Noor Jehan Queen of Melody

Who in the subcontinent has not heard of legendary Pakistani singer and actress Noor Jehan? Twelve years after her death, the Malika-e-Tarannum (queen of melody), still commands a large fan following. Connoisseurs of music cannot but fail to recall her haunting numbers from the film “Khandan”: “Tu Kaun si badali mein mere chand hai” and “Mere liye jahan mein”.
“Those who witnessed her meteoric rise from a child artiste, Baby Noor Jehan to Malika-e-Tarannum greatly miss the phenomenal musical genius. No other singing star of the subcontinent in the 20th century ever reached the commanding heights of name and fame achieved by Noor Jehan, the nightingale of Punjab. She brought a revolution in the world of popular music and even gave form and content to Punjabi folk music,” says author-scholar Pran Nevile, who is also the founder of the KL Saigal Memorial Circle that is dedicated to paying tribute to famous singers of yesteryears.
Noor Jehan -- born Allah Wasai -- was born in Kasur, Punjab in 1926. Belonging to a family of professional musicians, at the age of merely five or six years she displayed a propensity towards music. Encouraged by her mother to go in for formal learning in music, the young girl received her first training in classical singing under the wings of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, who was also from Kasur. She went in for further training as well.
At the time Calcutta was the cultural hub of the subcontinent. The family therefore moved to Calcutta in the mid-30s to find a niche for Wasai and her two elder sisters in local theatre companies. The rest as they say is history. Starting out with the sobriquet Baby Noor Jehan, India's famous singing star was to capture many hearts with films like “Lal Haveli”, “Dost” and “Zeenat”. Her career took her from Calcutta to Lahore to Bombay and finally to Lahore by which time she had married producer-director Shaukat Hussain Rizvi.
In 1953-54, Noor Jehan and Rizvi parted ways. Five years later she married another actor, Ejaz Durrani, nine years her junior. Pressured to give up acting by her second husband, her last film as an actress-singer was the memorable “Mirza Ghalib” (1961). She is remembered for her rendition of Faiz Ahmed Faiz's “Mujh se pehli si mohabbat mere mehboob naj maang” , a tarannum where poetry is recited as a song. Noor Jehan last acted in Baaji in 1963, though not in a leading role.
Nevile recalls that Lata Mangeshkar was a long time admirer of Noor Jehan. In late 1951, on a visit to Amritsar, he says, Lata approached the local authorities to arrange her meeting with Noor Jehan at the Wagah border. They spent a few hours together.
Even after her death Noor Jehan continues to cast a spell on her listeners. According to Nevile, Noor Jehan “belongs to the class of human beings who defy death. She is alive even today as we listen to her haunting melodies.”

Compiled by Cultural Correspondent