Lahore A Launchpad For Many Filmstars And Singers

LAHORE: Many high profile Indian actors and singers lived in the Walled City in the 1940s and Lakshmi Chowk was where the film fraternity got together in tongas decorated with maroon flowers, foot bells and lamps on the side.

The tonga was the primary means of transport for the ordinary and elite in the 40s. Most tongas were undecorated, but the ones used by the elite were special and fascinating.

Indian superstars Pran, Muhammad Rafi, Om Parkash, Balraj Sani, Dev Anand and many less known artistes started their film careers from Lahore. The film life in Lahore was very high profile and animated in those days. Lakshmi Chowk was the hot spot for formal and informal film gatherings.

Pran, who mostly played the role of a villain in films, lived in Qilla Gujjar Singh. He was a skilled photographer and took photographs of famous artistes. One day – while standing at a pan shop in Lakshmi Chowk – he met Wali, a leading film director of the time. Wali asked Pran if he was interested in acting and Pran said yes. Wali wrote the address of Pancholi Studios (one of the most famous film studios of Lahore in Muslim Town) on the back of a cigarette pack and asked Pran to see one of his friends there.

Pran started his film career with ‘Chaudhry’ and later appeared as a hero in ‘Khaandaan’, a film by Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. The heroine was melody queen Noor Jahan. Pran migrated to Bombay in 1947.

The subcontinent’s legendary singer Muhammad Rafi lived in Bhaati Gate. He was from a family of barbers and ran his own barbershop. Rafi had a beautiful voice and most of his customers would often ask him to sing for them while they got their hair cut or got a shave. A man from the film industry introduced Rafi to film director Gul Baloch who gave Rafi the opportunity to sing three songs for ‘Gul Zaman’. The film proved a launching point for Rafi’s film career in Lahore and by the time he migrated to India in 1947, he was an accomplished singer. In Bombay Rafi got a breakthrough in ‘Jugnoo’. The hero was Dilip Kumar and heroine Noor Jehan. Om Parkash was also one of the great names of Bombay. He lived at Matti Chowk, Lohari Gate and always rented out a decorated tonga to take him from Matti Chowk to Lakshmi Chowk every day. Parkash did many small and large roles in films made in Lahore and also migrated to India in 1947.

Balraj Sani also lived at Matti Chowk and was the secretary general of the All India Communist Party. He studied at Government College. Sani also acted in pre-Partition films in Lahore. Dev Anand lived in Lohari Gate, but later moved to Bhaati Gate. He also studied at Government College. Dev Anand participated actively in politics in Lahore. His brother Chaitan Anand was a famous film director in Lahore and was considered quite influential in film studios when it came to casting and other affairs.

Meena Shori was one of the leading female actors of her times. She lived in Bhaati Gate and married the owner of Shori Film Studio (now Shah Noor Studio). She acted in several pre-Partition films made in Lahore and migrated to India in 1947. In 1956 she returned to Pakistan to act in ‘Ms 56’ and never went back to India. She accepted Islam and started living in Lahore. BR Chopra is a leading name in production and direction in the Indian film industry. Chopra lived in an area where at present Chuburji Quarters exist. He produced a film in Lahore called ‘Chandni Chowk’. Khayam, one of the leading music composers of the Indian film industry, was his assistant and served him and his guests tea.

Khurshid Begum was an outstanding singer from Lahore who migrated to India in 1947. She also lived in Bhaati Gate. She sang several famous songs for various Indian films. She sang a great song for film ‘Tan Sain’ with singer Sehgal. She returned to Pakistan after a few years and started living in Karachi.

Tanveer Naqvi was a noted lyricist of his times. He lived in Faqirkhana Museum inside Bhaati Gate. He wrote ‘Awaz Dey Kahan Hai’ and ‘Jaan-e-Baharan, Rashk-e-Chaman’. He migrated to India in 1947. Naqvi also returned to Pakistan after a few years and spent the rest of his life in Lahore. Lakshmi Chowk was the focal point of Lahore’s film industry crowd. By the evening, Lakshmi would be full of tongas, with film stars, top film directors and producers thronging teahouses and discussing filmy affairs. Pran, Om Parkash and Al Nasir, another Lahori film hero, would spend their evenings chatting and playing billiards.

There also was a hotel called King Circle at Lakshmi Chowk where film stars gathered. A bank has taken its place these days. Even today Lakshmi Chowk is a major centre of filmi Lahore.

Source: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?p...2-5-2006_pg13_8

bahi aap bhut bhut sukriya old is gold

dhall

Shamshad Begum also lived in Lahore and later shifted to Bombay...for Panna 1944.. while films like yamla jatt,Khandan,Khazanchi were made in lahore itself... Kapoors too...also most of the artists have their roots in West Punjab like Balraj Sahni,Suraiya, even Anupam kher hails from sialkot...

late balraj shani from my fater vill, khushb sargodha distt.
kamni khushal, kuldeep kur, others also.

ihv very old picture u can see.
thanks

dhall

Inaam Bhai this article has many mistakes and appeared to have been written by some
one who was novice. It is full of inaccuracies like...Balraj Sahni and Dev Anand
statred there film carriers in Lahore...rafi was introduced to director gul baloch and who
gave him opportunity to sing three songs in gul zamaan...rafi migrated to India in 47...
in Bombay rafi got a break throught in Jugnu...Meena Shorie migrated to India in 47..
khurshid migrated to India in 47...and so on....

Note of caution for those who are interested in the history of Indian Cinema..
Many of the events mentioned in the above article are not correct.

Music director shyam sunder gave rafi the opportunity to sing under his
baton for the punjabi movie..gul baloch in the year 1943-44. It was
shyam sunder only who gave rafi a chance in the same year to sing
in the movie village girl in Bombay. Before jugnoo rafi had already
sung many songs.

Khurshid had been acting in Bombay since mid thirtees.
Meena Shorie has been acting in Bombay since Prithavi Vallabh days (1942-43).

Dev Anand started his film carrier in Pune he was a student of govt. collage
Lahore.

Thanks for the information, Mahesh ji.

I also studied in this prestigious Government College Lahore

(meri qadar karo, jane kab main bhi super star ban jaoon)

Koyi Lahoriye ne ye book kharidi hai?

Music and the city
Saeed Malik's latest book is studded with information about the lives of well known musicians and covers all genres



Lahore: A Musical Companion

Saeed Malik

Published by: Babar Ali Foundation, 2006.

Price hardcover: Rs.500

Pages: 163.



By Sarwat Ali

If his writings on music are any evidence to go by few people in Pakistan are as knowledgeable as Saeed Malik. His latest publication Lahore: a Musical Companion actually is a follow up on an earlier work Lahore: Its Melodic Culture which was published in haste to meet a deadline set by the Alhamra Arts Council. Since he had to meet no deadline except that of his own keenness and exacting demands of scholarship, his recent publication has dealt with the subject much more exhaustively.

An important aspect of Saeed Malik's writings on music is his personal involvement with the music and musicians of Lahore. His has not been an academic flirtation but an involvement that has led him to learn and play music. In the process he got to know musicians of all grades and shades, from the most reputable ustads to those struggling, whom no one wanted to know and who died nameless and unsung.

He has been a witness to the music soirees which were held at the YMCA in the 1930s and also the musical gatherings in Barkat Ali Mohammedan Hall, the Takiya Mirasiaan, SPSK Hall and the innumerable baithaks that underpinned the framework of cultural activity in the city. These baithaks were run by Barkat Ali Khan, Mubarak Ali Khan in Hira Mandi, Babu Mairaj Din in Moti Bazar, Ustad Barkat Gotebaaf inside Masti Gate, Ustad Khurshid Butt in Bhati Gate, Allah Ditta in Shahalam Gate, Master Qamar Din and G.A Farooq in Misri Shah.

All this was before partition and to most people these names may sound alien but not to the author who has lived through the decades and seen and experienced the vicissitudes of time. Since Lahore was an important city in the north western part of the Indian subcontinent it attracted plenty of talent from all over. Being the pathway of invasions and migrations it also underwent many an upheaval but survived to fight another day. The greatest upheaval was at the partition of the Punjab in 1947 when more than half the population of the city migrated and was replaced by an even larger influx of Muslims from all parts of the subcontinent, but mostly from the adjoining areas of the Indian Punjab.

A large number of musicians arrived in Lahore and more than compensated for the loss of migration. Pundit Amarnath, Shayum Sunder, Gobind Ram, Lachi Ram, Dhanni Ram were more than compensated by the arrival of Ustad Sardar Khan, Ustad Akhter Hussain Khan, Bundoo Khan, Nazakat Ali, Salamat Ali, Amanat Ali Fateh Ali, Bhai Lal and Ghulam Hassan Shaggan. There were musicians who were already in Lahore like Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Inayat Bai Dheerowali, Shamshad Begum, Sohni, Alamgir Khan, Sadiq Ai Mando and despite the killing and the looting Lahore was soon on its musical feet.

Lahore also witnessed the experimentation of passing on the musical knowledge to the next generation outside the ambit of lineage and family. When Bhathkhande and V.D Paluskar started their initiative they also chose Lahore to be one of the focal points of such a movement. Gandharv Mahavidyala off Ravi Road was seen as a departure from tradition and it continued to exist till partition when its head Pundit Janardhan had to migrate. Sadly the institution that was set up on the lines of a modern teaching place did not survive. It is said that the barsi of Alamgir Khan organised by his sons Rangi Khan and Babar Khan was held regularly for more than twenty years in the vicinity of the Gandharv Mahaviddayala on Mohni Road.

The book is studded with information about the lives of well known musicians and on what they sang. It covers all genres of music, from art music to the most popular forms. If there is a writeup on Ustad Sardar Khan there is also one on Alam Lohar and Munir Hussain. And since Lahore was one of the centres of filmmaking before partition and a major centre after partition, many singers and musicians flocked to the city, some making a name for themselves while others just drifted into the dark alleys. The book is quite encyclopedic in scope because it attempts to cover all forms of music and has something to say about its practitioners.

Ustad Jhandey Khan, Rafiq Ghaznavi, Ghulam Haider, Shyam Sunder, Khurshid Anwer, Feroze Nizami, Noor Jehan, Master Inayat Hussain, Rashid Attrey, Saleem Iqbal, G.A. Chishti, Nisar Bazmi, Master Manzoor Hussain, Sohail Rana, S.D. Batish, Ali Buksh Zahoor, Vidya Nath Seth, Muhammed Rafi, Surrinder Kaur, Zeenat Begum, Munawwar Sultana, Saleem Raza, Masud Rana, Zubaida Khanum, Inayat Hussain Bhatti, Mala from the category of light music/films and Ustad Waheed Khan, Chottey Ghulam Ali Khan, Zahida Parveen, Shamshad Kausar, and Meena Lodhi from classical music have all been covered.

Instrumentalists like Sohni Khan, Alamgir Khan, Fateh Ali Khan of Kapurthala, Sharif Khan Poonchwaley, Siraj Ahmed Qureshi, Saeen Ditta Qadri, Khadim Hussain, Qadir Buksh Pakhawaji, Inayati Khan, Shaukat Hussain Khan, Taffo, Talib Hussain have been enlisted for the writeup.

After partition other institutions replaced the more traditional ones. Radio was a great rallying point, followed by the arts councils, especially Alhamra. The All Pakistan Music Conference with its annual event at the Open Air Theatre, Bagh-e-Jinnah helped to keep classical music intact as a live art form and the various urs and melas provided a platform for all kinds of music .

One of the purposes of writing such books is to make people aware of their great heritage so as to make an effort to not only safeguard that heritage but also to create conditions to foster and promote the glorious traditions. Though the spirit of a city dies not and has many ways of manifesting itself, this process can also be simplified and made more orderly by a conscious effort in this direction. Though something has been done in Lahore to promote cultural institutions, we all know that it's not enough and much more needs to be done.

A large number of musicians arrived in Lahore and more than compensated for the loss of migration. Pundit Amarnath, Shayum Sunder, Gobind Ram, Lachi Ram, Dhanni Ram were more than compensated by the arrival of Ustad Sardar Khan, Ustad Akhter Hussain Khan, Bundoo Khan, Nazakat Ali, Salamat Ali, Amanat Ali Fateh Ali, Bhai Lal and Ghulam Hassan Shaggan. There were musicians who were already in Lahore like Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Inayat Bai Dheerowali, Shamshad Begum, Sohni, Alamgir Khan, Sadiq Ai Mando and despite the killing and the looting Lahore was soon on its musical feet.

Pandit Amarnath did not need migration, he had died in February 1947.