undergone a heart bypass in London and after her return, remained under treatment for other illnesses.

The magnificence of her voice was groomed in her early years by Kajjan Bai, a famous Indian singer of the 20s and 30s, and enriched by riyaz lasting up to twelve hours or more daily.

Some of her significant performances are Dupatta (1952), Gulnar (1953), Intezaar (1956), Lakht-e-Jiggar (1956), Annar Kalli (1958), Koel (1959) and Neend (1959).

How many songs she recorded in her career is anybody's guess. Estimates place the number above ten thousand. It is a sad that due to an ineffective management of arts in Pakistan an undetermined percentage of her work may have perished. Unfortunately there is no inventory even of songs she recorded.

Most of the master composers whose work she brilliantly sung are no more alive. Some of them were Master Ghulam Haider, Feroz Nizami, Rashid Attre, Khurshid Anwar, G. A. Chishti, Master Anayet Hussain, Master Abdullah, A. Hameed, Naashad, Kamal Ahmad and Naushad.

It is said that Noor Jehan first brought expression to film music. She could render love songs, compositions depicting joy, sadness, tragedy with facility of movement. A strong classical base is reflected in her singing and it is this that has made her songs immortal. Can we ever listen to Awaz de kahan hai meri duniya without remembering this legendary singer?

on December 23, 2000, singing legend and cultural icon Mlika-e- Tarranum (Queen of Melodies) Noor Jahan Begum passed away after a prolonged illness. She was 74 year’s old. According to Adnan sami’s Khan’s obituary written for Pakistan’s The International News, she was an image, an epitome and embodiment of many a spirit put together; from an enchantress of ghazal and geets to highly skilled classical recitalist; from patriotic Milli Naghmas soloist, who could put spirit back into a dying soldier, to a nightingale whose trills in the joyous notes of her songs made the young and the old sway alike.”

Born Allah Raki in Punjab on September 21, 1992,

Noor Jahan Begum could imitate the style of most leading singers of South Asia of the age of merely five. Two years later, she produced her first play back song for a Calcutta-based studio. Noor Jehan was an only a child when a filmmaker introduced her to the studios pre-Independence Lahore. She first attained stardom when movie moghal Dalshuk Pancholi cast her in Khandaan in 1994. With its success, Noor Jehan became the Diva of the 40s.

She enraptured audiences all over South Asia with her stylish shalwar-kameezes and her vibrant voice. She even dethroned the then singing star Khurshid, with her hit song in Zeenat, titled Bulbulao Mat Ro Yahan Aanso Bahane Hai Mana,” and gave new life to the nautch girl style of Karnatki. It was when she sang the Qawwali in Zeenat that the public first took to his Muslim style supplication. Noor Jehan reached her zenith with Mehboob Khan’s his Anmol Ghadi in 1964. Songs such as “Aawaz De Kahan Hai,” “Jawan Hai Mohabbat” and Mere Bachhpan Ke Saathi” gave her reigning status.
From songs of elated pleasure, desire, and happiness, that conveyed deep sorrow, sadness, and yearning, Noor Jehan was too able to convey almost any emotion through her songs. She will also be remembered for songs in the film Anarkali that drew attention to Noor Jahan’s originality, versatility, and singing maturity. It is unknown how many songs Noor Jahan produced, but is likely that the number approaches the thousands. Many say’s the Noor Jahan’s singing can only be paralleled by Lata Mangeshkar –that they are the twin jewels of singing In South Asia. Furthermore, Noor Jehan wasn’t just a singer she was multitalented, having written some of her own songs and acted in several films.

After her last hit in Bombay, in 1947 entitled “Yahan Badla Wafa Ka Bewafai Ke Sive Kya Hai,” from the film Jugnu, Noor Jahan migrated to Pakistan. At 40, she divorced her filmmaker husband Shaukat Hussain Rizvi and married the much younger Eijaz. She continued to sing in Pakistan, where she held on to her glittering star status in the music industry. In 1956, she appeared in famous movies including Lakht-e-Jigar and Intizar In 1960s and 1970s; Noor Jehan took Punjabi music to new levels. In the Punjabi film Heer Ranjha, Noor Jahan amazed audiences with songs like “Sun Wanjani Di Mithi Mithi Taan Way/ Main Ta Ho Ho Gai Qurban Way.”

Numerous patriotic songs of Pakistan can also be added to her long songs. In a recent tribute to Noor Jahan Begum, Pakistan Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf expressed his deep sadness over the loss of Malika-e-Tarranum. According to newspaper Dawn, the chief Executive said, “The vacuum created by her death in the field of music will never be filled.”