‘Koel’ to be screened at Lok Virsa

Islamabad

Lok Virsa film club 'Mandwa' will pay a tribute to Noor Jehan by screening her film ‘Koel’ on December 26 at 3 p.m. She passed away on December 23, 2000.

The rich female voices in Pakistani music from 1947 till today have ranged from Roshan Ara Begum with her classical compositions to Hadiqa Kiani’s pop musical numbers with liberal gestures and movements. And in between, we had memorable melodies of Munawwar Sultana, Kausar Parveen, Mala, Naseem Begum, Runa Laila, Naheed Akhtar, Nayyara Noor, Mehnaz and others.

And then there were Noor Jehan who ruled and dominated the music scene in her own way. Noor Jehan’s singing then remained exclusive to the films in which she acted. Born in Kasur in September 1926, Noor Jehan belonged to a family where singing was bread and butter. She learned singing as early as she learned crying. With a large family, she was not a privileged child and was not able to finish even her primary education. Lahore was family's first junction where baby Noor Jehan started performing on stage. Next came Kolkata (then Calcutta) where Noor Jehan acted as a child artist both in Punjabi and Urdu films. She tested her vocal chords with brilliant success in films like ‘Shela’ (‘Pind Di Kuri’), Mr. & Mrs. Bombay, ‘Heer Sayal’, ‘Sassi Punno’ and Imperial Mail. The family went back to Lahore where things were rough. Noor Jehan covered the difficult period between her teens and reaching puberty with films like ‘Gul Bakoli’ in 1939 which was a smash hit musical (‘Shala jawanian maney’). Next came ‘Khandan’ with her future husband, Shaukat Rizvi, and still later, her journey to Mumbai (then Bombay) where success waited with ‘Bari Maaa’ in 1945 (‘Aa intezaar hai tera’, ‘Diya jala ker aap bujhaya’). As an actress, Noor Jehan remained mediocre till ‘Khandan’ in 1945 in which she appeared in a dramatic young- to- old role. Success followed with Mahboob Khan's ‘Anmol Ghari’ and Shaukat Rizvi's ‘Jugno’ in 1947 where Dilip Kumar was her male lead.

Composer Naushad (‘Anmol Ghari’) and Feroz Nizami (‘Jugno’) made sure that Noor Jehan came out with half-a dozen memorable hits. ‘Aa ja meri barbad mohabat key saharey’, ‘Aawaz dey kahan hai’, ‘Merey bachpan key sathi’, ‘Jawaan hai mohabat’ from ‘Anmol Ghari’ and ‘Aaj ki raat saz-e-dil’ ,’Tum bhi bhula do’ and ‘Yahan badala wafa ka’.

Bombay was in communal riots in August 1947. Noor Jehan, Shaukat Rizvi and their two sons left Mumbai for Karachi and later settled in Lahore. Together, they repaired, renovated and build Shorey studios as Shahnoor (Shah from Shaukat Hussain Rizvi and Noor from Noor Jehan). Noor Jehan was able to get directorial credit for Shaukat Rizvi's first Punjabi film ‘Chunway’ (1951)simply for coaching Punjabi dialogue to actors as Shaukat Rizvi from UP was not much familiar with the language. ‘Chunway’ was a hit with Noor Jehan’s melodies scored by Feroz Nizami ‘Terey mukhrey da’, ’Changa banaya ai sano’, ‘Chan daya totaya’ and ‘Jad koi pa gaya’. ‘Dupatta’ (1952) also scored by Feroz Nizami gave more hits ‘Chandni rateen’, ’Baat hi baat mey’, ‘Tum zindagi ko gham ka fasana bana gaey’ and ‘Jigar ki aag mey is dil ko’. Master Ghulam Hiader hit melodies came in 1953 with ‘Gulnar’ ‘Bachpan ki yaadgaroo’ and ‘Lo chal deye who hum ko’. Composer Khursheed Anwar’s ‘Intezar’ in 1956, directed by Masood Pervaiz, was yet another musical hit with ‘Aa bhi ja’, ‘O janey waley’ and ‘Chand hansey duniya basey’. Here, Noor Jehan played a blind girl living in a mountainous village, loved by look-alike twin brothers played by Santosh Kumar. 

In Pakistan, Noor Jehan worked in thirteen films with titles like ‘Patey Khan’, ‘Nooran’, ‘Lakht-e-Jigar’, ‘Anarkali’, ‘Koel’, ‘Neend’ and her last film ‘Ghalib’ in 1960.

Her second career began as playback singer in 1960 with composer Rashid Attrey's ‘Salma’ ‘Zindigi hai ya kisi ka intezaar’ She was the most expensive playback singer, and in the beginning, made sure that her voice was lensed only on the leading ladies. Her songs from ‘Azra’, ‘Susral’, ‘Mosiqar’, ‘Qaidi’, ‘Baji’, ‘Chingari’, ‘Aisa Bhi Hota Hai’, ‘Sawal’, ‘Shabnam’, ‘Aag Ka Darya’, ‘Lakhon Mei Eik’, ‘Andleeb’, ‘Anjuman’, ‘Dosti’, ‘Heer Ranjha’,’Nagmani’, ‘Salgirah’, ‘Mirza Jatt’, ‘Sultan’, ‘Sher Khan’ and ‘Sala Sahab’ are now part of film music history. Throughout sixties, seventies, eighties and part of early-nineties, her songs were box office guarantee for Punjabi films in particular and she sang them in wholesale with no consideration for her vocal cords which were left pretty much damaged for working overtime. But she did become an icon in her lifetime, winning several awards including top civilian citations from the government. She recorded two musical series Taranum in early eighties and early nineties for Pakistan Television.

Noor Jehan's private and personal life was traumatic with failed marriages, messy divorces, and lengthy child custody battles.

Noor Jehan was known for her glamour and gloss in shape of makeup, jewelry and hundreds of colorful saris in the closet. She would wear all that to look at her best, first at the openings of films with a song recording and later in the PTV’s Tarannum. When a young lady reporter questioned her as to why she would wear too much make up, she quickly replied" At my age, less is not more ".

‘Koel’ (1959) directed by Masood Pervaiz and scored by Khursheed Anwar is a musical in the real sense of the word. Music here has been knitted in the script and becomes an integral part of the plot and screenplay. The cast lead by Noor Jehan is supported by Aslam Pervaiz, ‘Allaudin’ and ‘Neelo’. The film won awards for best singer, sound, lyrics ‘Dil Ka diya jalaya’ and supporting actress. ‘Koel’ had memorable hit melodies: ‘Mei ney tujh sey pyar kewon kiya’, ‘Terey bina soni soni lagey rey’, ‘Mekhi hawaeen’ and ‘Sagar roey lehreen shor macheen’.

— The author can be reached at aijazzgul@gmail.com