Noor Jehan

Noor Jehan was a prominent Pakistani playback singer and actress whose career spanned six decades across both British Indian and Pakistani cinema. She recorded approximately 10,000 songs in various languages—including Urdu, Punjabi, and Sindhi—and sang 2,422 songs in 1,148 Pakistani films. The artist is widely recognized for her contributions to South Asian music and holds the title of Malika-e-Tarannum.

Early life and education

Born as Allah Wasai on 21 September 1926, she grew up in a Punjabi Muslim family in Kot Murad Khan near Kasur. She was the youngest child born to her parents, musician Imdad Ali and tawaif Fateh Bibi. Music was a central part of her upbringing because she was born into a family of classical musicians. Her grandmother, Amma Hasso, was a famous singer who was beloved by the public for her charitable work.

She began singing at age five and showed an early interest in traditional folk and popular theatre. To develop her potential, her parents arranged for her to receive classical training under Ustad Ghulam Mohammad. Her mother also organized musical instruction with the famous classical singer Kajjanbai. During this period, she underwent 12 hours of "riyaz" every day. She also worked with a teacher who provided daily literature lessons.

At age 11, she began training in Calcutta to learn the traditions of the Patiala Gharana. This instruction included the classical forms of thumri, dhrupad, and khyal. As a child, she performed on stage alongside her two sisters in a rural theatre troupe known as Taka Theater. In 1939, she drew the attention of Punjabi musician Ghulam Ahmed Chishti, who introduced her to the stage in Lahore.

Career

Jehan's professional journey began in the early 1930s when theatre owner Diwan Sardari Lal took her to Calcutta. The entire family moved there to develop the movie careers of Allah Wasai and her sisters, Eiden Bai and Haider Bandi. She received the stage name Baby Noor Jehan while performing at a maidan theatre owned by Agha Hashar Kashmiri. In 1935, she acted in the Punjabi movie Pind di Kuri and sang her earliest hit, "Langh aja patan chanaan da o yaar."

She returned to Lahore in 1938 and found early popularity through the music of director Ghulam Haider. Her first adult lead role came in 1942 when she starred in the successful film Khandaan. This success prompted a move to Bombay, where she became one of the biggest actresses in the Indian Film Industry. Between 1945 and 1947, her films such as Anmol Ghadi and Mirza Sahiban were among the top-grossing productions.

Following the partition of the British Indian Empire, Jehan and her husband moved to Karachi in 1947. She starred in her first Pakistani film, Chan Wey, in 1951. By co-directing this film with Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, she became the first female film director in Pakistan. Her second Pakistani film, Dupatta, achieved even greater success than her directorial debut.

She eventually transitioned into a career focused exclusively on playback singing. After she stopped acting in 1963, she made her debut as a dedicated playback singer in 1960 with the film Salma. She recorded numerous duets with artists such as Ahmed Rushdi and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Alongside Ahmed Rushdi, she holds the record for voicing the largest number of film songs in the history of Pakistani cinema.

Personal life

Jehan married director Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi in 1943. The couple experienced personal differences that led to their divorce during 1953 and 1954. She maintained custody of their three children following the separation. In 1959, she married the film actor Ejaz Durrani, who was nine years her junior.

Her acting career ended in 1963 after 33 years of work. The demands of being a wife to another actor and the responsibilities of raising six children forced her to retire from the screen. Her final film appearance as an actress was in Baaji in 1963, where she did not play a leading role.

Awards and recognition

The Pakistani government honored her with the Pride of Performance in 1965. She is also recognized as a recipient of the Nigar Awards and the Member of the Order of Excellence. Her vocal talent earned her the title Malika-e-Tarannum, which translates to "Queen of Melody."