Daily Times

Among the few surviving Lahori folks still in Bombay are Shamshad Begum, Shyama (Khurshid Akhtar) and Kamini Kaushal. I suppose another old-timer would be music director Khayyam, though he hailed from Jullundar but was groomed in Lahore. Shamshad Begum (born April 14, 1919) and the late Mohammad Rafi were born in Amritsar district, but their families moved to Lahore when they were small and therefore both can be counted among Lahoris.

My father was a stern patriarch who left films and music to us while he maintained a strict Islamic posture. However, that did not mean he had no ear for music. I am told that in the early 1940s, one day when a Punjabi song of Shamshad Begum was being relayed on the All-India Radio Lahore, he said mischievously, “Aye kurri teh tulli wunger ganndi aye.” In English, it would translate as: “This lass sings like a bell.” Indeed, Shamshad Begum’s voice had a unique metallic clang and it was clear as crystal.

Now I suppose to say that a bell sings is not strictly idiomatic in either Punjabi or English, but then music has a different language, grammar and indeed syntax as well. Therefore, intuitively, he was making an accurate statement. A nicely timed bell can be extremely melodious. To my very great surprise, I read somewhere that the great Lahore-born music director who became a sensation in Bombay, O P Nayyar, described Shamshad’s voice in similar words: he described it as a ‘temple bell’.

Shamshad’s voice texture connected very well to that of senior light classical female singers who were then the prevailing voices in the film industry, such as Zohra Bai Ambalawali, Ameer Bai Karnatki and many others. They represented a style of singing that had evolved over centuries under the patronage of princes and in respected courtesan quarters. Like so many other Punjabis who made their mark in Bollywood, Shamshad cut her teeth as a singer in Lahore. Sarangi maestro Ustad Hussain Bakshwale Sahib took her as his disciple while the great pioneer of the Punjabi beat and tempo in film music, Master Ghulam Haider gave her a break in several films produced in Lahore such as Yamla Jatt (1940), Khaazanchi (1941), and Khandaan (1942). When Ghulam Haider moved to Bombay in 1944, Shamshad accompanied him as a member of his team.

From the mid-1940s until the end of the 1950s, Shamshad was a very much sought after singer in the Indian film industry. The legendary Naushad Ali and O P Nayyar put her great qualities to best use. Other great music directors also used her voice to produce sensational songs.

Shamshad married a Sindhi Hindu, Ganpat Lal Batto, who died in 1955. I believe they had two children. Research done for this essay showed that she currently lives with her daughter Usha Ratra and son-in-law in Bombay. The government of India honoured her in 2009 with the Padma Bhusan, a high civil award for distinguished service to the nation.

The interesting question is, did she ever visit Lahore? I really have no answer. In 2003, while doing research for The Punjab Bloodied, Partitioned and Cleansed, I almost met her relatives when I and Ahmad Salim were with some people from Mohni Road, where she grew up and her relatives continued to live. Somehow, that line of enquiry did not go any further.

It is possible that since she married a Hindu, her links to Lahore were severed. However, I know that some people from Lahore have visited her and they were received very well. Among them has been Dr Omar Adil who is a well-known commentator on such matters on Pakistan television. I am told she can hardly hear any more. That is not surprising when she is now 93.

Among her greatest songs I would count the following: Gham ka fasana (Mela, 1948, Naushad); Mera dil torrney wale (duet with Mukesh for Mela, 1948, Naushad); Na bol panchee mere angana (Dulari, 1949, Naushad); Meri lagdi kisey naa dekhi (Lachhi, 1949, Hansraj Behl, S Mohinder, Sardul Kwatra); Kaise baje dil ka sitar (duet with Mohammad Rafi, Chandni Raat, 1949, Naushad); Mere piaa gaye Rangoon (duet with Chitalkar, Patanga, 1949, Ramchandra); Chor babul ka ghar (Babul, 1950, Naushad); Milte hi aankhen dil hua (duet with Talat Mahmood, Babul, 1950, Naushad); Sainiyaan dil mein ana rey (Bahar, 1950, SD Burman); Mere ghungar wale baal (Pardes, 1950, Ghulam Mohammad); Aik do teen ajaa mausam hai rangeen (Awara, 1952, Shankar-Jaikishen); Kabhi aar kabhi paar (Aar Paar, 1954, O P Nayyar); Mohabat karlo jee bharlo (duet with Mohammad Rafi, Aar Paar 1954,O P Nayyar); Leke pehla pehla pyar (duet with Mohammad Rafi, CID,1956, O P Nayyar); Kahin pe nigahen kahin pe nishana (CID,1956, O P Nayyar); Boojh mera kya naam re (CID, 1956, O P Nayyar); Reshmi salwar kurta jaali ka (duet with Asha Bhosle, Nya Daur, 1957, O P Nayyar); Amiaan de bootayaan te (Bhangra, 1959, Husnlal-Bhagatram, Hansraj Behl); Saari umaan de paigaye vichorey (duet with Mohammad Rafi, Do lachiayaan, 1960, Hansraj Behl); Kajra mohabbatwala ankhiyon mein aisa dala (duet with Asha Bhonsle, Kismat, 1968, O P Nayyar).

The above given list can easily be extended or revised but I have chosen those songs that I think most people who appreciate film songs would have no difficulty in accepting as fairly representative. Shamshad Begum will always be adored as a singer of exceptional qualities and talent.

The writer has a PhD from Stockholm University. He is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University. He is also Honorary Senior Fellow of the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. His latest publication is The Punjab Bloodied, Partitioned and Cleansed: Unravelling the 1947 Tragedy through Secret British Reports and First-Person Accounts (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2012; New Delhi: Rupa Books, 2011). He can be reached at billumian@gmail.com