Noor Jahan

Simply a Legend

(The Magazine MAG Pakistan)

The warbling quail made the tree shades dance in the August breeze. A quiet afternoon just passed by, with the distant train horn barely audible from the tracks running side-by-side the lyrical rivulet. Once in a while, the lktara carrying Sadhu would sing his short poems from afar, at the foot of the black mountains. A fragrance from the lilacs would travel to the wavy, red brick-roofed outhouses, and you’d get just a glimpse of one of the gents in overcoats, with a lit cigar between the teeth, opening the front door of his Buick, and driving off in the simmering distance. A transistor, hung on a bicycle handle, played Zindagi hai ya kisi ka intezat. It was an afternoon for flashbacks.

A Rapturous applause filled the Corinthian Hall of Calcutta, on an evening in 1932. Everywhere you saw, there were white Dupattas. Printed tops. Robes and Ghararas. Black Shewabis and Qaraquli caps. The color of life hung dandy on human hangers. But the screen was black and white!
In the hustle bustle of the function, the announcement was made as the curtains lifted the tall and graceful Mukhtar Begum out. She was the queen of the evening, and as she began to sing, a hush fell on the hall. Her voice echoed: Bolo Tararara, Bolo Tararara. A small, 6 years old girl in the front row, looked on smilingly at the singing sensation. Mukhtar Begum’s bejeweled slippers lay in her lap and she repeated the song under her breath.

This little girl was Baby Noor Jehan. She had come down from Lahore, to find her feet in Calcutta. She had caused a great uproar all over the stage in the Punjab with her sweet, fluid renditions and wanted to attach herself to Mukhtar Begum’s pallu foe an introduction to the top banners.

The nest day, Master Dhomi Khan had rehearsal with Baby Noor Jehan and was visibly surprised to listen to her beautiful voice. Mukhtar Begum, herself, predicted that this young girl will, one day, be the most popular artist of the subcontinent

How right she was.

THE PEOPLE came in droves. It’s a cool September evening in 1973, in Lahore, where the stage is full of emissaries and celebrities. Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, in his circular collared Sherwani coat makes a small speech. Afterwards all Pakistani artists sing Jeevay Jeevay Pakistan in a chorus. The PTV cameras catch the singers in tight frames. Madam Noor Jehan looks a picture in her pink sari, with her flowers vase top-knot crown, the soft blush-on and rose-pink lipstick. Her signature pout in front and that jovial disposition while singing, also in focus, she makes a great subject for the cameras. To her left is Akhlaq Ahmed, then Runa Laila, Shukat Ali and others. But none looks as glamorous as she. Noor Jehan was one of the very few, earliest film ladies, who took special care of presentable she looked. Take any of her earlier black-&-white snaps or her last few appearances on TV, she always looks perfectly decked up and emitting rays.

The last time I saw her in a public appearance was when Noor Jehan was in recording at KTV, in 1999, standing in the lobby with all her daughters. Although looking extremely thin, she was wrapped up in a silk sari, with her hair in a braid and talking with that same conversational finesse and sparkle that is her style. The fascinating diva never ceases to amaze. I still remember how elegant she looked when we met her at sultan Rahi’s house, the night the unfortunate news of his murder had come in. she seemed perplex and quiet, but when she came down the stairs, with her tearful eyes, she looked sober and elegant in a black sari, stepping gently and talking in undertones.

Noor Jehan is a name of a living legend, with a career span of over 65 years. She sang her first song for K.D Mehra’s film, Sheela pind dee kuri in 1935, but before that her songs were very famous on stage, including a na’at, “hanste hue sitarey ya shah-e-madina” and a Punjabi folk number,” lang aaja patan channah da o yaar”. The lat mentioned number was included in her first film and so it became her debut number. Her last song for a film was released in Omar Sahrif’s Chand Babu, 1999 titled “Gori sajan ne tharo Ghoonghat’. From “ Toon Kon See Badlee Mein Mere Chand Hai aaja” (khandan) to “ Melody my love” (Kaley Chor 1991), from ‘ Awaz de Khan Hai”, “ Luddi Hai Jamalo”, from film Sahib Jee. “Aahein na Bhareen shikwe na kiyay” to “Niyyat-e-Shauq bhar na jaey kaheen”, there are thousand of her hits in her career, which are still selling like hot cakes in the market. When, in1998, Tip Top cassettes released 20 cassettes of her film hits, including rare recordings from films either not released or no more on record, the music market was flooded with request for extra albums, because within a month the albums were sold. The regal Square music shacks ran out of stock and had to
call for a quick supply because the demand had exceeded the projected sale figures. So, tiptop had to emergently provide a few lacs of album in a short period.

One more aspect that needs elaborate mention is Noor Jehan’s influence. It is known that maestro Ghulam Haider had given Noor Jehan her earliest boost as far as hit tunes are concerned. He first composed music for her in Gul Bakaoli in 1939, all the songs of which became super hits. But despite good music, it was Noor Jehan’s voice that contributed more to the popularity, because Master Ghulam Haider had earlier composed music for Swarg Kee Seerhi, but was unable to earn the sort of instant recognition he got after Gul Bakaoli. Similarly, Shaukat Hussain Rizvi’s debut, with Noor Jehan in the lead, titled Khandan, was a super-hit and is still seen with interest. Dilip Kumar, the screen icon of India, had a couple of flops on his hand in the beginning of his career and some directors felt he wasn’t even an actor, but the first film he did with Noor Jehan, called Jugnu, was a massive success Dilip’s career was saved. So, Noor Jehan has been the virtual lady luck for many top artistes of the sub-continent. It is well-known fact that the producers of Punjabi movies in the 1980’s, just signed noor Jehan’s voice for their ventures and knew that she was the recipe for success.

Today, when she is suffering from a long-drawn-out disease, and is unable to sing in films, or on radio or TV, noor Jehan’s musical Khazana is enough to last another 100 years. People will never forget her numbers for their vitality and brilliance of rendition. After she migrated to Lahore in 1947, Noor Jehan became integral to the industry with songs that are super hits even after 40 to 50 years. Semi-classical songs like Sajan lagi tori Lagan Man ma (baji), Tum Jug Jug Jio Mahraj Ne ( Moosiqar), Dil Ka Diya jalay (Koel0, Sawan kee ghanghor ghata (intezar), Jiya ra tarse dekhon ko (Mehel), Unka hee tasawwar hai mehfil ho ke tanhai (Sehre Ke Phool), Chun ke lai kiran phool (Tipu Sultan), Kyoon bheege torey nain (pehli Nazar), Bin tere raat to kya (Abroo) jadon Holi Jaee lianda e mere naa (Heer Ranjha), Mahi ve sanoo bhul na javeen (Malangi), Na ja na ja na (Siren) etc. are the proof of her brilliance. I remember a song I heard from one of her 1998 movies, was filled with such classical mastery that those who say she was finished as a singer should listen to that number and decide. Noor Jehan is going through a critical period in her life, but her willpower is such that just six to seven months ago, when master tunesmith, Nisar Bazmi visited her room at the Agha Khan Hospital, she stood up from her bed and came down the room to embrace him, saying “Aaj mooseeqi Ka wali aaya hai”. The two senior artistes wept fro along time before they sat down to talk. Despite doctor’s instructions, Noor Jehan regularly sits up in her bed and converse with family members and their guests. And it is a
conversation that you just can’t afford to miss. Those anecdotes, her experiences, the memorabilia and simply the sentences that make up her conversation, are elements that are cherish able. For us in Pakistan, she is the personality of our cinematic golden jubilee.