Noor Jehan

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Noor Jehan
Noor Jehan in the film Anarkali (1958)
Background information
Birth name	Allah Wasai
Born	September 21, 1926(1926-09-21)
Origin	Kot Murad Khan, Kasur, Punjab, Pakistan
Died	December 23, 2000 (aged 74); Karachi, Sind, Pakistan
Genre(s)	Qawwali, Indian music, Pakistani music
Occupation(s)	film director, film actress, singer, music composer
Years active	1930–1996

Noor Jehan (Urdu: نور جہاں) was a stage name for Allah Wasai (b. September 21, 1926 – December 23, 2000) who was a famous Punjabi and Urdu singer and actress. She is revered in Pakistan by her title Mallika-e-Tarranum (Queen of Melody) (Urdu: ملکہ ترنم) and is considered to be one of the greatest singers to have come from the Indian subcontinent. Noor Jehan has sung around 10,000 songs in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Sindhi films in both India and Pakistan.^[1] Her granddaughter Sonya Jehan is also an actress currently working in Bollywood.

Contents 1 Life 1.1 Early life and career 1.2 1935–1941 1.3 1942–1947 1.4 1947–1963 1.5 1960–1996 1.6 Last years and death 2 Personal life 2.1 Descendants 3 Trivia 4 Quotes 5 Filmography 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Life

[edit] Early life and career

Named Allah Wasai, she was born on 21 September 1926 in Kasur, Punjab,^[2] to professional musicians Madad Ali and Fateh Bibi. Allah Wasai had ten siblings, five brothers Nawab Din, Gul Muhammad, Muhammad Hussain, Muhammad Shafi and Inayat Hussain and five sisters Eidan Bai, Haider Bandi, Gulzar Begum, Meena Begum and Undam Begum.^[1] The family would usually perform at theatres though only Eidan Bai and Haider Bandi, the eldest sisters would pursue acting as a career.

Eidan and Haider were acting successfully at a rural theatre company in Lahore known as the Taka Theatre.^[3] It was then that Allah Wasai started signing. She was about five to six years old and could mimic just about anything to perfection, be it a folk song or a popular number from a theatrical drama. Realising her potential for signing, her mother sent her to receive early training in classical singing under Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan who also hailed from Kasur. He instructed her in the traditions of the Patiala Gharana of Hindustani classical music and voice production within the framework of classical forms of thumri, dhrupad, and khayal.^[4] Aged nine, she was first noticed for her singing abilities in 1935 by the famous Punjabi musician Ghulam Ahmed Chisti^[5] who later introduced her to stage in Lahore. He composed some ghazals, naats and some folksongs for her and she would sing them but her interests lay deep in the world of acting and playback singing. After he vocational training had ended, she pursued a career in singing at a tender age in Lahore alongside her sisters. She would took part in the Live Song and Dance event, a live singing performance that took place in film theatres preceding the actual film's screening.

The family proceeded on to Calcutta in hopes the sisters would break into films. During their stay in Calcutta, Mukhtar Begum, a 1930s singing star, encouraged the three to join film companies and even recommended them to various producers. She also recommended them to her husband, Urdu drama writer, Agha Hashar Kashmiri's Maidan Theatre, where Allah Wasai received the stage name Baby Noor Jehan. In later life, Noor Jehan adopted Mukhtar Begum's style of performance and sari attire. The sisters were offered permanent jobs with one of the Seth Sukh Karnani Companies, Indira Movietone. Their popularity grew as they became known as the Punjab Mail.^[1]

[edit] 1935–1941

At this time, director K.D. Mehra, was in the process of making a Punjabi film, and persuaded his producer to cast the three in Pind Di Kudhi (1935). She next acted in a film called Missar Ka Sitara (1936) by the same company and sang in it for music composer, Damodar Sharma. Baby Noor Jehan also played the child role of Heer in the film Heer-Sayyal (1937). After a few years in Calcutta, Noor Jehan returned to Lahore in 1938. There, it was Master Ghulam Haider who realised her immense talent as a singer and composed songs that made her famous overnight. Baby Noor Jehan hit the nationwide with Gul Bakavli (1939) for renowned Bombay producer, Dalsukh M. Pancholi, where she recorded her first song, Shala Jawaniyan Mane.

[edit] 1942–1947

Noor Jehan was first cast as a heroine in the Urdu film Khandaan (1942) opposite Pran (who later became one of India's most popular villains) as the hero. The film was also a debut for director, Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. Pancholi had recently involved Rizvi in the editing of Gul Bakavli (1939), Yamla Jat (1940), and Chaudhry (1941). The songs of Khandaan (1942), composed by Ghulam Haider, became instant hits and established her as one of the four leading singers of films in India (the other three being Kanan Devi, Shanta Apte and Khursheed)

Khandaan's success saw her shifting to Bombay, where she shared melodies with the singing star Shanta Apte in Duhai (1943). After that, there was hit after hit with songs from Naukar (1943), Nadan (1943), Dost (1944) and Lal Haveli (1944). By now her popularity outsripped all others. She was the darling of masses, recognized and adored both for her singing and acting. After taking the leading role in Nadan (1943), she was presented with second lead in Naukar (1943), while Shobhana Samarth took the lead opposite Chandramohan. Dost (1944), directed by Rizvi, had the extremely gifted Motilal as the leading man opposite Noor Jehan with Rizvi playing her brother. It was in this film that Noor Jehan lent her voice for the second time, to another actress named Husn Bano. It was in Lal Haveli (1944) that Noor Jehan starred opposite singing star Surendra. Lal Haveli was also noted for the fact that Meena Kumari then a child star, played Noor Jehan's role as a child.

The year 1945 was a turning point for Noor Jehan. In Master Vinayak's Badi Maa (1945), she played lead with "Baby Lata Mangeshkar" and "Baby Asha Mangeshkar" in supporting roles. During breaks in shooting, she would ask the then unknown Lata to join in, in impromptu singing sessions. Once at leisure, after having Lata sing a song she had immortalised, Mere Liya Jahan Me, from Khandaan (1942), Noor Jehan said to Master Vinayak, the director of the film, Meri baat note kar leejiye. Iss ki yeh alag tarike ki aawaz ek din poori duniya se apna loha manvaayegi. Noor Jehan's influence on the early songs of Lata are still discernible. Lata has always respected Noor Jehan and considers her one of her favourite singers. In fact, Lata (Noor Jehan's dearest "Latto")'s early singing was inspired by Noor Jehan, though the latter's weighty vocals were a far cry from Lata's sweeter and lighter voice. The year 1945 also brought Noor Jehan her first superhit in Bombay, Zeenat (1945). It was her inimitable rendition of the music that gained her the title Mallika-e-Tarranum or Queen of Melody. She dethroned reigning singing star Khursheed and rendered the obsolete nautch girl style of Zohrabai Ambalewali and Amirbai Karnataki. She also achieved another milestone, when she sung a Qawwali with Zohrabai Ambalewali and Amirbai Karnataki which was "Aahen Na Bhareen Shikave Na Kiye" - the first ever Qawwali recorded in female voices in subcontinent films.

In 1946, Noor Jehan acted in the enduring classic Anmol Ghadi (1946). The title was a fitting description of the magical moments in this film with superhit songs composed by Naushad making her the undisputed queen of films if there was any doubt left about her being a diva. Composers and lyricists vied to have their creations rendered by Noor Jehan. In the film Anmol Ghadi (1946), she played a poetess named Lata (going by the name Renu) caught in a love triangle, featuring the other two singing stars of the era, Surendra and Suraiya. So popular was the film that Noor Jehan's other three films released that year, Dil (1946), Humjoli (1946), and Sofia (1946) were pale in comparison. In Jugnu (1947), she starred with the then rising star Dilip Kumar. The music of the film catapulted the then struggling Mohammed Rafi. Noor Jehan had very few duets as her voice did not require the support and enhancement of others. Her effortless emotive capabilities and fluid grasp over the substance and essence of the lyrics is amazing, even to this day. Noor Jehan's last film in India was Mirza Sahibaan (1947) which starred Prithviraj Kapoor's brother Trilok Kapoor opposite Noor Jehan and the film brought some of her last musical hits.

Noor Jehan sang 127 songs in Indian films and the number of talking films she made from 1932 to 1947 was 69. The number of silents was 12. Fifty-five of her films were made in Bombay, eight in Calcutta, five in Lahore and one in Rangoon, Burma.

[edit] 1947–1963

The Partition of India was the partition of the film industry. During the partition in 1947, Noor Jehan decided to migrate to Lahore in newly created Pakistan, despite Bombay being the real centre of show business. What was then the heartbeat of India was that Noor Jehan became Pakistani. This must have been a momentous decision for her. She was undoubtedly at the height of her career both as an actress and a singer and she did not foresee any competition of any kind in the near future. The reason she opted to go to Pakistan was because she loved her hometown, Kasur, and wanted to be in the country of her hometown. Dilip Kumar told her to stay in India but she said to him Jahan paida hui thi wahan hi jaoon gi (I will go back to the place I was born). Her husband, Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, did not hail from that part of the subcontinent. He was from Uttar Pradesh and there was no compulsion to shift to Pakistan. Movement in the opposite direction was led by Dalsukh Pancholi who had to abandon his beloved Lahore and move to Bombay. Noor Jehan was not a struggling artiste who found her rise to the top blocked by popular stars. She had found her place at the top. She needn't have come to Pakistan. She could have stayed in India and enjoyed her reign at the top. Yet she opted to come to Pakistan along with her husband. This can only be attributed to her commitment to the new country.

So, Noor Jehan and her family left Bombay and settled in Karachi. There, Rizvi purchased a house in Garden East. Rizvi decided to change his profession and was interested in buying what later became the Hyeson's factory, a manufacturer of light bulbs. Noor Jehan, however, insisted that he should only follow the line of work of which he had experience and for which he was qualified. So, they moved to Lahore. There, Rizvi bought the abandoned Shorey Studios and converted it into Shahnoor Studios.

Three years after settling in Pakistan, Noor Jehan starred in her first film in Pakistan, Chanwey (1951), opposite Santosh Kumar, which was also her first Punjabi film as a heroine. Shaukat and Noor Jehan directed this film together making Noor Jehan Pakistan's first female director. The film was a runaway hit. Most of the songs rendered by Noor Jehan and composed by Feroze Nizami became instant hits, not only in Pakistan but also in India. The film itself ran to packed houses in major cities in East Punjab, proving that Noor Jehan was still loved by millions of cinegoers and listeners of film music on both sides of the border. Indeed, the three year gap in her career did not make a dent whatsoever in her popularity. Noor Jehan's second film in Pakistan was Dopatta (1952) which turned out to be an even bigger success than Chanwey (1951). Such was the popularity of musical score that no song based programme on Radio Pakistan, All India Radio or the newly introduced Hindi Service of Radio Ceylon, seemed complete without 1 or 2 of the film's numbers. In 1953 another Rizvi produced film, Gulnar (1953), directed by Imtiaz Ali Taj, though a well made film, proved to be grosser at the box office. However, its songs, penned by Qateel Shifai and composed by Ghulam Haider were highly appreciated by music connoisseurs.

After a years break, Noor Jehan returned with another Punjabi film, Patey Khan (1955) opposite Aslam Pervez, which was another hit. Composer Akhtar Hussain scored some of his finest compositions of his career, all faultlessly rendered by Noor Jehan. In fact, Indian music director O.P. Nayyar was so moved when he heard "Kali Kali Jaan Dukh" that it brought tears to his eyes and he insisted on hearing it again and again. Two films released in 1956 with Santosh in the main lead. One was Lakht-e-Jigar (1956). The film faired below average at the box office but the film's music is considered to be the best of composer G.A. Chisti's long and illustrious career. Composing for a Noor Jehan starrer for the first time, Chisti nonetheless managed to come up with one of the most captivating tunes he ever scored. Noor Jehan immortalised Chisti's compositions. The second Noor Jehan starrer of 1956, was undoubtedly one of the most significant musicals in the Pakistani film industry. Directed by Masud Pervez, Intezar (1956), had music composed by Khwaja Khurshid Anwar who made his first release in this film after he came to Pakistan in the early 1950s. This film was also the first time Noor Jehan worked with the musical giant and what a combination that was to be. Almost every song he composed for her and she rendered became a rage. Lata Mangeshkar, while recording an interview for the Urdu Service of All India Radio in the 1970s, referred to Intezar (1956), as one of her favourite Pakistani musical hits. Small wonder then that Noor Jehan was given the first President's Award in 1957 for best actress and best singer.

Compared to 1956, the following year was much less eventful. The one release was Nooran (1957), another Punjabi film, with Sudhir playing the main lead. Though the film had some enchanting numbers, the film failed to click at the box office. The year 1958, brought Noor Jehan two superhits. The first was a Punjabi film, Choomantar (1958), with Aslam Pervez as the leading man, that had excellent songs rendered by Noor Jehan under the direction of Rafiq Ali. The next release was Anwar Kamal Pasha's Anarkali (1958) in which Noor Jehan played the title role opposite Sudhir who played Prince Salim. Despite the miscasting for both central roles, the film went on to be a jubilee hit solely on the popularity of Noor Jehan's songs composed by two music composers. Master Inayat Hussain, the original composer of the film, opted out of the film as the result disagreement with the director after the recording of just three songs. The task of composing the rest of the film's music was handed to Rashid Attre who composed some of the most memorable hits.

Her last films after 1958 were the musical hit Koel (1959), Pardaisan (1959), Neend (1959), Mirza Ghalib (1961), and Baaji (1963). In Koel (1959), a memorable hit is Mehaki Fizaayen (lyrics: Tanvir Naqvi). She struck new working relationships with Master Akhtar Hussain and Ustad Nazar Hussain, among others. Some of her most challenging and beautiful songs of her career as an actress/singer belong to the 1950s. In Neend (1959), she worked with music composer Rashid Attre for the second time. Songs like Tere dar par sanam chalay aai, demonstrate how her voice had matured. Her daily riyaz and complete dedication to the music shone through. Her penultimate film as an actress/singer was Mirza Ghalib (1961). In this she sang the ghazals of Ghalib, the greatest Urdu poet. This proved to be a bridge between her past and her future. She had developed a love for poetry and now started recording works of leading Urdu poets, classical and contemporary. This contributed to the strengthening of her iconic stature. She gained another audience for herself. Her rendition of Faiz Ahmed Faiz's Mujshe pehli si mohabbat mere mehboob na maang is a unique example of tarranum, reciting poetry as a song. Noor Jehan last starred in Baaji in 1963, though not in a leading role. She was shown sitting and enjoying the dance in the song - Sajan Laagi Tori Lagan Man Maa, sung by Farida Khanum. She was still looking her usual gorgeus youthful self. Noor Jehan bade farewell to acting in 1963 after a career of 33 years (1930 to 1963). The pressure of being a mother of six children and the demanding wife of a hero (Ejaz Durrani) forced her to give up her career. Noor Jehan made 14 films in Pakistan, ten in Urdu, four in Punjabi.

[edit] 1960–1996

After she quit acting she took up playback singing. She made her debut as a playback singer in 1960 with the film Salma. Her first initial playback for a Pakistani film was for Jan-e-Bahar (1958), in which she sung the song Kaisa Naseeb Layi Thi, picturised on Musarrat Nazir. She was soon the most famous playback singer through the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. She also made albums and even though she wasn't acting, she was still a hit. She received many awards, including with the highest Pakistani honour in entertainment, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (The Pride of Performance) in 1966, Pakistan's top civil award and countless cultural awards.

In the 1960s, she sang for heroines such as Sabiha Khanum (Mauseeqar (1962), Daman (1963) and Pak Daman (1969). Long after Sabiha retired, Madam Noor Jehan as still singing for debutante heroines such as Neeli and Reema until the 1990s. For this very reason, Sabiha affectionately called her Sadabahar (evergreen). During the 1960s, Noor Jehan's voice was seen evolving. It sounded mature and matched well with the sober performances of heroines such as Shamim Ara. Year after year, they stood side by side on stage. Winning smiles on their faces, shining Nigar Awards in their hands. 1966 - Aaj Ka Darya, 1967 - Lakhon Me Ek, 1969 - Salgirah, Shamim Ara - best actress, Madam Noor Jehan - best singer.

In the 1970s, she sang for Shabnum in Dosti (1971), and the film is still remembered today for Noor Jehan's memorable songs echoing in the picturesque Kaghan Valley. Dosti was followed by Rani's Anjuman (1970), Umrao Jaan Ada (1972) and Naag Mani (1972). This was the time when Noor Jehan gained weight and her voice started showing signs of fatigue, due to overuse in Punjabi songs, which had to be sung in a higher pitch. Composers like Nisar Bazmi started looking for younger voices such as Runa Laila and later, Naheed Akhtar. Yet, only Noor Jehan could bring to life the agony of a dancing Rani in Umrao Jaan Ada - dressed in black and dancing to set herself free of the binding chains of her ankle-bells in Jo Bacha Tha, Woh Lutane Ke Liye.

In the 1980s, the production of Urdu films declined. Noor Jehan's rejuvenated vocals made all the dancing mutyars of Punjabi cinema, dance their hearts out to her tunes from Anjuman (Sher Khan (1981)), to Neeli (Kale Chor (1991)) to Saima (Sakhi Badshah (1996)). Not even the impish Babra Sharif was to be left out (Mukhra (1988)). Rasheed Attre composed the tune of her ever-famous Gayegi Duniya, Geet Mere for Mauseeqar (1962)'s village singer Sabiha. Rasheed's son, Wajahat Attre, composed fast-paced Punjabi songs for her all through the 1980s and 1990s. She sang them in equal panache.

Her popularity was further boosted with her patriotic songs during the 1965 war between Pakistan and India. She talked once about the stirring songs with Khalid Hasan. "Let me tell you about those days. No one asked me to sing. I myself phoned Radio Pakistan one morning and said I wanted to come and sing. They did not believe it, just kept asking, 'Is that Madam Noor Jehan?'. They thought it was some kind of hoax. Finally, I said 'You think I am joking with all these bombs falling, these shells exploding? I first had to get a pass to get out of the house because there was a curfew in the city. When I arrived, they were happy and surprised. 'It is really you', they kept saying. 'Well, you can see for yourself', I said. There were no musicians around but I said it did not matter. I had taken four of my own, one of them Mubarak who played the santoor. I set the lyrics to music myself. Merya dhol sipahaya, Mera sohna shehr Kasur ni and Aai puttar hattan te nahin vikday are all my own compositions. It took me literally minutes to compose the tune for Aai puttar. I was accompanied on the tabla by Sabir and the sarangi was played by Nizam sahib. The recording was done by Azam sahib and there was, of course, Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum who wrote the words. I used to load her musicians into my car and off we would go to the Mall where the recordings were done. Once, as my car moved into the studio, a shell fell, killing the sentry that had just waved us in. It could have been me. I had three little girls at the time. They were all ill and there was nobody to take care of them. Hina, the eldest, took care of the younger ones even though she was a child herself. I used to cook for them at five in the morning and then be on my way. When the siren sounded, I would push them into the trench we had dug. My musicians used to tell me to get into the trench when our session was on and the siren sounded. I would tell them 'If we have to go, let it be in front of the microphone, singing. Think of the boys who are out there fighting'. When I sang Merya dhol sipahaya, it was not pre-recorded. I sang it straight into the microphone and it went live because the tape recorder was not working. It was a very poignant moment for me and I cried a lot. Then I sang. Hassan Latif, who was like a brother to me, helped me in those days. He said to me 'You have done something beautiful'. He gave me a lot of encouragement. He said I was like Umme Kulsum. I never forgot his words for they made a deep impression on me."

The diva revisited India in 1982 to attend a function celebrating the golden jubilee of the Indian talkie. It was the first time she had visited India since the Partition. The Mallika-e-Tarranum, enthralled her fans on this side of the border with her evergreen voice. She was granted an audience by the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at New Delhi's magnificent Rashtrapati Bhawan and was received by Dilip Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar in Bombay. They had kept in touch through meetings at the Wagah Border (1951), London and New York. She performed live on stage for the show Mortal Men, Immortal Melodies on February 11 of that year. As she sang Anmol Ghadi (1946)'s Awaz De Kahan Hai, all grievances were forgotten and the performer and her audience wept together. Noor Jehan-ji, aap jitney baras hum se door rahi hain, theek utne hi baras humne aap ka intezar kiya hain (All these years that you were away, we have waited for you, counting each year as it passed by), remarked Dilip Kumar. That night, she achieved what no ambassador had ever achieved before. She returned home to give glittering performances for PTV's musical Tarranum.

[edit] Last years and death

In 1986, on a tour of North America, her mild chestpains recurred with severity. Her doctors diagnosed angina and an immediate operation was advised. The surgeons successfully installed a pacemaker and Noor Jehan returned to Lahore. Her facelifts in London were perhaps already known and perhaps also a minor surgical manipulation of her "singer's nodules" which are known to occur with voice overuse.

In 1996, Noor Jehan recorded her last song in Pakistan which was "Ki Dam Da Bharosa?" for the film Sakhi Badshah (1996) and stopped singing due to failing health. Noor Jehan stayed away from the limelight for four years and during which she received treatment at various hospitals. Admirers carried fragrant bouquets and well-wishers sent get-well-soon wishes. Dilip Kumar visited from Bombay and General Musharraf from Islamabad. But none could stop her ailing heart from its downslide.

Noor Jehan's last days were painful. She had a close call with death and said that God had spared her life so that while she was alive, she could divide her property among her children because if she had not, after she was gone, there would be disputes and that would make her very unhappy. She was not to be disappointed. Her large home in the Liberty Chowk of Lahore's Gulberg Town which she had been smart enough to get declared commercial property by the Corporation was sold for Rs. 20 crore. She gave each of her six children Akbar, Asghar, Zile Huma, Hina, Mina, Tina Rs. 2.5 crore each. She was truly happy and relieved after she did that.

Noor Jehan had been suffering a terrible protracted illness concerning her ailing heart as well as several other ailments. She was sent to Karachi for treatment, yet she suffered a heart attack. On Saturday afternoon, December 23, 2000, Noor Jehan died from heart failure. She died on the night of Laylat al-Qadr (27th Ramadaan), which is an important night for Muslims. The funeral prayers were offered at Jamia Masjid Sultan, Karachi. She was buried at the Gizri Graveyard near Saudi Consulate in Karachi. In death, Noor Jehan dissociated herself from those she kept her company all her life, and left in the company of taraweeh prayers. When news of her death spread, people could not resist and turned on their televisions in the middle of the holy night's prayers for one last look of that smiling, dimpled face - that magic, charisma, that legend they called Mallika-e-Tarranum Noor Jehan.

Another source describes her death as: Allah Wasai of Kasur died in the arms of her loving daughters in Karachi - the daughters she had brought up as a single parent. Leaving behind millions in gold and cash for her children and thousands of immortal melodies for her fans, she had embarked on her last journey. The falling night of December 23, 2000, was the holiest night of the month of Ramadaan, a night when sins are forgiven and when the doors of heaven are flung wide open. Noor Jehan, who never sang in her life without advance payment, was leaving for the Hereafter with booked promises.

[edit] Personal life

When Shaukat Hussain Rizvi was asked to come to Lahore to direct Khandaan in 1942, Noor Jehan, who with her sisters was in a dance party which performed from town to town, was in Amritsar. He was to choose a heroine for the new movie which was being produced by Dalsukh Pancholi. He recalls that through the help of S.P. Singha, who was vice chancellor of the Punjab University, several girls were sent over for audition but he did not like any of them. He wanted his heroine to look no more than fifteen or sixteen on the screen, which was how old Nur Jehan was at the time. He decided that it was she whom he wanted. She was sent for but he did not tell her that she was going to play the lead. That was when their affair began which ended in marriage against the wishes of her brothers who did not wish to lose her. She was the soul and the main draw of the roving dance party.

One day, during the shooting, Rizvi said to Noor Jehan by way of a joke, “What sort of oil do you use on your hair? It smells awful.” He says the moment the words left his mouth, she burst out crying and just would not stop. “What sort of a woman is this!” he recalled saying to himself. "I should have been warned that she was a very dangerous woman but I was in love. I could not see that.” As a result of this incident, the shooting remained interrupted for five or six days. When it was resumed, he says he came back, fully determined that he would ignore her. However, after some cajoling from the Pancholi clan of nephews that hung around the studio, Rizvi made up with her. The love affair was resumed. One day, old Pancholi sent for him and said, “Look Shaukat, my nephews are your friends and I treat you as one of them. Let me give you some advice. Let this remain a little game between the two of you, no more than that. Don’t let it go too far.” He wrote, “To this day, his words ring in my ears. But I was blinded by love.”

In Rizvi’s words, “She was having this affair with me on the one hand, while carrying on with some others on the side. One day, I ran into a friend on the Mall (in Lahore) who said there was someone looking for me.” He was led to a house off the Mall where he was surprised to meet Noor Jehan. But she was not alone. In her wake came Hassan Amin. It seems they were having a playful pillow fight. “I was taken aback,” wrote Rizvi, “Here was the woman who used to assure me of her love … I asked Hasan Amin what it all meant. He replied that it was Noor Jehan’s idea. She was who wanted him to send for me. The idea was to make me jealous.” Her family, he adds, was in on the little game, although Amin knew that she was having an affair with Rizvi.

Hasan Amin told Khalid Hasan himself that Noor Jehan was his first love. He was a student at Government College, Lahore, when he first saw her, performing with her sisters on the stage. He was smitten. He chased her all the way to Kasur and despite the opposition of her family, Noor Jehan had an affair with him. “She wanted me to marry her, but all I wanted to do in those days was play cricket,” he said wistfully.

But returning to Shaukat Hussain Rizvi’s story, Noor Jehan promised to drop all others and the affair revived. Some time later, she began to come to him with stories of her mistreatment by her family, including beatings by her brothers. Rizvi told her to make a declaration to that effect (before a judge) but she did not do that. Meanwhile, their affair became even more torrid. Khandaan was now near completion. One day when the studio car went to fetch her from Hira Mandi, Lahore’s famous flesh district (where she was obviously staying), there was word waiting that the family had left. Police warrants were issued, Seth Dalsukh Pancholi being a man of influence, and forty members of her family were arrested from Kasur and brought to Lahore. That day the scene to be shot included the actors Ghulam Muhammad, Pran, the hero, and Noor Jehan. Her elder brother tried to make a protest to Rizvi who told him to be on his way. Noor Jehan, once again, began to cry complaining about her treatment by the family. He told her to go before a judge, tell him the truth and declare that she wanted to marry Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. She promised to do so the next day. The police case against her family was also to be heard the next day. Her brother Shafi told the judge that the family was afraid Rizvi would abduct Noor Jehan. When this was put to her by the judge, she said that to her Shaukat Hussain Rizvi was like a “brother”. This, Rizvi wrote, was typical of her, adding that he could narrate not one but “two thousand five hundred” such stories.

Khandaan was released and it was an immediate hit. Shaukat went home to see his parents in U.P. When he returned to Lahore, there were several messages from Noor Jehan waiting. She was in Amritsar with her dance party doing shows at the Rialto Cinema. Rizvi finally relented, travelled to Amritsar with friends and when he met her, she told him the same story. She explained that she had been forced to make the “brother” statement in Lahore because of pressure from her brothers. However, this time, she assured him she was willing to go with him. He told her that he would send for the police which would take her to court where she should make the necessary declaration, but wrote Rizvi, “she again cheated me. The fact was that she did exactly what her brothers told her to do.”

He returned to Lahore and from there he took off for Bombay, where he was assigned by V.M. Vyas to produce the film, Naukar. Noor Jehan had also arrived in Bombay and wanted to be cast in the lead. However, Rizvi refused and, when pressed, agreed to make her the “side heroine”, yet he made it clear to Vyas that he did not wish to speak to her. According to Rizvi, Noor Jehan’s brother Muhammad Shafi came to him, asked for forgiveness, and said “Baby is not herself, please forgive her.” Then he stepped out, brought in Noor Jehan, who was waiting outside and left her there. Noor Jehan told him how cruelly she had been treated. She showed him marks on her body resulting from beatings given to her by her brothers. The two reconciled and they were married. This was in 1943. Their first child, Akbar Hussain Rizvi, was born prematurely on April 14, 1944 at Kuman Mehta Hospital in Bombay. Their second child, Asghar Hussain Rizvi, was born in 1947, during the filming of Jugnu. According to Akbar, The hilarious part of my parents' film in India, Jugnu, 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, but during intercuts, she was in full term pregnancy. Their third and youngest child, Zile Huma, was born in Pakistan.

In 1955, Noor Jehan appeared in the Punjabi film, Patey Khan, and fell in love with the film distributor, M. Naseem. This created a gulf between Noor Jehan and Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, and they were divorced. Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi demanded Shahnoor Studios from Noor Jehan in return for Zile Huma's custody. Madam gladly signed off her property for her daughter. However, her film, Pardaisan, produced by M. Naseem, released in 1959 and failed at the box-office. This led to differences between Noor Jehan and M. Naseem, and they parted.

However, Noor Jehan did not remain single for long. She soon fell in love with struggling actor, Ejaz Durrani. On October 19, 1959, they were married. Their marriage produced three daughters. They were Hina, Mina, and Tina. Noor Jehan glowed with marital bliss and was utterly devoted to Durrani. However, they were divorced on April 28, 1971. They were divorced because of Ejaz's publicized affair with the upcoming actress, Firdaus. A few months later, Ejaz was picked up at Heathrow Airport, England with a cache of narcotics concealed in film cans. When he was tried and sentenced to four years in prison, it was Noor Jehan who came to his help. She paid lawyers' fees and spent a lot of time and money to bail him out. The man who had let her down and left her to raise three daughters, she helped generously in his adversity.

[edit] Descendants

Noor Jehan has a few famous descendants such as her daughter Zile Huma, who is a well-known Pakistani singer and the only of her four daughters to follow in her mother's steps, and her granddaughter Sonya Jehan who is a fast-upcoming actress. She was born to Akbar Hussain Rizvi, Noor Jehan's eldest son and his French wife, Florence. Her birthname was Sonya Rizvi but she was re-christened Sonya Jehan in honour of her grandmother. Noor Jehan's sons now run Shahnoor Studios alongside their half-brothers. Also, Zile Huma's youngest son, Hamza Ali, is an upcoming name in the Pakistani film and music industry. He made his debut in films in 1997 when he appeared in Sala Bigda Jayay. He said "I have seen it all, though it hasn't been long since I've joined showbiz but I have been part of it all my life because of my Naano and my mom". Carrying stardom in his blood, his elder brother, Ahmed Ali Butt, is the lead vocalist in the rock band Entity Paradigm. Also, two of the Pakistan movie industry's younger and highly talented singers, Azra Jehan and Saira Naseem, are Noor Jehan's direct family.

[edit] Trivia

• Noor Jehan is credited in various ways such as, Nur Jehan, Nur Jahan, Madam Noor Jehan, Madam Noor Jahan, Noorjahan, Noorjehan, Nurjehan, and Nurjahan.
• Noor Jehan used to eat pickles by quarters of seers and the interesting thing is that whenever she had a film song to record, she would eat quarter seer of pickle quite ritualistically, wash it down with ice-cool water, then reach over to the microphone. She said her voice was enlivened this way.
• Noor Jehan never liked to step out of her home and never liked parties. She also preferred to avoid hotels and public gatherings. "I want to lead a simple, uncomplicated life", she added. Her eldest daughter, Zile Huma, only got to see the inside of Shahnoor Studios after she was married. Her three daughters from Ejaz Durrani had never done that once, she added with a tinge of pride. Noor Jehan never sang at private functions because she believed this practice to be unprofessional.
• Noor Jehan had a distinct look, her hair parted at the center and was tightly combed back in a braid. She believed in big and bold jewellery and wore double-breasted "kurtas" and "shararas". She brought back conservative dress code with her "dupatta" covering her head putting an end to the carefree heroine of the 1930s. Her trademark, heavy make-up, specifically of the eyes and lips remained hers till the end. Nobody managed to carry off those colorful and gaudy saris like Noor Jehan. Rumor has it that she hardly wore the same clothes twice.
• Noor Jehan always preferred her year of birth to remain a romantic mystery. When interviewer Khalid Hassan first met her in 1967 she told him "People often wonder how old I am. Let me tell you, in terms of experiences of life and men, I have always been 100 years old."
• Noor Jehan is one of Asha Bhosle's most favorite singers.
• Master Ghulam Haider whom she considered to be her "film line" ustad, taught her how to stand in front of a microphone, how to render words such as hai and mohabbat, and how to breathe while singing.
• Noor Jehan was deaf in one ear,
• Noor Jehan sings in Ragi which means she strains her vocal cords, thus rendering voice an artificiality. She is able to change, vary, strain, snap, twist, and swing her vocal cords according to the demand of the song. Noor Jehan's capability to strain her vocal cords wherever and whenever she desires has really made her a unique artist. Even in Alaps (prelude modulation), Taans (stretched key note), Pulteys (turn-over modulation) and Murkis (sudden metrical zig-zag), she is able to produce variety.
• The late Naseer Anwar once told Khalid Hassan a lovely story about Noor Jehan. It happened in the 1930s in the city of Lahore. The devotees of a local Peer had arranged a special evening of devotional music in his honour. Among those who were brought on to perform was a little girl who sang some naats. "Sing us something in Punjabi, little daughter", the Peer said to her. She immediately launched into a Punjabi folk song, one line of which went something like: "may the kite of this land of five rivers touch the skies". As she sung the words in her young and perfectly modulated voice, the Peer went into a trance. Then he rose, put his hand on the girl's head and prophesied, "Go forth, little girl, your kite will one day touch the skies". How Pakistan has regressed as time has past was brought home to Mr. Hassan in the late 1970s when a mullah in Lahore issued fatwa against Noor Jehan, declaring her "outside the pale of Islam for having said that music was a form of worship".
• Noor Jehan was an extraordinary woman who lived her life on her own terms. She went through good times and bad, marriages, divorces, heartbreaks, casual and serious love affairs, fame, fortune, loneliness, and in the last years of her life, unremitting ill health. She bore it all with quiet confidence and much grace. She never felt sorry for herself, never looked for pity. She was accused of being possessive. It is true that she was because she wanted to hold on to what she had acquired through her own efforts. She bore the financial burden of helping her large family through the years. Noor Jehan looked after the financial needs of her large family - and even the family that was not immediate - all her life. Once she said "People often ask me why I don't stop working. Well, how can I? If I don't work, who is going to take care of all these people". However, Noor Jehan was never known to have been religiously inclined. Noor Jehan was as extravagant as could be and created a style of vivacity and flamboyance all her own.
• In a conversation with Naveed Riaz somewhere in the 1980s, she remembered her early years and spoke of them movingly. "I was only fifteen years old when I became a mother (actually seventeen and a half or eighteen). I did not know anything about children. I thought of myself as a child. I really was too young to understand anything". Then she spoke about her mother "After my morning riyaz, a teacher would come and help me learn how to read and write. At times, I found it a bit much and so one day, I declared that I was not going to study anymore. That was the only time my mother hit me. She struck me just once and said Nahin Nooriji, tussi parho gai. Now that I think about it, had it not been for her, I would not have learnt to read and write. When I record a song, I have the words in front of me on a sheet of paper. And by God, every time I look at sheet of paper, I remember my mother. I feel like raising my hands in prayer to God and asking Him to shower His blessings on my dear mother. You know, so much time has passed, but I can still feel the thrill of riding on my father's shoulder as he walked through the street. There I am, perched high, looking down on people and shops. Oh, I remember those days!"
• On another website, legendary music composer Naushad remembered Noor Jehan and spoke about her:

"I don't remember exactly when I first met Noor Jehan. It was much before the Partition of course, when she was singing in India. She was working in Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi (1946) along with Surendra Nath and Suraiya. That was when I was first introduced to her. I was recording the song, Jawan Hai Mohabbat, set in Raga Pahadi. I was just told the story, the situation of the film and asked to record the song on the lyrics given to me. The recording was in Tardeo at National Studios, which is the air-conditioned market now. She liked the tune very much when I first played it for her. She even complimented me in front of Mehboobsaab. This was good for me because when I started giving music in films, she was already a big name. Her words carried weight and that helped me a lot. She sang for a lot of films for me and she gave me a lot of respect whenever she would sing Aawaz De Kahan Hai in every concert she had. Her first film was Khandaan, in which she also acted. Her husband, Shaukat Hussain Rizvi also made many films for her. She acted with Dilip Kumar in Jugnu too. She was a very warm and friendly person. At the same time, she was a very mischievous person also. In fact, while recording Aawaz De Kahan Hai, we had only one microphone. So she would stand on one side, and Surendra Nath stood on the other. Surendra Nath was a very timid man. A thorough gentleman and he could not take Noor Jehan's mischief in stride. What she would do is sing her lines and instead of turning away, she would stare right into Surendra Nath's face, making him nervous! He could stand it no longer, so he came to me and requested me to ask her to turn away once she finished singing her lines. She laughed and then did what I asked her to do. She had a certain innocence when she played such pranks on her colleagues, but they didn't mind it because they liked her very much. She missed her Bombay friends a lot. Recently, when we were both in America, she called me up and cried that she misses her old house in Chowpatty and her friends there. She always kept in touch even though she went to Pakistan. For an artiste, there are no boundaries. So even if she was in Pakistan, she was always remembered here as she remembered us."

• Noor Jehan and Lata Mangeshkar were very good friends from the time they first met on the sets of Badi Maa (1945). At that time, Lata was an upcoming singer and a fan of Noor Jehan's. Noor Jehan commented her and praised her. She said:

Log kahate hain ki Lataji tumhe itna manti hain, Lataji tumhe Ustad samajhti hain, tumhe pyaar karti hain. Yeh sab main samajhti hoon unka badapan hain kyon ki Lata to Lata hain. Lataji ki tarah meri nazar mein to koi aaj tak paida nahin hua, Lataji ko Allah ne awaz di hain, ilm unhe unke Wallid sahab se mila, khuda ki taraf se unpar karam hain. (People say (to me) that Lataji believes in you so much, Lataji considers you to be her mentor, she loves you. All this I understand, it is their elevation (of appreciation) because Lata is Lata. Nobody in the likeness of Lata, in my eyes, has been born to this day. Allah has given Lataji her voice, she received her knowledge from her father. She has been bestowed on by God).

• In an old edition of the Filmfare magazine, Dalsukh M. Pancholi wrote an article about how he discovered Noor Jehan:

One morning, a ten-year-old girl was standing at the entrance of my studio, and on seeing her, while getting out of my car, she began to sing. Her singing lacked polish and her movements were clumsy but her voice had a rare charm, and it held my attention. It took her in and cast her in my three films - Gul Bakavli (1939), Yamla Jat (1941) and Khandaan (1942). The girl was Noor Jehan who became famous as a singing star and was known as the Nightingale of Punjab.

• Noor Jehan's elder sister Eidan Bai was a famous stage singer, dancer, and actress in her days. She had a melodious voice and great acting skills. Eidan Bai was starring in the Urdu stage drama, Mallika, written by Tanvir Naqvi. Eidan Bai fell in love with Tanvir Naqvi, and their marriage took place in Lahore in 1948, two years after Naqvi's debut as a lyricist in Anmol Ghadi (1946). Their marriage lasted for 15 years and finally ended in a divorce in 1963.
• Noor Jehan's upbringing, unfortunately, did not give her the same refinement that Lata had. The former was akin to having petty disputes (mostly professional), and while at it, also using foul language! Her insecurities led her to some very awkward situations, like at the time of the shooting of the pre-partition hit, Anmol Ghadi (1946), with co-star, Suraiya. Both stars were getting ready for the shooting of a song, in which Suraiya's clothes were slightly more beautiful than Noor Jehan's. Before the song could be shot, the latter could not control her anger and took a pair of scissors and made shreds of the dress. Such was her insecurity.
• Noor Jehan's forte was film music, but her strong classical music foundations gave her the liberty to sing the most difficult ghazals, both for film and non-film albums. A Pakistani poet has not tasted the sweetness of success if Noor Jehan has not obliged him by singing his work. Qateel Shifai, Ahmed Faraz, and Nasir Kazmi all have been immortalised courtesy of their works which Noor Jehan has sung. Faiz Ahmed Faiz, a giant in his own right, went so far as to gift his famous poem, Mujhse pehli si mohabbat to her, upon hearing her rendition. In fact, most film pandits go so far as to refer to it as the greatest Urdu song ever sung. Quite a title, once you understand what that implies, for hundreds of Urdu poets have had their works sung by an equal number of singers, but the credit goes to none other than Noor Jehan.
• Noor Jehan and Lata Mangeshkar are both legends, albeit being separated by borders. Where the latter made no show of this fact, the former was quite the contrary. Noor Jehan knew quite well that she was an icon and an institution, and never made the effort to hide this. In an interview telecast on National TV, she was bold enough to say "I would leave my husband, but not my music". This sweeping statement reflected not only her audacity, but her passion as well.
• When Noor Jehan was very young, she accompanied her elder sisters, Eidan Bai and Haider Baandi, in an Urdu song extolling the Holy Prophet of Islam, which became a hit. Its opening line was: Hanste hain sitaare, ya Shah-e-Madina and it was composed by G.A. Chisti. The director of the Punjabi film Pind Di Kudhi (1935), K.D. Mehra remember the popularity of the devotional song in Punjab some years earlier, and he put it in his movie although it being in Urdu, it was a bit of a misfit in a Punjabi movie.
• Soon after Noor Jehan's first heart operation, when she returned to Lahore and began to sing again, she said This voice is God's voice and I have preserved it with His grace. In 1992, she told Khalid Hasan, When I stand before the microphone, it is not just me standing there. Behind me, I can feel the presence of my parents. I know they are there. It is a miracle. When I go out, there on stage during a performance, the voice that you hear is not my speaking voice. Believe me, I do not know where it comes from. It His gift which He has graciously place in my care. It is His, not mine.
• Noor Jehan recorded her last song for the movie Insaaf Ho To Aisa (1998), titled "Ladki Phansaali Tune" despite her deteriorating health problems.
• Zile Huma, Noor Jehan's daughter and Ahmed Ali Butt, Noor Jehan's grandson are both singers in their own right but both differ greatly from the maestro whose genes they inherited. It took Huma quite a long time to convince her mother to allow her to sing at private functions (something that Noor Jehan strongly condemned and never indulged in personally), but when she got permission, her mother arranged a top-of-the-line orchestra to accompany her daughter. But Ahmed had a tougher time in getting his grandmother to accept the heavy metal music he loved. "She wouldn't even let me touch my guitar when she was in the house", Ahmed says.
• In Madam Noor Jehan's last interview, she made the observation, "Life is a lie, Death is the truth".
• In an interview, Pran, the famous character actor of Bollywood, talked about his first Urdu film, Khandaan (1942) in which he played the male lead opposite the then upcoming singer/actress, Noor Jehan. He said At that time Noor Jehan was still a growing girl and she was so short. They used to give her bricks to stand on. Even then, she was still a little bit shorter than me.
• Noor Jehan never sang to record a larger number of songs to her name, but for the sheer pleasure of singing. While an actress, it was easier to strike a hit because she new the mood of her songs which also gave a whole new touch to her marvellous talent. For example, in her song Kisi Tarha Mohabbat Main Chain Pa Na Sake..., the way she sang the last words - Pa Na Sake... was simply unmatched. This exceptional style is still known as the Noor Jehan touch.
• When Noor Jehan first suffered a heart ailment, Khalid Hasan said "But of course it had to be the heart, considering how many claimants it has had and how often it fluttered for those on whom she has chosen to smile, even if fleetingly or on a mild summer evening". He always believed "The Madam" to be indestructible. Her death, therefore, was the kind of loss that it takes a long time to reconcile with. She suffered much pain in her last years. Now at last she is in peace. Once somebody asked her since when she had been singing. "Maybe I was born singing", she replied.
• In his book, Noor Jehan Ki Kahani Meri Zubani, Shaukat Hussain Rizvi recalls his first encounter with Noor Jehan. He wrote that she was no more than eight or nine. Once, he asked the manager of the Corinthian Theatre to go to Punjab and come back with some girls. The man came back with fifteen or twenty of them, among whom were the Noor Jehan sisters, the two elder ones, Eidan Bai and Haider Bandi, and the eight-year-old future queen of the Indian cinema. These girls were collectively called the Punjab Mail.

[edit] Quotes

• After her heart bypass operation, Noor Jehan said she was not sure she would be able to sing again, but six weeks later, she began to sing and is quoted as saying:

“ I sang for forty-five minutes and my voice was good and strong and I was overcome by my gratitude to God. I love my work. When I sing, I feel the presence of God. It is my world, my life, my faith. Only God knows what goes through my heart, how I feel. I can't express it. My only aim now is to bring happiness to others, to serve the people, to build hospitals, to help my children. I feel that the life God has granted me after my operation is for some special purpose. I want to use this time in the name of the Holy Prophet, whom God bless! That is the way I feel now.”

Noor Jehan after her heart bypass operation

• When she made an early meeting with Khalid Hassan, she told him about her growing up in Kasur. She said

“ We were brought up with great love, and our parents always doted on us and also told us that true joy resides in your own heart and you always carry it with you no matter where in the world you go. Nobody can bring you joy if you don't have it within your heart.”

~Noor Jehan

“ My father used to say that if you cannot help people, you should not harm them. Because of my parents we grew up honest and hard-working, never greedy or envious of others who had more. We were happy with what we had. We were not ashamed of our slender means. It was not important. When I was a child, there was one prayer I always used to say: O God, do not make me dependent on anyone except on Your glorious mercy. I have taught the same thing to my daughters.”

~Noor Jehan

[edit] Filmography

• Mirza Ghalib (1961)
• Koel (1959)
• Pardaisan (1959)
• Neend (1959)
• Anarkali (1958)
• Choomantar (1958)
• Nooran (1957)
• Intezar (1956)
• Lakht-e-Jigar (1956)
• Patey Khan (1955)
• Gulnar (1953)
• Dopatta (1952)
• Chanwey (1951)
• Mirabai (1947)
• Abida (1947)
• Jugnu (1947)
• Mirza Sahibaan (1947)
• Maharana Pratab (1946)
• Jadoogar (1946)
• Sofia (1946)
• Humjoli (1946)
• Dil (1946)
• Anmol Ghadi (1946)
• Bhaijaan (1945)
• Badi Maa (1945)
• Gaon Ki Gori (1945)
• Zeenat (1945)
• Dost (1944)
• Lal Haveli (1944)
• Naukar (1943)
• Duhai (1943)
• Nadaan (1943)
• Khandaan (1942)
• Faryad (1942)
• Dheeraj (1942)
• Chandani (1942)
• Susral (1941)
• Umeed (1941)
• Red Signal (1941)
• Chaudhry (1941)
• Yamla Jat (1940)
• Sajni (1940)
• Pyam-e-Haq (1939)
• Imandaar (1939)
• Gul Bakavli (1939) (as Baby Noor Jehan)

Tu Mila To Mali Music Master Abdulla Song rither Mushtaq shfahi

[edit] References

This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

[edit] External links

• Noor Jehan Kasur.20fr.com
• Noor Jehan at the Internet Movie Database
• ^  Songs by Noor Jehan. Retrieved 2005-04-02. Includes a photograph of Noor Jehan.