Daily Times

Singer Zubaida Khanum touched the heights of popularity through Pakistani films in the 1950s and the ’60s which was considered the golden era of Pakistani film music.

After a brief love affair with acting, Zubaida Khanum shifted towards playback singing. She was a natural choice for all the composers as playback singer just as Noor Jahan was in the ’50s, who only sang for the films she starred in. There even came a time when Zubaida was preferred over Noor Jahan to sing their tracks. Sources say that Zubaida sang over 250 songs; 257 to be more precise. The figures given on the Internet are 152 Urdu and 105 Punjabi songs.

Some of the most popular films for which she sang were ‘Shehri Babu’, ‘Pattan’, ‘Patay Khan’, ‘Sarfarosh’, ‘Hameeda’, ‘Baaghi’, ‘Guddi Gudda’, ‘Heer’, ‘Chann Mahi’, ‘Mahi Munda’, ‘Yakke Wali’, ‘Saat Lakh’, ‘Ishq-e-Laila’, ‘Zehr-e-Ishq’, ‘Chhoo Mantar’, ‘Mukhra’, ‘Sheikh Chilli’, ‘Jatti’, ‘Kartar Singh’, ‘Koel’, ‘Raaz’, ‘Sola Aaney’, ‘Naaji’, ‘Mitti Dian Moortan’, ‘Ayaz’, ‘Raat Ke Rahi’ and many others.

There is no doubt that Zubaida’s talent was utilised well by every composer, however Khawaja Khurshid Anwar takes the lead when he requested Zubaida to sing ‘Raat Chandni Main Akaili’ for the film ‘Zaher-e-Ishq’. Mussarat Nazir performed well in the video, where she’s seen waiting for her beloved Habib

Zubaida discontinued singing following her marriage with cameraman Syed Jaffar Bukhari by the end of ’60s. After her marriage she restricted herself for Milaad Recitations in private gatherings only. I shall mention some of her outstanding songs that were not only hit but also used her deep voice aptly instead of creating tunes where her voice would have shrill tones.

There is no doubt that Zubaida’s talent was utilised well by every composer, however Khawaja Khurshid Anwar takes the lead when he requested Zubaida to sing “Raat Chandni Main Akaili” for the film ‘Zaher-e-Ishq’. Mussarat Nazir’s performed well in the video, where she’s seen waiting for her beloved Habib. The mood, vocal expressions and disappointment is visible in her movement, in the tune and lyrics. Habib’s rushing towards her from his home is restricted by her mother Bibbo and wife Yasmin obstructing his departure. He is too weak to remove these barriers. The sound of the song is loud when the camera is on Musarrat Nazir and low when it reaches Habib’s home. That is one example of natural direction. This song is a milestone in Zubeda Khanum and Khwaja Khursheed Anwar’s careers. The latter was extremely disappointed when this artistic venture did not click on the box office; though he went on to make ‘Ghoonghat’ as the next successful venture.

On Screen are Husna and Ratan Kumar on this beautiful melody by music composer Safdar Hussain. Lyrics are penned by Qateel Shifai. This song just depicts Zubeda’s range of voice and cry from her heart. Although Neelo was the heroine of this movie but Husna, in her side role, captured movie goers for her acting on this song. Safdar created excellent music despite the fact his cousin Rasheed Attre was at top in those days.

Indian actress Rehana had moved to Pakistan where she got a break in the movie ‘Raat Kei Raahi’ and Zubeda Khanum’s song ‘Kaya Hua Dil Pei Situm Tum Na Samjho Gei Balam’ filmed on her became popular instantly. Music was by A. Hameed and lyrics by Fayyaz Hashmi. The cast of this film was Rehana, Darpan, Shamim Ara, Lehri, Ibrahim Nafees, Sikandar, Faizi, Saqi and Ahmad Rushdi (guest artist). Singers were Zubeda Khanum, Saleem Raza and Ahmad Rushdi. This film was directed by Iqbal Yousuf and produced by Iqbal Shehzad and Nooruddin Kisat. Iqbal Shahzad was an engineer by profession but became a successful director due to his love for film making. He went on to produce and direct films like ‘Banjaran’ and ‘Baiti’ subsequently. He was also brother of test cricketers Waqar Hassan and Parvez Sajjad. I like this song for its sad melody, deep vocal tonal capturing of Zubeda’s voice and for flute interludes with base tonal qualities.

Feroze Nizami was a very intelligent music composer. My choice of this song is solely due to the fact that Feroze Nizami used the deep tonal variations available in Zubeda Khanum’s voice for the song Rotte Hain Chum Chum Nain from the film Sola Anne.Generally music composers made tunes that used shrieking tones of a female singer not understanding that not all singers can do justice with top notes. Lyrics were penned by Qateel Shifai. Another song by Zubeda Khanum ‘Chori Ho Gaya Dil Matwala’ from this movie is a catchy number.Feroze Nizami was one of the first people who wrote on music in Pakistan. His book ‘Asraar-e-Mausiqui’ is considered as a masterpiece in the field of music.

This was a hit song of the film ‘Saat Lakh’ when it was released. Each beloved would quote the second line of this song “Tu Chutti Le Ke Aaja Balma” (take leave and come home). This was a lyrical treat given by producer, director and poet Saifuddin Saif. Subsequently, many singers remixed this song for the small screen as Naheed Akhtar did and later by pop band Josh. The latter’s video shows two singers getting inspired from watching Neelo’s dance in the original video on the television screen while eating at a Punjabi dhaba. In the film version, Neelo as a mountain girl sings for a couple Sabiha-Santosh who are on a leisure trip to the mountains. This is Zubaida-Rasheed Attre-Saifuddin Saif’s best production.

The writer is the recipient of the prestigious Pride of Performance award. He can be reached at doc_amjad@hotmail.com