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Malika-e-Tarannum Noor Jehan | |
|---|---|
| نور جہاں | |
 Noor Jehan in 1945 filmZeenat | |
| Born | Allah Wasai (1926-09-21)21 September 1926 |
| Died | 23 December 2000(2000-12-23) (aged 74) |
| Resting place | Gizri Graveyard,Karachi |
| Other names | The Nightingale of The East Queen of Hearts[1] Daughter of Nation[2] The Nightingale of Punjab[3] |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1930–2000 |
| Notable work |
|
| Style | |
| Title | "Malika-e-Tarannum" (Queen of Melody) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 6, includingZil-e-Huma,Nazia Ejaz Khan |
| Relatives |
|
| Awards | 15Nigar Awards |
| Honours |
|
Noor Jehan[a] (21 September 1926 – 23 December 2000[6][7]) was a Pakistaniplayback singer and actress who worked in bothBritish India and later in Pakistan'scinema. Her career lasted over six decades, during which she recorded 10,000 songs. Jehan had proficiency inHindustani classical music, as well as in other genres such asPunjabi and Sindhi. She made her directorial debut with the filmChann Wey in 1951, becoming the first female film director in Pakistan. She is recognized for her contributions to music in theIndian subcontinent, particularly inPakistan. She was given the title ofMalika-e-Tarannum ("Queen of Melody") in Pakistan.[8]
Along withAhmed Rushdi, she holds the record for having given voice to the largest number of film songs in the history of Pakistani cinema. She recorded about 10,000 songs in various languages, including Urdu, Punjabi, and Sindhi.[9] She sang a total of 2,422 songs in 1,148 Pakistani films during a career that lasted more than half a century.[10] She is also considered to be the first female Pakistani film director.[11]
Noor Jehan was born as Allah Wasai on 21 September 1926 into aPunjabi Muslim family in Kot Murad Khan, nearKasur,Punjab,British India.[12] She was one of eight children of Imdad Ali and Fateh Bibi.[13][14]
From an early age, she displayed a keen interest inmusic and began singing at the age of six. Her father recognized her talent and arranged for her to receive formal training in classical music. She studied under Ustad Ghulam Mohammad and later with Kajjanbai, focusing on thePatiala Gharana style ofHindustani classical music, including forms likethumri,dhrupad, andkhyal.[15]
By age nine, she had attracted the attention of Punjabi musicianGhulam Ahmed Chishti, who composed early pieces for her and introduced her to stage performances inLahore. Her family later moved toCalcutta in the early 1930s in hopes of establishing careers in the performing arts for her and her elder sisters, Eiden Bai and Haider Bandi. Theatre owner Diwan Sardari Lal supported their relocation, and Noor Jehan continued her training while participating in musical theatre. The acclaimed singerMukhtar Begum, wife of playwrightAgha Hashar Kashmiri, mentored the young performer and helped her enter the film industry. It was during this time that she adopted the stage nameBaby Noor Jehan.
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Noor Jehan began to sing at the age of six and showed a keen interest in a range of styles, including traditional folk and popular theatre.[16][17][18] Realising her potential for singing, her father sent her to receive early training in classical singing under UstadGhulam Mohammad andKajjanbai.[19][17][18] She started her training at age 11 inCalcutta, where instructors instructed her in the traditions of thePatiala Gharana ofHindustani classical music and the classical forms ofthumri,dhrupad, andkhyal.[17][18]
At the age of nine, Noor Jehan drew the attention of Punjabi musicianGhulam Ahmed Chishti, who would later introduce her to the stage inLahore.[17] He composed someghazals,na`ats, andfolk songs for her to perform, although she was keener on breaking into acting orplayback singing.[17] Once her vocational training finished, Jehan pursued a career in singing alongside her sister in Lahore, and would usually take part in the live song and dance performances prior to screenings of films in cinemas.[12]
Theatre ownerDiwan Sardari Lal took the small girl to Calcutta in the early 1930s, and the entire family moved to Calcutta in hopes of developing the movie careers of Allah Wasai and her older sisters, Eiden Bai and Haider Bandi.[17]Mukhtar Begum (not to be confused with actressSabiha Khanum) encouraged the sisters to join film companies and recommended them to various producers.[17] She also recommended them to her husband,Agha Hashar Kashmiri, who owned amaidan theatre (a tented theatre to accommodate large audiences).[17] It was here that Wasai received the stage name, Baby Noor Jehan.[17] Her older sisters were offered jobs with one of the Seth Sukh Karnani companies, Indira Movietone, and they went on to be known as thePunjab Mail.[13]
In 1935, K.D. Mehra directed the Punjabi moviePind di Kuri, in which Noor Jehan acted along with her sisters and sang the Punjabi song "Langh aja patan chanaan da o yaar," which became her earliest hit.[17] She then acted in a film calledMissar Ka Sitara (1936) by the same company and sang in it for music composerDamodar Sharma. Jehan also played the child role of Heer in the 1937 filmHeer-Sayyal .[17] One of her popular songs from that period, "Shala Jawaniyan Maney" is from Dalsukh Pancholi's Punjabi filmGul Bakawli (1939).[17] All these Punjabi movies were made in Calcutta.[17] After a few years in Calcutta, Jehan returned to Lahore in 1938. In 1939, renowned music directorGhulam Haider composed songs for Jehan which led to her early popularity, and he thus became her early mentor.[17]
In 1942, she played the main lead oppositePran inKhandaan (1942).[17] It was her first role as an adult, and the film was a major success.[17] The success ofKhandaan saw her shifting toBombay, with the directorSyed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi.[17] She shared melodies withShanta Apte inDuhai (1943).[17] It was in this film that Jehan lent her voice for the second time, to another actress named Husn Bano.[17] She married Rizvi later the same year.[20] From 1945 to 1947 and her subsequent move to Pakistan, Noor Jehan was one of the biggest film actresses of theIndian Film Industry.[17] Her films:Badi Maa,Zeenat,Gaon Ki Gori (all 1945),Anmol Ghadi (1946),Mirza Sahiban (1947) andJugnu (1947) were the top-grossing films of the years 1945 to 1947.Mirza Sahiban was her last film released in India in which she was paired oppositeTrilok Kapoor, brother ofPrithviraj Kapoor.[21] AlongsideSuraiya, she was the biggest star in the country before Independence.[22]
In 1947, Rizvi and Jehan decided to move to Pakistan, upon theindependence of theBritish Indian Empire, and had resulted inpartition of India.[17] They left Bombay and settled inKarachi with their family.[17]
Three years after settling in Pakistan, Jehan starred in her first Pakistani filmChan Wey (1951), oppositeSantosh Kumar, which was also her first Pakistani film as a heroine and playback singer.Shaukat Hussain Rizvi and Noor Jehan directed this film together, making Jehan Pakistan's first female director.[17] It became the highest-grossing film in Pakistan in 1951. Jehan's second film in Pakistan wasDupatta (1952) which was produced by Aslam Lodhi, directed by Sibtain Fazli and assisted by A. H. Rana as production manager.[17] Dupatta turned out to be an even bigger success thanChan Wey (1951).[17]
During 1953 and 1954, Jehan and Rizvi had problems and got divorced due to personal differences.[17] She kept custody of the three children from their marriage.[17] In 1959, she married another film actor,Ejaz Durrani, nine years her junior.[20] Durrani pressured her to give up acting,[20] and her last film as an actress/singer wasGhalib (1961).[17] This contributed to the strengthening of her iconic stature.[17] She gained another audience for herself.[17] Her rendition ofFaiz Ahmed Faiz's"Mujhse Pehli Si Mohabbat Mere Mehboob Na Maang" is a unique example oftarranum, reciting poetry as a song with music ofRasheed Attre in the Pakistani filmQaidi (1962).[17] Jehan last acted inBaaji in 1963, though not in a leading role.[17]
Jehan bade farewell to film acting in 1963 after a career of 33 years (1930–1963).[17] The pressure of being a mother of six children and the demands of being a wife to another fellow film actor, forced her to give up her career.[17] Jehan made 14 films in Pakistan, ten in Urdu and four in Punjabi as a film actress.[17]
After quitting acting she took up playback singing.[17] She made her debut exclusively as a playback singer in 1960 with the filmSalma.[17] Her first initial playback singing for a Pakistani film was for the 1951 filmChann Wey, for which she was the film director herself.[17] She received many awards, including thePride of Performance in 1965 by the Pakistani Government.[17] She sang a large number of duets withAhmed Rushdi,Mehdi Hassan,Masood Rana,Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan andMujeeb Aalam.[17]
She had an understanding and friendship with many singers of Asia, for example withAlam Lohar and many more.[17] Jehan made great efforts to attend the "Mehfils" (live concerts) of Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, UstadFateh Ali Khan, UstadNusrat Fateh Ali Khan andRoshan Ara Begum.[17]Lata Mangeshkar commented on Jehan's vocal range, that Jehan could sing as low and as high as she wanted, and that the quality of her voice always remained the same.[17] Singing was, for Jehan, not effortless but an emotionally and physically draining exercise.[24] In the 1990s, Jehan also sang for then débutante actressesNeeli andReema.[17] For this very reason,Sabiha Khanum affectionately called herSadabahar (evergreen). Her popularity was further boosted with her patriotic songs during the 1965 war between Pakistan and India.[17]
In 1971 Madam Noor Jehan visited Tokyo for the World Song Festival as a representative from Pakistan.[17]
Jehan visited India in 1982 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Indian talkie movies, where she met Indian Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi in New Delhi and was received byDilip Kumar andLata Mangeshkar inBombay.[17] She met all her erstwhile heroes and costars, including Surendra, Pran, Suraiya, composer Naushad and others.[17] The website Women on Record stated: "Noor Jehan injected a degree of passion into her singing unmatched by anyone else. But she left for Pakistan".[24]
In 1991,Vanessa Redgrave invited her to perform at a fundraising event to benefit the children of the Middle East held atRoyal Albert HallLondon.[25]Lionel Richie,Bob Geldof,Madonna,Boy George, andDuran Duran were some of the performers at the star-studded event which was attended, amongst many others, by thespianJohn Gielgud, Nobel Prize-winning playwrightHarold Pinter, and Oscar-winning actressDame Peggy Ashcroft.[25] She has also sung "Saiyan Saadey Naal", a song of well-known Pakistani folk singer, songwriter and composerAkram Rahi [pa] for the filmDam Mast Kalander/Aalmi Gunday.
In 1941, Noor Jehan marriedShaukat Hussain Rizvi ofAzamgarh,Uttar Pradesh, India.[26] In 1947, Shaukat Rizvi decided to migrate to Pakistan, and Noor Jehan moved too, ending her career in India.[26] She next visited India only in 1982.[26] Her marriage to Rizvi ended in 1953 with a divorce; the couple had three children, including their singer daughterZil-e-Huma.[27]
Noor Jehan was also in a relationship with cricketerNazar Mohammad.[28] She marriedEjaz Durrani in 1959.[29] The second marriage also produced three children but also ended in divorce in 1971.[30] She also had affair with actorYousuf Khan.[31]
Jehan suffered from chest pains in 1986 on a tour of North America and was diagnosed withangina pectoris, after which she underwent bypass surgery.[32] According to her daughter, Shazia Hassan, she was suffering from chronic kidney disease in her last years and was on dialysis.[33] In 2000, Jehan was hospitalised atAga Khan University Hospital,Karachi, and suffered a heart attack.[32] On 23 December 2000 (night of 27 Ramadan), Jehan died as a result of heart failure.[32] Her funeral took place at Jamia Masjid Sultan, Karachi and was attended by over 400,000 people.[34] She was buried at theGizri Graveyard [d] in Karachi.[32] She was given astate funeral by President of PakistanPervez Musharraf. He ordered her funeral be taken toLahore fromKarachi, but her daughters insisted on burying her in Karachi on the night she died.[32] In the wake of her death, a famous Indian writer and poet,Javed Akhtar, in an interview in Mumbai, said that "In the worst conditions of our relations with Pakistan in 53 years, in a very hostile atmosphere, our cultural heritage has been a common bridge.[32] Noor Jehan was one such durable bridge. My fear is that her death may have shaken it."[35]
Noor Jehan received more than 15Nigar Awards for Best Female Playback Singer, eight for Best Urdu Singer Female and the rest for Punjabi Playback. She has also received theMillennium Singer Award in Pakistan.[36]
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Pind Di Kudi[57] | as Child artist |
| 1935 | Sheela | |
| 1936 | Misr Ka Sitara[57] | as Child artist |
| 1937 | Heer-Sayyal[57] | as Child artist |
| 1939 | Gul Bakawli | |
| 1939 | Imandaar | |
| 1939 | Pyam-e-Haq | |
| 1936 | Gul-e-Bakawali[57] | as Child artist |
| 1940 | Sajani | |
| 1940 | Yamla Jat | |
| 1941 | Chaudhry | |
| 1941 | Red Signal | |
| 1941 | Umeed | |
| 1941 | Susral | |
| 1942 | Chandani | |
| 1942 | Dheeraj | |
| 1942 | Faryad | |
| 1942 | Khandan | Shot in Lahore.[57] Second Highest Grossing Indian Film of 1942 |
| 1943 | Naadaan | |
| 1943 | Duhai | |
| 1943 | Naukar | Fifth Highest Grossing Indian Film of 1943 |
| 1944 | Lal Haveli | |
| 1944 | Dost | |
| 1945 | Zeenat | Highest Grossing Indian Film of 1945 |
| 1945 | Gaon Ki Gori | Second Highest Indian Grossing Film of 1945 |
| 1945 | Badi Maa | Third Highest Grossing Indian Film of 1945 |
| 1945 | Bhai Jaan | |
| 1946 | Anmol Ghadi | Highest Grossing Indian Film of 1946 (withSurendra (actor)) |
| 1946 | Dil | |
| 1946 | Humjoli | |
| 1946 | Sofia | |
| 1946 | Maharana Pratap | |
| 1947 | Mirza Sahibaan | Fourth Highest Grossing Indian Film of 1947 |
| 1947 | Jugnu | Highest Grossing Indian Film of 1947 (withDilip Kumar) |
| 1947 | Abida | |
| 1947 | Mirabai | |
| 1951 | Chanway | First Film inPakistan, Biggest Hit of 1951 |
| 1952 | Dopatta | Biggest Hit of 1952 inPakistan |
| 1953 | Gulnar | |
| 1955 | Patey Khan | |
| 1956 | Lakt-e-Jigar | (released 17 February 1956) |
| 1956 | Intezaar | (released 12 May 1956) |
| 1957 | Nooran | (released 30 May 1957) |
| 1958 | Choo mantar | |
| 1958 | Anarkali | (released 6 June 1958) |
| 1959 | Neend | (released 16 October 1959) |
| 1959 | Pardaisan | |
| 1959 | Koel | (released 24 December 1959) |
| 1961 | Ghalib | (released 24 November 1961) |
| 1963 | Baaji | (released 3 May 1963) |
| 1994 | Danda Peer | |
| 1996 | Dam Mast Kalander/Aalmi Gunday | (released 27 September 1996) |
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
