Daily Times

Zeba, the Pakistani film actress of 1960s and 1970s was born in Ambala, British India on September 10, 1945. That makes her 74 in 2019. At the age of three, she migrated to Pakistan where she got her education. Her first film was ‘Chiragh Jalta Raha’. After her first film she was offered roles in the films, Gharana, Sameera, Baji, Aisa Bhi Hota Hei and Night Club. These films were followed by ‘Jab Sei Daikha Hei Tumahain’ and ‘Dil Nei Tujhe Maan Liya’. In a rare Radio Interview she stated that she worked very hard in the latter two films and she worked equally well in the former film as good as in her first film. Regarding the mood retained for happy and tragic acting if both were tested on the same day in different films’ shootings, Zeba said that that is where an artist’s caliber is judged when she/he can switch on to different moods on a single day when he/she has to act both in different shifts. On a query by RJ Saleem about the general impression that the standard of Pakistani films was not up to the mark, Zeba’s response was very prudent. She stated that out of say 400 films produced abroad, nearly 4 percent are good and in Pakistan from 30 to 40 produced in a year, many are good making Pakistani average of good films better. Zeba is of shy nature and did not appear much on social media and I have given to you the gist of one of her rare Radio interviews.

Fazal Ahmad Karim Fazli was a civil servant and was younger brother of established producers Sibtain and Husnain of social films in British India. Fazal after his retirement set up his own production house namely Dabistan-e-Mahdood. He announced his film Shakir with new face Zeba. He thought of hiring Kamal opposite her but opted for a new face Arif instead opposite Zeba as she was a new comer. Muhammad Ali’s role as Fazli’s assistant appealed him and he hired Muhammad Ali as villain in this film which was later named as ‘Chiragh Jalta Raha’. Arif flopped due to overpowering acting by Muhmmad Ali and was not seen again. Despite President of Pakistan seeing the film and Muhtarma Fatima Jinnah inaugurating it, the film did not do as well as expected but gave big names to Pakistani film industry like Deeba, Zeba, Muhammad Ali, Talat Hussain and Kamal Irani. The movie however won Nigar Award for Zeba as best supporting actress. Kajjan Begum rendered Amir Khusrau’s famous folk song ‘Kahe Ko Beyahi Bedais Re Laki Babul Morey’.

She was famous for reciting Nohas during Muharram at Pakistan Television and because she was the mother of famous Pakistani singer Mahnaaz. Zeba’s second release of 1962, Jab Sei Dakha Hei Tumhain, opposite Darpan earned her critical success.

Zeba was an actress and a film producer also. Her active years in film industry were from 1962 to 1989.

In 1961, producer Noor Mohammad Khan offered Zeba a role of heroin in his film Zindagi but later, due to unknown reasons, film was shelved. Her 1963 film, Baaji was also successful. The song that still mesmerizes me is ‘Dil Kei Afsane Nigahon Ki Zuban Tak Punhunche/Baat Chal Nikli Hei Ab Daikhan Kahan Tak Puhunche’ from the movie ‘Baji’, a decent poetry put to a melodious tune that is a treat to listen to, even today. Music was given by Salim Iqbal. The movie ‘Baji’ was a beautiful movie based on a sensitive issue of an aging woman falling for a guy who is in love with a younger lady. The sense of deprivation is superbly depicted in controlled emotions by Nayyar Sultana. The music was superb too. This picture was released on Eid Al Adha on May 03, 1963. The cast comprised Zeba, Nayyar Sultana, Darpan, Lehri, Bibbo, Naina, Salma Mumtaz, Talish, Emi Minwala, Panna, Luddan, Guddi and Uma Devi. Guest Artists were Nurjehan, Sabiha Khanum, Santosh Kumar, Yasmin, Laila, Tarana, Ejaz, Habib, Waheed Murad, Nazar and Sultan Rahi (Extra). The movie was directed by S. Suleman, younger brother of Santosh Kumar and Darpan. It was produced by Hafeez Ullah Hassan. The great lyricist Ahmad Rahi wrote the songs. Singers were Nurjehan, Naseem Begum, Najma Niazi, Saleem Raza, Fareeda Khanum and Ustad Nazakat Ali Khan-Ustad Salamat Ali Khan duo. The latter rendered Raag Bhageshri (Kono Ghat Bahiees) superbly well where all the guests’ artists are sitting enjoying the rendering of the Raag with Ustad Shaukat Hussain playing Tabla and Ustad Nazim Ali Khan, Sarangi. This rendering is followed by a classical dance sequence by Zareen Panna (S. Suleman’s wife in real life) and Aimi Minwala on the song ‘Sajan Laagi Tori Lagan Mun Maan’. It is a brilliant piece of art. Those were the days when masses were treated to classical music and dances and not item songs like today. The presence of whole film industry in the shooting was a proof for the support of this idea. It was believed that this was the last appearance of Madam Nurjehan on the silver screen.

In my book Melody Makers 2, I have observed that I was India in 1964 and the only Pakistani song Indians remembered was ‘Ab Yehan Koi Nahi Koi Nahi Aaei Ga’ rendered by Nurjehan for the film ‘Baji’ pictured on Nayyar Sultana when the hero falls for a younger girl instead. So this song depicted the deprivation of the elder one. Naseem Begum’s songs pictured on Aimi Minwala like ‘Chanda Tori Chandni Main Jiya Jala Jaaye Re’ depict the feelings of deprivation in Baji (Nayyar Sultana) and similar impact was demonstrated by the song ‘Sanwariya Nei Haye Daiya Bara Dukh Denu’. For the younger lady Zeba, the voice of young Najma Niazi was selected by Salim Iqbal. The song was ‘Na Koi Wa’ada Kiya Na Koi Khai Qasam’. Najma is younger sister of Naheed Niazi with actual name Mahrukh Zubair, married to Engineer Zubair of PTV. Saleem Raza rendered the love song ‘Saaf Chupte Bhi Nahi Samne Aate Bhi Nahi’ in his silky voice. He used to be selection of music composers of 1950s and 1960s. The song was pictured on hero, Darpan. Cinematography of the movie was by Parvez Akhtar.

1964 released film ‘Tauba’ was produced by Rashid Mukhtar and directed by S. A. Hafiz. Lilting songs especially Qawwalis were brain child of music composer A. Hameed. Cast of the film was Kumar, Zeba, Kamal, Lehri, Talish, Rajni, Kemal Irani, Panna and Zeenat. Film ‘Tauba’ is a tribute to legendary actor Kumar who had just migrated from Mumbai after an illustrious career. The film was directed by Kumar’s own son S. A. Hafiz. Kumar’s real name was Syed Ali Hassan Zaidi and he started his screen career with New Theaters in Calcutta in 1932. He made his debut with pre-partition movies ‘Subha Ka Tara’, ‘Zinda Lash’, ‘Yahudi Ki Larki’, ‘Watan Suhag’, ‘Maa Ka Pyar’, ‘Naik Parveen’, ‘Tarana’, and above all, ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ (1960). His role as a blind father of Madhubala in ‘Tarana’ and of a sculptor in ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ is memorable. Muhammad Rafi’s song ‘Aei Muhabbat Zindabaad’ was filmed on him with rich music of Naushad Ali in the latter film.

In the film ‘Tauba’ Kumar played an alcoholic who kicks off the bottle rolling down the marble floor at a shrine with a ‘Qawwal’ group rendering ‘Meri Tauba, Tauba’. Fayyaz Hashmi penned the Qawwali ‘Na Milta Gar Yeh Touba Ka Sahara, Ham Kahan Jatay’ rendered by Salim Raza, Munir Hussain, Irene Parveen and Sain Akhtar Hussain. This became a famous number overnight. Another Sufi number ‘Al-Maddad, Al-Maddad Parwardigaar-e-Do Jehan’ was rendered by Nasim Begum and Irene Parveen. It was filmed on Zeba and Zeenat. Kemal, the lead in the film filmed romantic songs ‘Aei Meri Zindigi, Aei Haseen Nazneen, Tujh Main Jo Baat Hei’ sung by Munir Hussain and ‘Hum Ajnabi Musafir, Tum Ajnabi Haseena, Anjaan Bun Kei Dil Ko’ by Ahmad Rushdi. The most memorable number however was Nurjehan’s ‘O Re Sanam Dil Yei Kaise Bataye’ filmed on Zeba. Dancer Panna filmed Nasim Begum’s song ‘Tumhain Dil Dei Kei Saiyyan, Main Tau Haar Gai’ and finally Zeba joined hands with Kemal to film the duet ‘Zindigi Ki Raah Main, Yun Mil Gaye Hain Hum’ rendered by Munir Hussain and Mala.

In this black and white film produced by Fazal-e-Kareem Fazli, Zeba’s first appearance is in the song ‘Aye Aye Aye Bahar Kei Din Aye’ rendered by Nurjehan while Kemal and Lehri watch. Initially the film was started as ‘Mr. Bhudu’ but then it was renamed and released as ‘Aisa Bhi Hota Hai’. The film took a little more time to complete and its song ‘Ho Tammana Aur Kaya Jan-e-Tammana Aap Hain’ had already become street song. Though the film started shooting before the film ‘Head Constable’ with music by Nisar Bazmi but due to its late release, it is considered as Melody Maker Nisar Bazmi’s second film rather than his debut film. He became famous overnight because of the music of ‘Aisa Bhi Hota Hei’. This film was released in Sanobar cinema Lahore, Nishat, Khayam, Novelti, Firdous, Liberty, Nigar, Gulzar, Gulistan cinemas in Karachi and Firdous cinema in Hyderabad. This film had nine songs but the other popular song was Nurjehan-Rushdi duet ‘Muhabbat Main Tere Sar Ki Qasam Aisa Bhi Hota Hei.

This was a great film for Waheed Murad-Zeba pair and was Pakistan’s first platinum jubilee film. The brilliant soundtrack composed by Sohail Rana is also responsible for this film’s success. The soundtrack by Suhail Rana is perhaps the most memorable one and features the voices of Ahmed Rushdi, Mala, Naseema Shaheen and Khursheed Nurali (Sheerazi). Sohail Rana. Suhail Rana won the prestigious Nigar Award for Best Music Composer in 1966 for composing the soundtrack and Ahmed Rushdi won the Nigar Award for Best Male Singer in 1966 for singing “Akele Na Jaana”. This song was also rendered by Mala. The female version was filmed on Zeba in the climax scene when she sings it climbing the hill with crutches to reach towards the end of the cliff to end her life. Zeba’s earlier collaboration with Waheed Murad was in 1964 film Heera aur Pathar. Her next three successive releases in 1964 were Aashiana, Baghi Sipahi and Head Constable.

In the year 1966, Zeba and Waheed Murad were teamed up in two other movies; Josh and Jaag Utha Insaan. The latter film is known for the song ‘Duniya Kisi Kei Pyar Main Jannat Sei Kam Nahin’ by Mehdi Hassan put to music by Lal Muhammad Iqbal. From 1965 to 1969 Zeba worked in a number of films. Some of her notable and successful films of that time are Eid Mubarak (1964), Kaneez, Dard-e-Dil, Koh-e-Noor, Suhagan, Taj Mahal, Anjaan, Mohabbat Rang Laye Gi, Aik Phool Aik Pathar and Bahoo Rani. In 1970, she played a young-to-old role in Shabab Kiranvi’s film Insaan Aur Aadmi. Her performance was greatly appreciated and she won her second Best Actress award from Nigar Awards.

It was Shabab Kiranvi’s super hit production starring Zeba and Muhammad Ali. Talat Hussain appeared as Farooq Jalal supported by Munawar Zarif, Aslam Parvez, Shahida, Zarqa, Rehan, Zeenat, Nasira, Seema, Asha Posley, Niggo, Meena Chaudhry, Farida, Imdad Hussain, M.D. Sheikh. Aasiya was introduced in this film and the songs ‘Khat Parh Kei Ab Dil Behelta Nahi’ and ‘Main Hun Titli Ajeeb’ by Nurjehan were filmed on her. However the more popular number was ‘Tu Jahan Bhi Jaye Mera Pyar Yaad Rakhna’ penned by Shabab Kiranvi and music by M. Ashraf won kudos. This song was filmed on Zeba and Muhammad Ali sung by Nurjehan and Mehdi Hassan. The film was a golden jubilee film in Karachi circuit.

Another of Zeba’s talked about movie is ‘Muhabbat’ made in 1972. It is famous for Nisar Bazmi’s composition of Ahmad Faraz’s poetry ‘Ranjish Hi Sahi Dil Hi Dukhane Kei Liye Aa’. Nisar Bazmi also composed the song “Yei Mehfil Jo Aaaj Saji Hei, Is Mehfil Main Hei Koi Hamsa, Hamsa Ho Tau Samne Aaye’ for Tahira Syed. Just the introduction of a new tone in film songs made this song popular and it was filmed on Andleeb, not on Zeba. The cast was Zeba, Mohammad Ali, Sabiha, Santosh, Andleeb, Begum Khursheed Mirza (Renuka Devi), Rangeela, Saiqa, Roshan, Saqi, Qavi, Sahira, Niggo, Chham Chham, Parvez Sajjad and Ghayyur Akhtar. Santosh, Darpan’s younger brother S. Suleman directed this film. The whole team was top-class with script by Hameeda Jabeen (Radio’s Jamil Malik’s wife) and dialogues by Ali Sufian Afaqi. This movie met a critical and commercial success and earned Zeba her third Best Actress award from Nigar Awards.

Zeba was married thrice; first with Khawaja Rehmat Ali (1959–1962), then with Sudhir (1964 –1966) and then with Mohammad Ali (1967–2006) with whom she remained married till he died on March 19, 2006. Ali-Zeb pair was one of the respected couples of Lollywood. It has been reported in the media that although Zeba had met Mohammad Ali on the set of their debut film Chiragh Jalta Raha (1962) but their affection for each other was rekindled on the set of film Tum Mile Pyar Mila (1966), and they married while the film was still under production on 29 September 1966. The pair adopted Samina Ali, Zeba’s daughter from Sudhir as one of their own.

It is therefore natural to talk about Ali-Zeb’s films after their marriage as Muhammad Ali did not allow Zeba to appear with her other heroes. Both appeared in the films Chiragh Jalta Raha (1962) – This was a debut movie for both of them (before marriage), Aag (1967), Jaise Jante Naheen (1969), Baharein Phir Bhi Aaein Gi, Dil Diya Dard Liya (1968), Badle Gi Duniya Saathi, Najma, Afsana Zindagi Ka (1972), Mohabbat (1972), Aurat Aik Paheli, Naukar, Mohabbat Zindagi Hai, Jab Jab Phool Khile, Phool Mere Gulshan Ka and Daman Aur Chingari (1973). She starred in only one Punjabi film named ‘Mehndi Wale Hath’. Overall Zeba worked with 45 film directors. She along with Mohammad Ali also worked in 1989 Indian movie Clerk written, produced, directed and acted by Manoj Kumar along with Rekha, Anita Raj, Shashi Kapoor, Rajinder Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Prem Chopra and Sonu Walia. This was Zeba’s only Indian film appearance. Her last film was ‘Mohabbat Ho Tau Aisi’ released in 1989 was also with Mohammad Ali. We have already mentioned that Zeba received three Best Actress Nigar Awards and two Special Nigar Awards. She received ‘Hilal-e-Imtiaz from the President of Pakistan in 2016. Her stardom is intact despite that she has not appeared in films since last three decades. I am still mesmerized with her filming of Nurjehan’s song ‘Sun Pagli Pawan’ from Khwaja Khurshied Anwar’s ‘Salam-e-Muhabbat’ (1971) clad in blue-white dress combination. Despite being Agha G. A. Gul’s production and good music, the film did not click at box office.

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