Back to Legends – Lata Mangeshkar

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Lata Mangeshkar with Rekha, Usha Mangeshkar and others on her Birthday party on 9th October 2010

How do you define the journey?
I feel God has sent me to earth to sing. I started singing when I was five, but I don’t think I’ve worked as hard as many other people.

Why do you say that?
After 1947 when I started playback singing, the work never stopped. Before that it wasn’t easy. I used to travel by train from Grant Road to Malad and then save money by walking instead of taking a tonga to the recording studios. I thereby saved 50 paise to Re 1 which I used to buy vegetables for my family. I was the sole bread-earner after our father passed away.

That must have been really tough on an adolescent girl.
I missed out on my childhood. I had to work hard, but I was immediately given a place in playback. One of the earliest composers to support me was Master Ghulam Haider. When he was told that my voice wouldn’t suit the heroine in a Dilip Kumar saab starrer Shaheed, he gave me songs in Majboor. Then other composers like Anil Biswasji, Khemchand Prakashji and Naushad saab came forward to sign me. From 1947 onwards there was no looking back.

There has never been a rough patch in your 65-year-long career?
I’m blessed. Nowadays I’ve almost stopped singing film songs but I enjoy singing and I continue to do the work I’m comfortable with like the recent Hamuman Chalisa and my forthcoming project with my brother. When I look back I see nothing I’d like to change.

What about your infamous rift with Mohd Rafi?
I’ll tell you what happened. We had a Musicians’ Association in the 1960s . Mukesh bhaiyya, Talaj Mehmood saab had started a campaign for artistes to get royalty so that they would have a comfortable old age. Main to leti thi royalty but I also wanted other artistes to get it. Rafi saab was instigated into opposing my campaign. In a meeting among musicians he said, ‘We get money for what we sing from producers and that’s the end of what we get.’ When he was asked his opinion Rafi saab turned to Mukesh bhaiyya and said, ‘I guess this Maharani here will say whatever has to be said.’

He meant you?
Yes. I said, ‘Of course I am a Maharani. But why are you calling me that?’ He said in front of everyone at the meeting that he won’t sing with me. I turned around and said, ‘Yeh kasht aap kyon kar rahe hain? Main hi nahin gaaongi aapke saath.’ I stormed out of the meeting and called up every music director to inform them that I would thereafter not sing with Rafi saab. We didn’t sing together for almost three years.

What about the alleged differences between you and your sister Asha Bhosle?
We’re sisters. The fights were because of her husband who was against me.

Composers gave all the heroines’ songs to you and all the supporting actresses’ songs to Ashaji …
Not always. What about so many films where only Asha sang all the songs? In fact OP Nayyarji worked only with her. Even some of Burman dada’s scores had only Asha’s vocals.

That’s because you and SD Burman had a fight.
I didn’t sing for him for sometime. Someone had caused mischief. Burman dada said, “I won’t have Lata sing my songs.’ I said, ‘I won’t sing for you.’ Asha sang all the songs for Burman dada during that period, even for Waheeda Rehman who insisted on me singing for her. Then one day out of the blue, Burman dada phoned me and said he wanted me to sing Mora gora rang lai le and Jogi jab se aaya tu aaya mere dware in Bandini. It was his son RD who brought us together. I remember Burman dada specifically told me that Mora gora rang was written by a promising new poet, Gulzar.

Who was your favourite composer?
I liked singing for Salilda (Salil Chowdhury) because his compositions were very challenging. I also loved singing for Sajjad Husain saab, then definitely SD Burman dada and RD. But in my opinion the biggest achievement was by Shankar-Jaikishan. With Raj Kapoor’s Barsaat they changed the way we looked at playback singing.

At one time you were accused of indulging in a melodious monopoly?
Once I was even asked if I tampered with the equipment during other singers’ recordings. Bataiye main kyon aisa karun? I never bothered with what other singers were doing. When Runa Laila came to India for the first time, I went to her first recording and everybody said I was just indulging in dikhawa, that in fact I had gone to see how she sang. Runa Laila met me with lots of affection. Later she too was poisoned against me. Even some male singers accused me of trying to stop them from singing.

Which heroines did you enjoy singing for?
Nargis, Meena Kumari, Madhubala, Nutan. I’d modulate my voice according to their personality.

Among today’s actresses for whom do you enjoy singing for?
I like Rani Mukerji and Kajol but I miss the camaraderie that I shared with the earlier heroines. I really miss Kishore Kumar, also Rafi saab, Mukesh bhaiyya, Shankar-Jaikishan and Madan bhaiyya who fought with me when I couldn’t be with him for raksha bandhan. That sense of apnapan is gone.

Any unfulfilled dreams?
I wish I had given more time to learning classical singing. Lekin jo hua woh bahut hi achcha hua. What I want is that future generations of Mangeshkars keep my father’s legacy alive. My niece Radha and nephew Baijanth are singing well. I wish they make a name for themselves.

Do you miss having your own children
Not at all. My siblings’ children are mine.

(This interview was conducted in 2009)

Atif Aslam

Atif Aslam is on cloud nine these days. Reason: his project Peace through Music in collaboration with the members of Guns ‘n’ Roses and songwriter-guitarist Lanny Cordola, members of bands like Giuffria, House of Lords and Magdallan (also known as Magdalen after Ken Tamplin’s departure) is on full song.

Atif has already penetrated the Hollywood and Bollywood markets, but with this project the pop icon bags further glory. Images on Sunday recently caught up with him for a chat regarding the project, his future plans and new Bollywood ventures, along with his thoughts on the recent floods in Pakistan.

Q. How has the response been to the project?

A. Amazing. A lot of musicians are really excited about jumping onto the project. Artistes who want to play at different places with different people will have a lot to explore through it.

We started off with a team of three and after the jam session, we are five at the moment. We have many artistes who we expect to join in with the likes of Saeen Zahoor, Abida Parveen, etc., from Pakistan and Matt Sorum, Gilby Clarke, etc., from the West. However, nothing is finalised yet.

Q. Some basic details of the project?

A. It’s about how the Americans should see the brighter side of Pakistan which they haven’t as yet. This is why it’s called Peace through Music. The point of teaming up with American musicians was that there was no better way than that of music to let people from both the sides know what either of them thinks about the other. It’s not just going to be single song; it will be a documentary, a DVD that’ll include the backstage footage of the performances, studio shoots, etc. We will come up with new seasons every year.

I have recorded a couple of songs. One is in Punjabi and another one is called Pakistan. Then there is a beautiful melody, Dreamer Awakes, by Lanny Cordola that I will sing with different famous musicians and artistes.

The songs that I have recently composed are the English track Adam’s Coming out of Heaven and the Punjabi Ek Mein Ek Tu.

Q. How many tracks do you plan to compose?

A. You never know, we might come up with 15 songs, 10 on the CD and the rest on DVD.

Q. When will the project be completed?

A. We haven’t decided a specific date because we don’t want to limit our creativity due to time constraints. When one gets time duration, one becomes very restricted and hence creativity suffers. However, we probably plan to launch it by the end of next year.

Q. Will it be launched season-wise?

A. Yes, but that depends on the response of the first season.

Q. Are you planning to shoot any videos?

A. We haven’t shot a video for this project however we recently shot one for The Sonic Peacemakers Project in Swat for a song called We Will Rise Again composed by Todd Shea in English and myself in Urdu. Urdu lyrics were penned by Shahzad Aslam. It was a great experience.

For this project, there will obviously be many videos but at this time, we are looking for resources because the scope of the project is very big.

Q. Which international artistes are you planning to take onboard?

A. There are many. We have spoken to Chris Martin (Cold Play), Bono (U2) and solo act, John Mayer.

Q. Which local artistes have expressed interest in the project?

A. There are many. To name a few, Strings, Noorie, Saeen Zahoor, etc.

Q. Is this project in competition with Coke Studio?

A. Well, you never know. It might become a part of it. It’s just that we are not going to be egotistic about it. We just want the musicians to come together, be it under any banner; it’s about cultural exchange.

Q. What’s next on your agenda?

A. I will be going to the US to meet up with different inspirational people like humanitarian and writer Greg Mortenson, who wrote the book Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations … One School at a Time, which was about building schools in Gilgit; and author Beo Zafar who wrote the book, The Dreamer Awakes. One of our songs has the same title as that of her book.

Apart from that, Lanny Cordola is going to come to Pakistan and we will be recording a couple of new songs. The idea is to bring the cultural tone with string instruments such the violin, etc. We are constantly exchanging compositions and verses.

Q. You donated your collaborated song with Strings, Ab Khud Kuch Karna Parega, to Azm-i-Alishan. How is the feeling?

A. I thought it would be better if we donated the track to some youth forum because our youth is very distracted right now. I want to create an awareness that we have to do something on our own. We don’t need resources for cleaning up our homes, roads, putting smiles on our faces, etc.

Q. How have you been involved in flood-relief activities?

A. I visited Swat and Charsadda with Todd and Lanny. I am involved with different NGOs and we are sending trucks of food and other items of need to the affectees.

Q. What are your future plans?

A. I will be touring Australia soon.

Q. Any Bollywood projects coming up?

A. A few acting offers are there. I didn’t like one of the scripts. Nothing is final though.

Khursheed Begum

The year was 1992 the month was February; I entered a house in Karachi’s posh area. I was led inside by a servant who took me to the living room area of the neatly decorated compact house. A group of women sat in the room, all in their middle ages. They were startled to see a person holding a tape recorder in his hand, a sudden pin drop silence followed. Minds brimmed with questions but lips were sealed. Amidst all this was a lady reclined on a deewaan. She was much older than the rest of them; her eyes twinkled with certain verve and her snow white hair shined on the round scalp. This is the woman who was once the heartthrob of many. An actress of yore who gracefully ruled the silver screen for many years. Yes, I had landed there to interview Khursheed Bano; the leading star of the 30’s who gave up everything for her marriage. This interview was perhaps her last interview ever and according to her the only one she gave in Pakistan.

Ever since Khursheed Bano bid farewell to the movies, she kept a low profile. She chose to keep herself and her family away from the big bad world of show business. She refused to give interviews or speak about her professional life with anybody. Soon after partition she quit cinema and tied the knot and then shunned limelight for good. I was lucky that my maternal aunt knew her well as together they used to recite Na’at in Milads organized by their friends, not professionally. So I requested my aunt and she asked Khursheed who was kind enough to allow me to come and interview her.

Khursheed Bano was born as Irshad Begum in Lahore. As a child she resided in the Bhatti Gate area next to Allama Iqbal’s house. The two families were pretty close. Khursheed was a child then. There was no ambition of joining the showbiz bandwagon then and it was by chance that led her to this arena.

Khursheed was very still young when she became an actress in the early 30’s. The era of the silent movies had already ended with the release of Alam Ara in 1931 and the Indian film industry was going through a revolution. What set her apart from other heroines were her attractive face and certain flamboyance owing to which she made her presence felt. And then she was very good actress who could be melodramatic and happy-go-lucky with equal ease.

Each star then was required to playback for themselves and Khursheed was lucky to have a good voice. Hence started the brilliant era of some timeless classical and exemplary numbers like panchi banwara chaand sey preet lagaye.

The graceful and decent actress was luckier to secure some of the best films including Sitara, Shaadi, Musafir, Pardesi, Bhagat Surdas, Dekha Jaye Ga, Shehanshah-E-Babar and Tansen. Pardesi had a very famous soundtrack comprising of memorable numbers by the late actress. In Tansen she played the protagonist Tani with Kundan Lal Saigal as Tansen. Together they made indelible performances and the role took her to great heights. She even transcended Saigal with her strong performances and pretty looks and her fans started calling her Tani after that.

Her leading men in those days apart from Saigal where Motilal, Ishwar Lal, Nazeer and Sadiq Ali. She made a successful pair with Motilal the most. Her female contemporaries included actresses of caliber like Kanan Bala, Devika Rani, Leela Chitnis, Suraiya, Swaranlata and Noor Jehan. The last three were her juniors.

Khursheed said that there was no such thing as rivalry in those days and actresses worked in close coordination. Abusing, backbiting or gossiping was not amongst their traits. Even the male stars with whom she worked treated her with great respect and there were no scandals.

Though she was an accomplished singer, acting remained her forte and first love. “Singing was a requirement to be a heroine in those days”, she said, “and even heroines with not too good voices were forced to ding if they were to act. But the composers were so good that they managed to get the best out of them then. Each song was recorded after several rehearsals. But I was an actress before and singing was just to complement that.”

Khursheed was not too happy with the way films shaped up in the years to come. So much so that she never wanted to see films anymore. In the interview she expressed her displeasure, “In spite of the resources and much higher budget, there is not a single film maker in the entire sub continent who could make a film even half as good as the films made in my era. Ours were simple films but treated well and had strong content. Plus the hard work and honesty of each unit member reflected in the entire film. This thing is missing now. A film is not only about technique, rather the issue, sensitivity and sincere dedication too.”

Following partition in 1947, Khursheed opted to move to Pakistan. She worked in two Pakistani films too – Mandi and Fankar. But then she decided to quit and tied the knot with a Karachi – based business Yousaf Bhai Mian. They had one daughter who lived in the US when the interview was conducted. She then concentrated on her marriage alone and emerged equally successful on the home front as much as she was in films. She was happy that she quit films before their standards declined – Interview conducted in 1992 by Navaid Rashid. Khursheed Begum died on April 18th, 2001.

Mina Hasan

The resemblance to her late mother, Madam Noor Jehan, is striking just as Mina’s witty conversation reflects the singer’s style. As she talks about her mother her sense of loss is obvious, her face clouds over, her eyes become misty and voice choked with emotion even after 10 years of Madam having passed away.

But she quickly composes herself.

There is an inborn elegance and regality in the way Mina Hasan talks. It is also obvious that she led a pampered life. She is also a designer par excellence.

Being the daughter of Noor Jehan and wife of the Hockey legend Hasan Sardar, one would think that she has lived in their shadows all her life.

“Being part of her has given me so much confidence and has opened doors for me in the clothing business. When my partner in India introduces me as Noor Jehan’s daughter, doors start opening everywhere. In India Javaid Akhtar and Kiron Kher take very good care of me because of this privilege, just as the army circle here does because of my mother’s patriotic contribution during the ’65 and ’71 wars. My husband Hasan, who has a name for himself, takes a backseat when people find out who my mother is.”

Life with her mother was heaven. “An amazing parent,” she would cook for them, take them on vacations. She was always a mother first and Mallika-i-Tarannum later, with a huge sense of humour, and loved them fiercely.

Reminiscing ruefully, Mina says Noor Jehan was extremely intelligent and had an intimidating personality. She loved art and the fine things in life and instilled this in her children along with oodles of confidence. Ghalib being her favourite poet, she would quote him often and wrote poetry herself.

“She refined us.” She also knew what to say at the right moment. “When the former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi visited Pakistan, he asked my mother to sing at a dinner. She readily agreed saying that as he was a guest she could not decline as she did his mother, Indira Gandhi, in India when she was their guest.”

Mina’s relationships with her extended family is inspiring. “My mother went through tough times during her career and acquired a big view of life in the process. All her daughters are headstrong because she pampered and smothered them with love.”

Her step-sister Zille Huma and brothers from Shaukat Husain Rizvi were very close to each other just as their children are. Both her brothers have died. “My father, Eijaz, remarried and we are close to my stepmother and three step-sisters. We all get on well and can’t think otherwise.”

Mina Hasan began designing for herself, family and friends as a pastime. “I’ve seen so much glitz and glamour in my life that it seems I have inherited it. I got into couture after my mother passed away. I had nothing to do when she died as my focus in life was just to take care of her during her illness. There was so much emptiness around me when she was gone that I would continuously cry. Distressed at my condition, it was my father who suggested I get into designing clothes commercially.”

With a diploma from London, children all grown up, Mina started making clothes for select clients and gradually expanded the business. “It can be tedious, the minute work, but even then I love it.” Her husband Hasan Sardar has been very helpful and has supported her throughout. She now supplies clothes to a few outlets. “I have opened a shop now, so let’s see how it all works out.”

The glamour through her mother and Hasan, the money and recognition through her work, have come in a package. “I strongly believe women should be independent and be able to make a living for themselves, that is why my daughter and nieces are all educated and working.”

Having always been into bridals and party wear, one year back she stepped into prêt and started sending her clothes abroad. “I design differently according to the taste of the country. India is into heavy stuff and bright colours and in America it’s semi-formal dark colours, black, peacock, etc.”

She admits her clothes are on the expensive side but women in Dubai, Delhi and Karachi, she says, know how to dress and go for quality. “Globally, people are becoming more aware of fashion and we, too, have fantastic designers here in the country.”

She went into prêt because it is casual and chic and in demand 12 months round, needing new designs constantly, whereas bridals are limited to seasons. “Designing is actually your imagination and creativeness and good cloth at work, it just comes out when you combine them. The degree helps but you have to have the talent in you. Like actor Mohammad Ali used to say when he would hear my mother sing, that you have to have a voice to sing.”

Noor Jehan loved to wear flashy clothes and dazzling jewellery and had a dress sense which her daughters were exposed to from a young age. “She was immaculately dressed all the time with her hair done up in an elaborate bouffant with a big flower. How you carry yourself is important, you might be wearing very expensive clothes but you look bad if you don’t have proper grooming. She was good at everything. I idolise her and have inherited the dress sense from her and decided to go for a diploma in clothes designing abroad because of the way she looked.”

Mina’s design orientation is Karachi-based, and she makes modern eastern clothes. Her environment was the Murree convent whereas her mother was Lahore-based and had to be glitzy due to her showbiz environment. “But then she could carry her jewellery and saris.”

Plans to present her clothes on the ramp are under way. She will do both prêt and bridal in a fashion show early next year, and is waiting for the right place and the right time.

Auctioning of personal items of famous stars is a known concept abroad. Noor Jehan being a legend, many people would be interested in owning her beautiful clothes. Such a thought has not crossed her children’s mind. “The concept of auction is unknown here. We haven’t thought about it and have distributed her clothes among ourselves. I would have auctioned her clothes for a good cause here if it was demanded.”

Having inherited the genes for singing from her mother, Mina loves to sing for her friends but has never gone public as Noor Jehan never encouraged her children to sing. She had an ustad for six months only. “Singing is more like a therapy for me as I get immense pleasure from it and my husband loves to hear me sing, but I will never perform on the stage.”

Having quite a few qualities herself does her daughter idolise her the way she idolised Noor Jehan? “I would hope so,” Mina says. The mother and daughter bond is quite strong and Alisha, her daughter, trusts her completely in everything. She left a job after getting straight As in America, coming back to Pakistan at her mother’s request, not questioning her once. “We have never been strict with our children but we have given them guidelines as well as their space, just as our parents did with us.” – Khursheed Hyder

Tina Sani

Talking into Tina Sani’s beautifully decorated residence, her musical instruments which are propped up in one corner, give an indication that one is in a singer’s home rather than an interior designer’s. Halfway through the interview, she turns out to be the typical caring and attentive mother, cleaning up after her feverish son who has been throwing up. One and also discover that she has none of the nonsensical airs that you would expect of a highly sought-after artist.

Tina Sani entered the professional world of singing in 1980, when producer Ishrat Ansari introduced her on TV in a youth programme hosted by Alamgir.

“It was the first programme of its kind, with live recording. I had taken up singing only six months prior to that, more for kicks than anything else, and my appearing on television was a culmination of that short period of practice. Considering that I had never been in the public eye, it was a luxury to have such a captive audience before me. I got a huge bounce from this programme, which marked the beginning of an unknown journey for me.”

However, while Tina began to make appearances on television, she also made sure that they were not too frequent in number. She confesses, “I knew I had to work hard and didn’t want to burn myself out right at the beginning of my career. I had to go through a process of learning and wanted to mature as a singer before allowing people to make up their minds about me. So I pretty much kept to myself and performed for just a few good producers.” Meanwhile, Tina Sani kept herself occupied with a number of other things including teaching at the American School. Then came an offer that was just up her sleeve — she was asked to do Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s ghazal, Aai meray dil meray musafir.

“That opened avenues for me. I received a lot of support from my listeners, family and everyone around me, but the pressure was to do good work rather than a lot of it. My father always wanted me to go into classical singing and once I understood its methodology I began to enjoy it too.”

For Sani, as with most singers, the ultimate pleasure is to perform live. But she concedes that in the initial years she used to be very apprehensive about performing publicly.

“Maybe because of the lack of experience, confidence and practice. I could never dream of sitting on the same platform as Farida Khanum or Mehdi Hassan and sing alongside them.”

In fact, even to this date she takes her music very seriously and says, “You can’t play around with an audience that has been used to hearing Farida Khanum, simply because you’ve now become a known name and your tickets sell.”

Sani is one of those rare breed of people readily accepting that she has been blessed. She is also willing to accept all the “good and bad things” in life and puts it down to experience. “I strongly believe that no one can force you to do anything against your wishes and in the final analysis, I feel you are the better judge of making and then learning from your mistakes.”

Over the years Tina Sani has maintained a relatively low profile. She claims that her family life and the need to be ‘isolated’ keep her from taking too many programmes.

“If I ever have to do three concerts in a month, which I have occasionally done, I feel the verve disappears. I need time to myself, to think in isolation and to do my ‘riaz’.” She likes to appear before an audience only when she has something special to offer. Her repertoire is always prepared well in advance and is never haphazard.

“I know exactly what I am going to sing at the concert, other than entertaining requests, and I never underestimate the audience. The best part is that my audience includes a lot of young people nowadays. My message to them is that if I can understand this kind of music, so can they. I grew up, away from Pakistan and had little practice in spoken Urdu and no formal training in music, but I made up my mind to do what I wanted to do 20 years ago. And that is exactly what I am doing right now. I feel it is my duty to bring to them works of people like Mukhtar Begum.”

Tina Sani has acquired almost a philosophical angle to her personality. She feels that what satisfies her the most about her current situation is the fact that with every ‘riaz’ her knowledge is constantly growing and she is learning more about herself. “I make it a point to take out time for ‘riaz’ — in fact I am very strict with myself about practice because I know I can’t get anywhere without it. You can be born with talent but that’s where it ends. Practice teaches you about life at a micro level. It’s like growing a seed — you have to germinate it in your mind before you can see results. I sit and listen to music of the maestros in an ‘alpha state’, which is when I am listening not with an intent to learn, but for the sheer pleasure of it. I know I’ll never get there myself, but it all plays back to me when I perform — not the techniques of what the great artists did, but how they did it.”

According to Sani, she gives her musicians full leverage to play as they please. “We work within a scale, and once the scale is determined, it is easy to do things in it and still remain within the scale. I tell them to just follow the raaga of the scale and communicate whatever they want to on their instrument. My problem has never been a desire to hog all the limelight. My only hang-up is that I cannot endure singing where Urdu is not understood. At least a basic knowledge should be there, for I love to communicate with my audience.”

The singer feels that ‘fusion’ is a loosely used term, which needs to be redefined. She opines that mixing of instruments, eastern with the western, is not fusion. Rather fusion is about working with completely different cultures — it is more about the players than the instruments they are using. She recalls an interesting experience some years ago in Greenwich Village, New York.

“There was a Spaniard singing a ballad which had been used by Raj Kapoor in one of his movies and I spontaneously started singing it in Urdu. He came up to me and started playing the chords for me and then I sang Meray Hamdam, Meray Dost and just by hearing the melody, he played it for me. Before we knew it, we had gathered an audience that was applauding us madly. That was true fusion.”

Other than music, Sani’s passion is reading. She claims to read four books at a time and finds that reading opens one’s mind. On the other hand, television bores her and she watches very few “great” movies. An eternal optimist, she feels that our people should have a more positive attitude towards things, for enough good things are happening in the country.

“We should stop this self-bashing. Criticism is healthy, but cynicism is detrimental and infectious. You have to have dreams — otherwise you simply stop dreaming.”

True, and one can’t help but feel that Tina Sani’s optimism is just as infectious.

Note:- This interview was conducted in 2001

Mubarak Begum

She has worked with most composers of her time, yet never had the chance to make it to her zenith. Today, she remains a distant memory Mubarak Begum didn’t get many opportunities to get her voice heard. Today, as she looks back at a career which didn’t quite take off in the real sense of the term, she says, “I’ve done only 25 per cent of the work I could have. My wings were cut before I even began to fly. And I’ve never been able to understand why – since I was a niche singer, there was no question of treading on anyone else’s toes. But just as I was getting popular, composers stopped calling me for work. Finally, I reached a stage when I had no work at all.”

Now, as she waits for some miracle to release her from what has become a life of drudgery, Mubarak Begum looks back fondly on her days of struggle – when life still held out that most tempting bait, hope.

FILMS WERE A PASSION

“As a child, I loved watching movies. Though originally from Rajasthan, we lived in Sahrangpur Darwaza (Ahmedabad). I remember, whenever I knew somebody was going to watch a film, I’d throw a tantrum – I wanted to go, too! So, my ‘taya’ (paternal uncle) would take me, even though once the lights went off and the film began, I’d promptly fall asleep! When my family moved to Mumbai, Suraiya was very popular. I’d see her films, imitate her voice and sing all her numbers to perfection.”

“Then I started learning music from Abdul Karim Khan’s (a well known classical singer of the time) nephew, Riyazuddin Khan. I learnt just enough of classical music to be able to do ‘riyaz’ – I was told that too much classical training made one’s voice unfit for light music.”

“Around this time, I started singing on All India Radio (AIR) and, apparently, had a large audience. Among them was Rafique Ghaznavi Khan saab, remembered as the man who said the famous words (that accompany the logo of Mehboob Khan Films) – ‘Muddayi lakh bura chahe to kya hota hai, wohi hota hai jo manzoore khuda hota hai’. He is the music composer of ‘Taqdeer’, Nargis’s debut film.”

MIKE FRIGHT STRIKES!

“Anyway, Khan saab liked my voice and asked me to sing for him. I was very raw then, and was made to rehearse at a recording studio at Tardeo (Mumbai). But when I stood before the mike, I just couldn’t sing! Agajani Kashmiri, the well known writer, was also present and kept saying, ‘Go for another take.’ The others asked him, ‘What take? She can’t sing!’ We (my father and I) returned home. But, at the time, I felt no regret. I was too naive to really understand the importance of it all.”

“My father was very keen that I enter the music world, and constantly did the rounds of producers’ offices. That’s how I met Shyamsunder – a popular composer in those days – who introduced me to Ram Daryani. He was making ‘Badi Bahen’ at the time and promised to give me two songs in the film. But history repeated itself – I was made to rehearse (this time in Shree Sound Studios); and I got so frightened, I couldn’t sing!”

OVERCOMING MY FEAR

“This struggle continued till I met Yakub, who was making ‘Aayiye’, the music of which was composed by Shaukat Dehlvi, who did the popular ‘Nagma’. I remember going to Eastern Studios at Worli (Mumbai), where Allaudin, Yakub’s brother, was the recordist. And there, for the first time, we recorded without a hitch! The song was a solo, ‘Mohe aane lagi angrayi… aaja aaja balam’. I also sang a duet (with Lata Mangeshkar) for the same film, ‘Aao chalein, chalein sakhi wahan’.”

“Meanwhile, I continued meeting composers, hoping to get work. But some of them refused to hear me. When I went to meet S. D. Burman, he said, ‘Polish your voice, polish your voice’ without listening to my voice.”

“My next film was ‘Phoolon Ke Haar’, for which I sang eight songs. Composed by Hasraj Behl to the lyrics of D. N. Madhok, Verma Malik and Indivar, the film had Geeta Bali and Nigar Sultana in the lead roles. A few small films followed, for which I got paid as little as Rs. 150.”

MY BIGGEST PROJECT

“Then, I landed my biggest project, ‘Daayra’, thanks to Harishchandra Rao, its composer. I’d just finished recording a song for Jamaal Sen, a relative of today’s composers Dilip and Sameer Sen. I believe Harishchandra Rao had tried to get other singers, but they’d stood him up. So, he took me to meet Kamal Amrohi.” “Busy recording with Meenu Katrak, Kamal saab sent along a representative to decide on my voice. That’s how I got to sing for ‘Daayra’. The theme song, ‘Devta tum ho mera sahara, maine thamma hai daaman tumhara’ was a duet between (Mohammad) Rafi and me. I sang other numbers too – ‘Jali jo shama, deep ke sang jaloon’, for example. I had about seven songs in the film, which had Meena Kumari and Nasir Khan in the lead. Unfortunately for me, ‘Daayra’ was an utter flop. I was extremely disappointed.”

SONGS WERE WRITTEN FOR ME!

“Around this time, I was called to sing for Naushad saabs film ‘Shabab’. When I got there, I found all I had to sing was a few lines in a child’s chorus. The song was Rafi’s ‘Mehelon mein rehne wale, hamein tere dar se’

“I was upset – it was such a big production and all I was getting to sing was a few lines! Then, they offered to give me a full song if I sang this one. I agreed.”

“After which, S. D. Burman ‘da’ suddenly called me over to visit him at Dev Anand’s office in Juhu (Mumbai). He was composing for the film ‘Devdas’ and wanted me to sing the number ‘Woh na aayenge palatkar, unhein lakh hum bulaayein…’. The song had just about two lines, which had to be repeated over and over again.”

“Sahir Ludhianvi, the lyricist, who was sitting there, heard me and said, ‘I’ll give you a full song.’ That’s how the song finally had an ‘antara’ and ‘asthayi’. Burman ‘da’ was very pleased and praised me. All I could remember at the time was how he’d refused to even listen to me when I’d approached him earlier.”

“I had the opportunity of singing in every film made by Bimal Roy. ‘Hale dil sunayenge…’ (‘Madhumati’) became very popular. Initially, even this song was just one stanza long, till Shailendra saab told me he’d write the full lyrics and the song grew in length.”

“That song was recorded with only three musicians – a sarangi player (Pt. Ram Narain), a ‘tabalchi’ and a harmonium player. Composer Salil Choudhry heard it, as he was entering the room, and was very thrilled!”

MY MOST POPULAR NUMBER

“I’ve sung in practically all of Kidar Sharma’s films too. For one, whose production composer was Snehal Bhatkar, I sang ‘Kabhi tanhayiyon mein yoon, hamari yaad aayegi…’ At the recording, Kidar Sharma sat with his eyes closed till the song was done, and then got up and gave me some money. When I hesitated, Snehal Bhatkar told me, ‘Take it. Whoever he gives money to makes a name.’ The film was ‘Hamari Yaad Aayegi’, with Tanuja.”

“At the time, I was told the song was a background number (those days background numbers didn’t figure on records). But on a visit to Pakistan, I found people talking about this song. Then, I realized that Kidar saab had got a record made after all. This song has been one of my most popular numbers. It still is.”

MY REPERTOIRE GREW

“Composers Shankar-Jaikishen were becoming very popular around this time, and I’ve always been a very ardent fan of theirs. I’ve always respected them for their originality – they were like no one else. I sang for ‘Hamrahi’ with them – the song was a duet with Rafi saab, ‘Mujhko apne gale lagalo ai mere hamrahi…’ I worked with them in ‘Around The World’ (a duet with Sharda, ‘Yeh muh aur masoor ki dal…’) and again in ‘Arzoo’ (‘Jab ishk kahin ho jaata hai…’ – a ‘quwaali’). “I worked with Kalyanji-Anandji in ‘Juari’ (‘Neend ud jaye teri chainse sone wale…’) and in ‘Yeh Dil Kisko Doon’. A song that scaled the heights of popularity was ‘Hume dum daike souten ghar jaana…’, which I sang with Asha Bhosle. Madan Mohan had me sing in ‘Neend Humari Khwab Tumhare’ (‘Sakiya ek bhi to de…’). In ‘Saraswati Chandra’, I sang the number ‘Vada humse kiya dil kisiko diya…’ and in ‘Kajal’ – ‘Agar tum na miloge to main yeh samjoongi…’. I had begun getting more and more work.”

SUDDENLY THERE WAS NO WORK!

“Then my life did an about turn. For no reason, my songs would be recorded and then cut off from the film, like in the film ‘Jab Jab Phool Khile’, and again, in a number I recorded with Shobha Gurtu for Bappi Lahiri. Slowly, I realized that I was being edged out of the industry.”

By this time, Mubarak Begum had sung with almost every composer and singer – she’d had duets with Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt, Rafi, Mukesh, Talat Mehmood, Manna Dey… She’d sung for regional language films like in Sindhi (“It was ever so difficult,” she laughs, today , “to get the pronunciation right AND concentrate on the singing! But watching my co-singer, Talat Mahmood, struggling too made me do my best”). Now, she sings for stage shows – “I have to survive,” she says.

TODAY…

But listeners will never forget what she has sung, even if her repertoire hasn’t been very large. She has some memorable numbers to her credit – Jan Nissar Akhtar’s number for ‘Susheela’ with Talat Mahmood, ‘Kuch ajnabi se aap hain, kuch ajnabi se hum…’ or the one from ‘Daakbabu’, ‘Ghir ghir aaye badarva kare, rang bhare ras bhare pyare pyare…’

This industry where awards are two a penny, Mubarak Begum has received no recognition whatsoever for her work… “Forget appreciating talent with an award, we’re not even invited for the functions any more. So completely have we been forgotten,” says she, sadly – As told to Lata Khubchandani few years ago

Solo Song List | 1931 – 1940 | 1941 – 1950 | 1951 – Onwards |

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Rajkumari

Rajkumari Dubey was just 10 years old when she recorded her first song for HMV in 1934. But she started her career as a stage artiste. She recounts, “Vijay and Shankar Bhatt of Prakash Pictures spotted me during one of my shows. They liked my voice and persuaded me to discontinue acting on stage, as it would spoil my voice. (In those days, there were no mikes and you had to shout to be heard!) So, I quit theatre and became an employee of Prakash Pictures, as an actress and singer.

INTO MOVIES AND MUSIC

My first film with them was a Hindi-Gujarati bilingual called ‘Sansar Leela Nayi Duniya’. In those days, I often acted opposite Zakaria Khan (late actor Amjad Khan’s father, whose screen name was Jayant). And I used to sing for popular music director, Lallubhai.

CHANGING TRACKS

I began getting fed up with having to keep a watch on my figure and decided to stick to just singing as a career. After I quit Prakash Pictures, I started playback singing for actresses like Ratnamala, Shobhna Samarth, etc. I sang a lot of Gujarati and Punjabi songs.

A BORN PROFESSIONAL

I never really had the opportunity to learn singing. But was very good at picking up what my composers taught me. They thought I was a trained singer! My family has always supported me – when I was an actress and singer. I married very late in life. My husband was from Benares (UP), where he spent a lot of his time (because he owned a shop there), while I was settled in Mumbai. Of course, he joined me later.

NOSTALGIA MY PEERS

I counted among my peers Shamshad Begum, Zohrabai, Juthika Roy, Zeenat Begum, etc. Our voices were very distinct – both Zohra and Shamshad had resounding voices with a high range, while mine was very soft with a smaller range. I sang quite a few songs with Mukesh, the most popular being ‘Mujhe sach sach batado kya, ke kab dil mein samaye the’. I did not get much opportunity to sing with Mohammad Rafi – mainly because Lata Mangeshkar was just getting popular at the time and, then, all of us took a backseat. In ‘Anhonee’, I sang with Lata Mangeshkar – the song was ‘Zindagi badli’. Nargis had a double role, so I sang for one, while Lata Mangeshkar sang for the other. I sang with Nurjehan in ‘Naukar’. While I never sang with KC Dey, I did sing songs composed by him, along with Manna Dey, his nephew.

AN ODE TO SAIGAL

I am a great fan of KL Saigal and Noor Jehan. I had occasion to sing with the former in ‘Bhakt Surdas’ and remember him as a very charming person. I have never understood why people criticised him for his drinking, etc. So what if he felt he couldn’t sing without drinking? It was his personal choice. I remember him telling me, ‘Rajkumari’ji’, I want to take you with me when I go from this world.’

MEMORIES ARE MADE OF GEETA AND KIDAR

In ‘Bawre Nain’, while singing for Geeta Bali, she’d come up to me and say mischievously, ‘Look at me – my actions – and sing accordingly.’ She was so full of life.

Kidar Sharma, the director, was one of the most talented men I’ve ever known. It was he who groomed Geeta Bali, Raj Kapoor, Mala Sinha and others. But from all his ‘shishyas’, I think only Geeta Bali managed to pick up the nuances of his teachings.

Kidar Sharma had his own way of showing his appreciation. If he liked something you did, he’d give you a two ‘anna’ coin. And, in his entire life, he must have given the coin to just three people – Geeta Bali, Raj Kapoor and myself. He treated me with a lot of respect. I sang in his Raj Kapoor-Madhubala starrer ‘Neelkamal’, ‘Bawre Nain’ and several other films.

MY FRIEND – ZOHRABAI

If I had a friend in the industry, it was Zohrabai. We shared many good times – going out together, visiting each other. I sang with her in ‘Mahal’. When Kamal Amrohi was making the film, he said to me, ‘Rajkumari, I need a voice that sounds like a boy’s to sing with you.’ I replied, ‘Well, then get a boy.’ He said, ‘No, I need a female singer.’ I first suggested Shamshad Begum, but he refused. Then, I suggested Zohrabai and that’s how we sang the duet, ‘Ye raat phir na aayegi, ye jawani beet jayegi’ (1950).

I WISH I COULD SING NOW…

I think I was the only artiste who never sang songs that weren’t for films. Though there was a time when I was employed by HMV to sing some Gujarati songs. I was paid Rs. 400 per month and was supposed to do 12 songs a year.

I sung four background numbers in ‘Pakeezah’, of which the most popular was ‘Nazariya ki maari mari mori guiyyan’. This song became so representative of the ‘kotha’. It was also used in ‘Mirch Masala’ – the Naseeruddin-Smita Patil starrer and was played throughout the film (Naseer is shown listening to it over and over again). I must say I enjoyed my career. In fact, even today, I wish I could sing now – I’m bored. But I suppose my days are over.

THE GOOD OLD DAYS…

It was such a beautiful time – when I started singing – the camaraderie, the affection and the respect we received! If I have any regret, it is that I didn’t get an opportunity to work with Madan Mohan. I loved his music. I did sing for him once, but would have loved to do more work with him. But it never happened. In retrospect, I can say I’ve sung all types of songs – ‘geets’, ‘qawwalis’, ‘bhajans’, ‘ghazals’, happy songs, sad ones…

HER SWAN SONG

Practically, the last time one saw Rajkumari perform was when Nurjehan visited India and the TV programme ‘Mortal Men, Immortal Melodies’ was made. Rajkumari sang along with the other singers who had gathered to welcome the nightingale from Pakistan, evoking memories of an era gone by.

MUSIC DIRECTORS

I’ve worked with practically all the composers of my time – Khemchand Prakash, Ghulam Haider, Sajjad Hussain, Husnlal Bhagatram, Naushad, Anil Biswas, O.P. Nayyar, S.D. Burman, R.D. Burman and Khurshid Anwar. Among the composers I sang for, I think the late Sajjad Hussain was the most difficult – his compositions were intricate and his way of explaining very complex. Take, for example, ‘Khel Khel Main’ where I sang ‘Koi kis tarha raaze ulfat chhupaye, aji raahein mili aur kadam dagmagaye’. Most other singers also found him very difficult. I also sang for O.P. Nayyar in ‘Aasman’, picturized on Shyama, ‘Piya aan sakhi mere nainan mein mori nindiya churaye’. In the early ’70s, RD Burman called me and said, ‘Here’s a song which is just right for you’ and, indeed, it was a pleasure to sing. The song was a ‘bhajan’ for Gulzar’s ‘Kitaab’, picturised on Dina Pathak: ‘Hari din to beeta sham hui, ab raat baki kataa de’ – As told to Lata Khubchandani few years ago

Profile – Interview – Gallery

Back to Legends – Shamshad Begum

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Shamshad Begum

Shamshad Begum, the undisputed melody queen of yesteryear, lives the life of a recluse today. This reclusiveness gives her an aura of mystery befitting her personality. She was, and remains, a reserved person. If she is known and loved today — six decades after she began singing — it is for her immortal voice and unforgettable songs like Piya ke ghar aaj pyari dulhaniya chali (Mother India), Kahin pe nigahen kahin pe nishaana (CID), Kahe koyal shor machaye re (Aag), O leke pehla pehla pyar (CID) and Ye duniya roop ki chor (Shabnam).

Born on April 19, 1919, Shamshad belonged to a large family of 12 children. She discovered her love for music early in life, but her conservative father didn’t encourage her to train in music. Fortunately, her uncle loved music and persuaded her father to send her for a music test which was being held by the popular music company Jenaphone. She was selected as the company’s artiste when she was just 13. Her first songs were non-film numbers which became so popular that she was invited to sing on the radio. For five years, Shamshad ruled the radio. When films did happen to her finally, she was already a known name.

“Most of what I sang in those days was non-film stuff because the talkies had just started in 1931 and not too many songs were incorporated in films in the first few years. I remember one song which became almost an anthem in those days — Ik baar phir kaho zara — but it didn’t belong to any film,” she smiles.

Lahore was then the hub of the film industry and Dalsukh Pancholi of Dalsukh Arts the biggest film-maker of the time. Playback singing had started in Bombay, but hadn’t yet reached Lahore. When it did, Shamshad Begum had the honour of becoming the very first playback artiste for Pancholi Arts. It opened the gates for a stream of successful films — Khazanchi, Khandaan, Pagli, Shukriya, Yamaljat. At times, even indifferent films did great business, partly because films were such a novelty and partly because of the music. And Shamshad was right at the top of the bracket. Even Lata Mangeshkar once told her, “No one has seen the kind of stardom and respect that you did!”

Her voice was unmistakable. Saawan ke nazare hain (Khazanchi) drove audiences crazy across the country. It was at this time that Shamshad was invited to Bombay. She refused to leave her beloved Lahore till Mehboob Khan personally requested her to. This was in 1942 for the film Taqdeer, which marked the Nargis’s debut. Shamshad came to Bombay, she sang and she conquered. Mehboob Khan signed her on to sing for most of his films.

But the times were difficult. The second World War was on and bureaucratic control overshadowed everything else. Shamshad had to return to Lahore, but not before Navyug Chitrapat, a Pune-based company booked her to sing. The film was Panna, another big hit.

While she was with Pancholi Arts in Lahore, its composer was Master Ghulam Haider. If anyone could claim to have taught Shamshad anything, it was Haider. He is the one who gave a professional touch to her singing. Haider had come to Bombay by this time. Shamshad too, finally decided to settle down here because most of the work was then concentrated in Bombay.

In 1943, K Asif made Phool and Shamshad was the lead playback singer in the film. Yet again, this film went on to become a big hit and reaffirmed Shamshad’s status as the reigning superstar.

Subsequently, she was considered to be the lucky mascot for every budding composer. Her spontaneous, open-throated style of singing brought alive each and every word of a song. All the composers approached her to lend her voice to their songs. She obliged, and often, for less than her usual fee because newcomers could not afford her.

Looking back, Shamshad says, “I really don’t know how I got into films. I had no training or encouragement at home. But I had been singing as far back as I can remember. When I joined school in Lahore, we used to sing a prayer before our classes started. All of us sang in chorus. One day the principal announced that there was one voice that stood out among the rest. It was me. I was made to stand on a school bench and lead the school prayer after that. It was my first public exposure.”

There was not a single big name she didn’t work for in Bombay. Leading music composers like Naushad Ali, Anil Biswas, Sajjad Hussain, C Ramchandra, Chitragupta, Shankar-Jaikishen snapped her up. She sang for practically most of Mehboob Khan’s films. Naushad got her to sing for as many as 19 super hit films. Who can forget the beautiful songs from Aan, Jadoo, Shahjehan, Anokhi Ada and so on? Chhod babul ka ghar (from Babul) remains the favourite bidaai song till today.

Shamshad sang for S D Burman’s hit Filmistan movie Shabnam. The song, Ek baar tou ban ja mera o pardesi catapulated him to the top rung of composers. He made Shamshad sing this song in 12 different ways symbolising the 12 months.

She had already sung in over 50 films before she came to Bombay, so she was always treated with awe. Says her daughter Usha, “Mummy was always very mature in dealing with people. There was nothing flighty or silly about her. She was also very principled. She never compromised on her work, never cancelled dates, never acted starry even at the peak of her career. She spoke formally to people, discussed her work and returned home. Throughout her career she remained an artiste, never did she become a businesswoman cultivating people in order to get work.”

The legendary singer talks about how music was made in those days. “Our songs were played and our producers earned money. Today, you have to pay to get your songs played. I’ll narrate an incident. When my songs became popular, Ghulam Haider got a hike in his payment. I hesitantly asked him to give me a hike as well. He told me to approach Pancholi. So I went to Pancholi. He greeted me politely and asked me to sit. When I told him what I had come for he immediately asked how much I wanted. I used to get Rs 100 for a song, so I asked for Rs 700. He agreed. I was thrilled. Then he said, ‘Even if you’d asked me for Rs 2000 even, I’d have agreed!’ I told him to give it to me, but he replied,

‘I’m a businessman first. I’ll pay you what you asked for.’ So that was that,” she recalls.

Shamshad became a legend very early in life and her generosity was even more legendary. Her magnanimity, non-assertive nature and professional approach earned her the fond nickname ‘appa’ in the film industry.

But unfortunately, Shamshad’s life became a series of generous gestures,to the extent that sometimes composers used her to get a platform before moving on to other singers. Madan Mohan, who had beseeched her to sing for his debut film Aankhen, turned to Lata Mangeshkar, O.P. Nayyar, who just couldn’t compose without her at one time (Aasman, CID, Aar Paar) focussed his attention on Asha Bhosle.

During this time, Shamshad’s faith in God stood her in good stead. It never occurred to her to cultivate composers or appoint agents to do her work. She maintained her dignity and her professionalism throughout her career, preferring to go into oblivion if destiny willed it for her. Today, she speaks with the dignity of one who has emerged stronger.

Encouragement was something she never had. Shamshad, herself a Muslim, married G L Batto, a Punjabi lawyer. “When I got married, my husband was just not the sort of man who would want his wife to sing but I made it a condition that I wouldn’t quit. Thereafter, he didn’t stop me, but when our daughter was born he was very strict with her. Though she too had a good voice, she was not allowed to train,” rues the mother.

Shamshad Begum has fond memories of her contemporaries — Zohrabai Ambalewali, Amirbai Karnataki, Begum Akhtar, Noor Jehan, Juthika Roy, Rajkumari. “When we were together, we were great friends,” she claims. “We had a pleasant relationship,  though we didn’t socialize with each other after work. At least, I didn’t. But our professional association was good. We were all fans of K L Saigal. No one thought of harming the other, nor did we try to snatch work away from anyone.”

She also explains why singing was harder those days. “Each song had to be recorded twice — once for the film and once for the recording company. So even if you were working full time you could do only about four songs a day. Recordings took place in the evenings and shootings during the day. We worked in an atmosphere where composers put their soul into the compositions and the results are there to see — even today — isn’t it?” asks Shamshad.

During her heydays, Shamshad Begum was paid Rs 12.50 for a song by the recording company and Rs 100 by the producer for singing in the film, “but in those days, it was a lot of money,” she adds.

Does she have any regrets? “Yes,” says Shamshad, “My greatest regret is that I never got to sing with K L Saigal, though we did sing for the same film, Shahjehan. I was really shy of getting photographed. Once the two of us ran into each other at the recording company, but he didn’t know me because no one had seen my pictures. It was funny because we were then introduced and he said, ‘arre kudiye … tera bhala ho… tu kitna sona gaati hai… (God bless you, girl, you sing so well).’ Her eyes glint as she narrates this incident, recalling every nuance in the voice of her favorite singer. It also makes one realize the kind of talent these singers had and the respect they commanded from each other.

Ironically, each time Shamshad gave a hit song, she had to start all over again. All those composers who had once begged her to sing for them started giving her a raw deal. For instance, she recorded the song O leke pehla pehla pyar for CID which was, and remains, a popular song. After the recording, the sadder version was given to Asha Bhosle to sing, and this was publicized with great gusto. Despite that, it is Shamshad’s version that remains in the memory of listeners. But she read the sign loud and clear, and preferred to opt out of the messy situation, rather than stoop to stay in competition.

And in spite of life’s vagaries, she made everything that came to her a big success. Her songs gave the careers of several music directors a boost — Shaukat Dehalvi Naashad (Nagma), O.P. Nayyar (Aar Paar), Chitragupta (Sindbad Jahazi). Her number with Kishore Kumar, Mere neendo mein tum mere khwabon mein tum will perhaps
survive another century.

Shamshad still remembers her first impression of the young Kishore Kumar. Says  she, “He was a fine boy, always full of life, but professionally low because he wasn’t reaching where his brother had. I remember telling him, ‘destiny is a great thing tomorrow you may become more popular than anybody else.’ And he actually did.”

Such was the demand for Shamshad Begum that film-makers waited for her to be free to sing for them. Tarachand Barjatya wanted her to come to Madras to sing for his film. But she couldn’t spare the time, so he came to Bombay. In his film Bahar, she sang Dil ka qarar leke aaja re aaja pardesiya and Duniya ko laat maro. Guru Dutt had a superb singer at home in Geeta Dutt, but if he decided that Shamshad had to sing a particular number, then he awaited her pleasure and
convenience.

That speaks for the talent and virtuosity of this singer, particularly when one sees how replaceable some others have been.

It was when people started playing games that Shamshad went into self-imposed oblivion. Today, she leads a retired life with memories of another day to keep her company. But she retains that regality which made her rule musicdom once – Lata Khubchandani

Interview has been edited for accuracy – Ummer Siddique

Profile – Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4

Fact File – Filmography – Interview – Photo Gallery

Back to Legends – Talat Mahmood

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Talat Mahmood

Not many Talat Mahmood fans with associate him with acting. After all, the mellow voice which rendered golden classics like Jalte hain jiske liye, Tasveer banata
hoon tasveer nahin banti, had earned him repute as a singer.

But the incomparable Nutan always referred to Seema and Sone Ki Chidiya as her most memorable films. Both films starred Balraj Sahni and Talat Mahmood. Besides, at a Suraiya retrospective in Bombay in 1994, a much-acclaimed film was the late Sohrab Modi’s Waris. This film, too, starred Talat Mahmood.

“I filled a necessary void in those days,” says the soft-spoken hero of 14 films. “I was a singing hero.” There were other luminaries of Hindi cinedom who had also filled that slot. Prominent among whom was that great singer Kundan Lal Saigal, oft-remembered for his tragic rendering of the role of Devdas. The incomparable Kishore Kumar is remembered for his various comic roles. Why, even the soulful Mukesh tried his hand in acting in an eminently forgettable home production.

Of course, these singers were promoted and sold as stars because of their singing ability. Something like the Elvis craze that swept the United States in the fifties and the sixties. None of those guys expected an academy award winning performance from Elvis – all they wanted was to see their favourite singer, live, on screen. Hence, Presley always had roles specially written for him. And the focus was always on his singing ability.

Which is exactly happened with Talatsaab. He was born into a highly cultured, but conservative, family in Lucknow. Music interested him to such an extent that he studied it as a subject in Lucknow’s Morris College. Often, he sang for the All India Radio, Lucknow. Later, he signed on with HMV. He had to go to Calcutta in 1941 for the recording sessions, which was when he was spotted by the famous New Theatre bosses.

Talatsaab was an extremely handsome young man. Even today, despite the ravages of time, a heart attack and a paralytic stroke, there is a certain heartwarming glow about the man.

P K Sanyal of New Theatres wanted me to sign me on as an actor,” Talatsaab recalled his early days in Calcutta. “I had no objections, really. But my father was a bit upset, though he came around finally.”

Calcutta was the scene of hectic filming during the early 1940′s. Talatsaab’s first film, Raj Lakshmi, co-starred Kanan Bala and Chhabi Biswas. Released in 1945, the film did fairly well and was followed by Samapti with Bharati Devi and Tum Aur Mein with Kanan Devi. Talatsaab had never trained as an actor. He performed by instinct and picked up tips by watching his co-actors on-screen.

“I enjoyed acting,” recalls Talatsaab. “And these were soft, romantic roles in films that has a number of songs. The films of this era followed the singing hero concept very closely.” But the handsome actor, at 22, faced a peculiar problem. Most of his heroines like Kanan Bala and Kanan Devi were older than him and the pairing, at times, looked distinctly odd.

During the late 1940s, the focus of movie making shifted from Calcutta to Bombay. Like several other young aspirants, Talatsaab also made the change. He was warmly welcomed; his reputation had preceded him. Music director Anil Biswas gave him a break in Arzoo and his playback singing for Dilip Kumar proved to be a major highlight of the film.

During the early 1950s, Talatsaab was sought after by every leading music director. He lent his voice to every single top hero, from Dilip Kumar to Bharat Bhushan. In 1951, he made a guest appearance in the Dev Anand-Madhubala starrer, Aaram, sitting at the piano as he rendered that memorable number, Shukriya shukriya. The film was not much of a success, but the song is hummed even today.

His first role as a hero in a Bombay film, though, only came in 1953. “(A R) Kardarsaab chose me as the hero for his film, Dil-E-Nadaan,” explained Talatsaab. Newcomer Peace Kanwal, the winner of a beauty contest organised by Kardar and the Kolynos toothpaste firm, was the heroine.

Dil-E-Nadaan was a soft, romantic triangle with Talat, the singer, being wooed by two women, Peace Kanwal and Shyama. The music score by Ghulam Mohammad produced everlasting hits like Zindagi denewale and Yeh raat suhani raat nahi.

Dil-E-Nadaan’s music became the rage. And Talatsaab became a sought-after hero in Hindi films. Then followed Daak Babu (with Nadira), Waris, Raftar (Nadira and Naaz) and Diwali Ki Raat (Roopmala, Shashikala and Leela Mishra). In the last mentioned, the elegant Talatsaab played a taxi driver.

Well known director Satyen Bose directed him in the 1957 hit, Ek Gaon Ki Kahani (Mala Sinha). Producer S U Sunny – who had made the Dilip Kumar starrers, Babul and Udan Khatola – cast the singer-duo of Suraiya and Talat Mahmood in Maalik. The innovative Khayyam scored the music for Lala Rookh, a fantasy where Talatsaab starred with Shyama.

“I never did more than one or two films at a time,” Talatsaab recalled. “I also noted the difference between filming in Bombay and filming in Calcutta. Unlike the more artistic Calcutta where movies were made at a slow pace, Bombay was commercial. Life was hectic. Everyone was  in his own world and was, of course, very professional.”

What kind of an impact did Talat Mahmood make as an actor?

The great singer thought a while and then candidly admitted, “Listen, I was not competing with stars like Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand or Ashok Kumar. But, in those days, soft, romantic films were appreciated and singing hero like me could do well.” His films were not box office bonanzas. Neither were they disasters which disappeared without trace, days after their release. Three of his films – Waris, Sone Ki Chidiya and Ek Gaon Ki Kahani – were much-appreciated hits.

Talat Mahmood’s major drawback was that, quite often, he held himself back in crucial romantic scenes. His self-consciousness showed. He could not essay violence and comedy. But he was adequate as an emotional actor. And he had a large female following.

From 1956, Talat Mahmood regularly went on foreign tours. The concerts – held in the UK, the US, the Gulf and even the distant West Indies – were super hits. To the extent that, in the Caribbean, Indian residents even gave up watching cricket to attend his shows.

When he sang in Kabul as the royal guest of King Zahir Shah, the women in the palace competed to get themselves photographed with him. He got a ticker tape welcome in Mauritius. The late Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt, was one of his fans. But the ultimate accolade came from Pakistan – at the packed Karachi stadium, Pakistani women came in thousands to listen to him. It was a first.

It was also a display of star quality. But as he acted in films and spent months abroad on concerts, music directors and producers had to look for other playback singers. As a result, Talatsaab lost out on some memorable films like Madhumati.

Some of the music directors felt that, having turned actor, he would not be easily available as a playback singer. As Talatsaab’s son, Khalid, explained, “Also, Father would never ask for favours. Not would he undercut anyone. He was, and is, a thorough professional and a gentleman.”

By the mid-1960′s, film music had changed. Shammi Kapoor, with his boisterous Yahoo image, had arrived. There were fewer opportunities for a voice like Talatsaab’s. But the concerts continued, so did the recording of private ghazals. The government honoured him with a Padma Bhushan and Doordarshan made a documentary on him – V Gangadhar

Profile – Fact File

Filmography – Interview – Photo Gallery

Back to Legends – Suraiya

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Suraiya

There was a time when traffic jams at Marine Drive (Mumbai) were caused not due to a long line of cars, but because of a young charismatic actress whose melodious voice had cast a spell on thousands of young Indians. Entering her home at Krishna Mahal on Marine Drive today, instantly transports you into another age and time.

“I WAS 12 AND LOOKED LIKE MUMTAZ MAHAL!”

Suraiya’s career as an actress began as a child artiste.

“One day, my ‘mamoo’ (maternal uncle) Zahoor, who was a popular villian in films, took me along to watch the shooting of Prakash Pictures’ ‘Taj Mahal’. There, I met the producer, Nanubhai Vakil, who felt that my face was ideally suited for the character of young Mumtaz Mahal and asked my uncle if I could do the film. My mother and grandmother agreed. So, I went off to Delhi to shoot at the Red Fort for 10 days.

“And that was followed by one offer after another.” And a star was born.

SINGING WAS AN ACCIDENT

“I was never trained in singing. Madan Mohan, who lived close by and Raj Kapoor once dragged me to participate in the children’s programme on the All India Radio. Naushad sa’ab, who heard my voice on the radio, got in touch with me to sing for Kardar sa’ab’s film, ‘Sharda’. And I sang ‘Panchi ja peeche raha hain bachpan mera’, which was picturised on Mehtab. I was 11 years old then.”

“NARGIS ENVIED ME”

“Frankly, I hadn’t planned a career in films. I was just lucky to have got good roles. Nargis would always tell me, ‘Somehow you get the best roles’,” says Suraiya, modestly.

“Most of my roles were simple, but the audiences loved them. And I was lucky to have got simple, melodious and easy to pick up songs to sing, and work with the best composers of the day like Naushad, Husnlal-Bhagatram and Anil Biswas. We didn’t even dream of promo videos, ads and all the associated technical wizardry then. But we still caught the audience’s imagination.”

THE CROWDS WENT SURAIYA-MAD

And how! When ‘Pyar Ki Jeet’ was released, it drew crowds outside Suraiya’s house that had to be controlled by posting an inspector and four constables outside her house.

“When I went for the premiere of the movie ‘Badi Bahen’, there was such a big crowd outside! As I walked into the theatre, they pulled at my clothes. There was a lathi charge and people were injured. I stopped going for premieres thereafter.”

“DEV SAVED MY LIFE”

No Suraiya interview can be complete without a reference to the Dev Anand-Suraiya love story. While Dev Anand himself went on to marry Kalpana Kartik and, later, to romance several other women, for Suraiya, it seems that love began and ended with Dev Anand.

“We were picturising a song in a boat right in the middle of the river, when the boat overturned and we found ourselves floundering in the water. I didn’t know how to swim. Dev brought me out of the water. I thanked him, saying, ‘If you hadn’t saved me, my life would have ended.’ He retorted, ‘If your life had ended, so would mine.’ We were drawn to each other.”

“MY GRANNY WAS DEAD AGAINST DEV”

“I worked with Dev in seven films. Inevitably, people started talking about our romance and my grandmother learnt of it. She was extremely angry because Dev was a Hindu and granny was very orthodox.”

“WE DECIDED TO ELOPE”

The highlight of this romance was the plan the lovers made to elope. While shooting for ‘Jeet’, the director decided to film on location instead of erecting a set. Also part of the plan was the summoning of a real ‘panditji’ to get Dev and Suraiya married during the shot. They would then get into the car and drive away – all as part of the scene, but in reality escaping.

“I BACKED OUT”

Unfortunately, Suraiya’s grandmother came to know of the plan.

“Eventually, my grandmother succeeded in separating us. Dev was deeply hurt and offended by my lack of courage. But I was afraid for him. In retrospect, I don’t think anything would have happened if I’d been bold enough. But I was terrified of my grandmother. And was heartbroken. But time is the greatest healer.”

A practical woman, Suraiya prefers not to be a prisoner of the past. She agrees that had she chosen one of the many marriage proposals that came her way, life would have been different. But, she says, “Who can say what may have happened had I married? I’ve seen so many friends’ marriages crumbling. I’ve been single and happy, living and doing the things I like, with a circle of close friends. But I’ll admit that after my mother expired some years ago, I felt some amount of loneliness creep in.”

“PANDIT NEHRU COMMENDED ME”

“I’d been a fan of Mirza Ghalib since childhood. And so when Sohrab Modi sent for my grandmother and discussed the role and other terms with her, I was thrilled.

“It was a very simple film, made in three months. Yet, what an effect the film had! It was the first feature film to be awarded the President’s Gold Medal. At a function in Delhi, Pandit Nehru, after watching the movie, said to me, ‘Ladki, tumne kya unke (Mirza Ghalib) ghazalein gaayi. Tumne Mirza Ghalib ki rooh ko zinda kar diya.’ For me, that was an award better than an Oscar.”

“MY TIME HAD COME”

‘Rustom Aur Sohrab’ made in 1962 was Suraiya’s swan song. Why?

“I hadn’t been keeping well and had collapsed with weakness during the shooting of the movie. I was forced to take a break and recuperate. During that time, I really enjoyed resting and realised how tired I was with work. I completed the films I had on hand and decided to call it a day. And I’ve never looked back.”

Incidentally, this legendary actress-singer still retains a lovely schoolgirlish lilt in her voice. Time, it seems, hasnt laid its hands on it – Source: Feminaindia.com, Interview by: Sheila Vesuna

Note:- This interview was conducted in late 90s.