What do you do when you forget to take a book on a flight? You find an excuse to talk to the person sitting next to you. If that person happens to be a music producer and a composer who was a trend setter and a star-maker during the years you were discovering music, who needs an excuse? That is exactly what happened with me a few days ago on a flight from Karachi to Islamabad. Sitting next to me was Arshad Mehmood, renowned music composer, music producer, and actor currently working as director programmes and administration at National Academy of Performing Arts. Actor and music composer Arshad Mehmood started composing music in 1972 and was later the driving force behind EMI Pakistan. With its first recording – a Madam Noor Jahan track – dating back to 1939, EMI emerged as a platforms for the country’s greatest artists during the 70s and the subsequent decades. Most of EMI’s memorable work is under Arshad’s watch as a producer and a talent promoter. So strong was his imprint on EMI that famous music composer Nisar Bazmi once said that EMI without Arshad would be a nonentity. Music that he composed was different from what Pakistani listeners were used to. His euphonious compositions were subtleand accentuated vocals rather than competing with them – as was a norm in the other popular form of music of that time, the filmy numbers. During the 70s, Pakistan was trying to get back on its feet after the debacle of 71 with euphoria of democracy as a crutch. Arshad and his idealist friends including Shoaib Hashmi, Saleema Hashmi, Nayyara Noor and Navid Shahzad were the frontrunners of youth culture. During the 80s, despite the strict censorship he was instrumental in keeping the spirit of good music alive and Faiz’s poetry relevant for those who were in their formative years like me. I have no qualms in admitting that I discovered Faiz, through Arshad’s compositions for Nayyara Noor and Tina Sani, long before I picked Faiz’s first poetry book -Dast-e-Tahe-Sang gifted to me by my father in 1991. During our conversation, I asked Mehmood about his opinions on some of the singers he composed for or promoted under the banner of EMI. His own passion for music was evident from how he talked about each one of them. “I consider myself lucky that as a music composer and promoter, I had so many exceptional singers to choose from. Each singer had his or her own voice texture and I could choose depending on the requirement of the composition. Now I don’t see that many choices,” Arshad reflected. We started with talking about Tina Sani, one of the two artists that he worked most with as a composer. “At a time when Pakistani listeners were used to ringing high pitched voices because of Lata’s influence, Tina emerged with a distinctively deeper voice. She was very hardworking and that is always a delight for a composer. Such singers carry a lot of weight on their shoulders. A singer must emote a tune so the poetry gets enhanced. Tina understood the poetry and that made her songs more memorable. I would not like to name one of her songs as her best because most of her songs were composed by me. It would be like blowing my own trumpet. I would say those songs became more popular because of Tina’s singing, the intellectual depth of the poetry, and the strength of the classical raags that they were based on. For example, “Bahar Aiyee” has all three elements – Tina’s singing, Faiz’s poetry, and the fact that it is based on raag durga.” Talking about the other artist he has worked extensively with, Arshad shared, “Nayyara Noor is a much more versatile singer because she did film songs, ghazals and a lot more work. She has also sung serious poetry very well. In fact most of the compositions I have made for Faiz’s poetry have been sung by Nayyara. I used to tell her that your voice is made of wax; it could take any shape and form. She had a brilliant musical mind and she fully immerse herself in the minutest nuances of a composition. I often say that Nayyara sang my compositions so beautifully that now they belong to her only. I would recommend listening to a ghazal of Faiz that she sang, “Tujhay pukara hay beyirada”. I think Nayyara gave it a superlative rendering.” In Arshad’s viewTahira Syed, another talented singer should have sung much more. “I wish Tahira would sing more often. She sang a beautiful song for me in the drama Tansen. I said whoever was able to sing this song can sing anything. That song was “Kaisa geet sunna on mein sajan”, and Tahira sang it brilliantly.” Talking about Melody Queen Madam Noor Jahan, Arshad recalls, “Noor Jahan knew exactly what her strengths were and had a knack for immediately identifying a good composition, a good artist, and good poetry. She knew the art of mardam shanasi, fun shanasi, and sukhan shanasi. I have seen her working in studio and it was unbelievable how much effort she used to put in her work. She was once recording at EMI and the composer Ustad Nazar Hussain and the musician were all satisfied with the recording. She listened to it and was not satisfied. Reluctantly she went home but returned to re-record early next morning. She had not been able to sleep the whole night. Ustad Nazar was not available but she re-recorded anyway. I listened to both versions. The second rendering was undoubtedly much better. She could take a composition to new heights. That song was, “Jab ye jane-hazeenwaqf-e-aalamhuwi”. Asha Bhosle sang the same ghazal but it is nowhere close to how madam sang.” Next we talked about the voice of desert, Reshman. “She was an organic singer and she sang from her soul. Even Madam Noor Jahan who was not easily impressed by any other singer admired Reshman’s singing. In my view this means a lot. Reshman’s earthiness was her strength and made her singing unique. “Meri hamjolian” is my all-time favourite. Arshad worked a lot with Mehnaz and they formed a very close friendship.”Mehnaz had a very melodious voice. For me she sang a poem of Iftikhar Arif which was very difficult but she handled it superbly. It was the soundtrack of a TV series titled Parosi starring KhalidaRiyasat and Marina Khan. During the recording she got upset over something minor with a musician and walked out. Since I was a friend I insisted that she come again and sing. She demanded that there be no one else in the studio. I had the music track ready so I told all my musicians to leave. Only then she came and recorded it again.” Arshad composed only one ghazal for Gulbahar Bano but remembers her very fondly. “Gulbahar Bano had a unique style. I only composed one ghazal for her. People still remember her for it. It was “Toukya ye tay hay kay” – she was a very skilful singer and had an excellent voice quality. She used to tell me that in every concert the audience request her to sing this ghazal multiple times. She wanted me to make more music for her but we both were always busy with other things and so it never happened.” During our conversation, I asked Mehmood about his opinions on some of the singers he composed for or promoted under the banner of EMI. His own passion for music was evident from how he talked about each one of them. ‘I consider myself lucky that as a music composer and promoter, I had so many exceptional singers to choose from’ Arshad mentions Tufail Niazi as his personal favourite in male singers. “I feel that he unfortunately underrated himself. I heard him live and he was exceptional. I have witnessed Mehdi Hassan Khan requesting Tufail Niazi to sing for him. People who understand good music would know his true worth. Once my daughter brought to me a folk song that Shafqat Amanat had sung. It had become very famous and Shafqat had undoubtedly sung it beautifully. I made her listen to the original by TufailNiazi and she instantly fell in love with it.” Speaking of Ustad Mehdi Hassan Khan, Arshad says, “Mehdi Hassan Khan was a magician. There is one particular recording where he is singing and playing surmandal instead of harmonium. The sound of the instrument is very loud which can be a bit annoying but his singing is out of this world. This is a ghazal of Faiz Ahmed Faiz. “Aaye kuch Abar”. Another exceptional ghazal of his is Ghalib’s “Dil-e-nadan tujhay huwa kya hay.” He gives a new meaning to it. That kind of scanning and rendering of serious poetry is unparalleled. He brings so many novel inflections to it. His rendition of Iqbal’s “La phirik bar wohi baad-o-jam” is also simply beautiful.” Another singer Arshad fondly recalls is A Nayyar. “A Nayyar was a very dear friend of mine. He sang just one long ghazal of Ahmed Faraz for me but he sang it exceptionally well. He was very surela. I think if you want to listen to his best, you should listen to the song he sang for the film Sharmeeli. “Jeerahay hain hum tanha”. It was a Kaleem Shahabuddin composition, the lyricist was Younus Humdam, and it was picturised on Nadeem. Another very popular song of his was “Karta rahoon ga yad tujhay mein yon hi subh-o-sham” I made my friend the famous cricketer Waseem Raja listen to it and he liked it so much that he took it to the England tour. It was constantly playing in the Pakistani dressing room.” Alamgir is a singer that he composed for as well as promoted. “Alamgir was a lot of fun. He used to sing 24 hours in a day and continue singing even after the studio lights were turned off. This helped him train his voice. Once I was talking to Nisar Bazmi about what makes a good composition and we agreed that a good composition is one that gets everyone to sing along. I shared a composition and Bazmi sahib really liked it. It was a composition of Niaz Ahmed and Alamgir had sung it. It was the popular “Ye sham aur tera naam”. EMI was instrumental in giving Nazia and Zohaib their launch in early 80s. “Nazia’s voice had an inimitable tonal quality and would immediately capture the listener’s attention. Zohaib possibly was more knowledgeable in music and technically sound but the texture of Nazia’s voice was mesmerizing. I really like her song “Sun meray mehboob sun”. It was written by Sehba Akhtar and she sang it beautifully. Last but not the least, we talked about Junaid Jamshed. Arshad recalled him with great fondness. “Junaid had a very pleasant voice. He was a passionate singer. I used to scold him a lot and he called me a dictator. I would frankly tell him when he would not sing well. He sang two songs for me but they were not very good. His sang “Tumhara aur mera naam” is really good.” When I ask him why he is not composing anymore, Arshad is very candid in his reaction. “Earlier PTV used to ask me so I would sometimes even record three to four songs in a week. Now no one asks me to produce music. I recently composed a ghazal of Parveen Shakir and Zeb Bangash did one recording just to get a feel. We agreed to record it in a proper studio again. She was quite excited about it but never came back. Hadiqa was never happy to sing with other composers as she has a team with her brother who is a composer. They only like to work together which is not a bad idea.” He concludes with a hearty laugh, “I should not say that there are no good singers to compose for anymore. They are all singing very well but no one asks me to compose any longer.” Just then the seat belts signs were switched on. I exactly knew the songs I was going to cue on my playlist as soon we would land. The writer is a development communication specialist and a documentary filmmaker from Islamabad. He Tweets @hhaarroonn and can be reached at hhaarroonn@hotmail.com