Shamshad Begum is alive

For long, music buffs in Pakistan were made to believe that playback singer Shamshad Begum had died. The assumption about her "death" was the result of the publication of an article on an Indian web site after the death of Shamshad Bai, the mother of late actress Parichehra Nasim Bano in which the writer confused the two Shamshads to be one and the same person. A senior Radio Pakistan official in Lahore during a conversation with me not too long ago went to the extent of asserting that celebrated playback singer Shamshad Begum had died in train while returning from Peshawar to Lahore during her visit to Pakistan in the late 1990s.
She travelled to Peshawar to pay homage to the city from where she had started her career as a radio singer about the middle of 1930s.
A three-member team of researchers from India, who is currently visiting Pakistan and whose members are working on a book on Shamshad Begum told me that Shamshad Begum was alive and kicking and was living in Mumbai. Both are residents of Mumbai and before embarking upon a tour of Pakistan to collect material on her life and career they met Shamshad Begum at her residence..
To revive the memory of some of her most popular film songs of the bygone era, one needs to listen to an album of hit songs recorded in the voice of Shamshad Begum An opportunity was provided to me by a friend, who brought a two-volume album containing 37 hit songs recorded in the ever-sparkling voice of Shamshad Begum for blockbusters produced in Bombay after partition of the sub-Continent. It was a great nostalgic experience to listen to those songs, which took us down in the memory lane, when both of us were young, full of vigour, and liked listening to good.
From early 1940s to the end of the decade of the 1960s, the malleability of Shamshad's vocals and the artistry of composers like Master Ghulam Haider and Naushad Ali proved a guarantee for the success of films at the box office. Those were the days when the voice of Shamshad Begum was considered a symbol of the popularity of songs.. For over two decades, she held complete sway over filmdom, first in Lahore, and later in Bombay, where music composers fell over each other in their attempts to sign her for the recording of songs in their films in her sparkling voice.
It was in early 1940s when the octogenarian Shamshad Begum, along with late Master Ghulam Haider, left for Bombay to join the flourishing film industry there. She was then a member of a team the late Masterji had constituted to take to Bollywood. It included tabla-player Manzoor Husain, sitarist Fateh Ali Khan and classical vocalist/harmonium player Bhai Lal Muhammad Sabri, commonly known as Bhai Lalee. Clarinetist Master Sohni Khan was a part-time member of the team of talented artists, as he had to look after his Sohni Band in Lahore. He used to travel back and forth to Bombay in those days.
The late Master Ghulam Haider was a known talent hunter. Shamshad Begum was his discovery, which he spotted in Lahore about the mid-30s, when he was associated with Jian-o-phone, a Lahore-based gramophone recording company. He first used her voice for the recording of a couple of naats and later for his film songs. Popular song, Kankaan deeyaan faslaan pakkiyaan nain in Punjabi film Yamla Jat, a composition of Materji, was the first song, which carried the name of Shamshad Begum to the hinterland and almost all cities of the Punjab.
When the Mangeshkar sisters were not even introduced in the world of entertainment, Shamshad Begum had assumed the status of a celebrated singer. She captivated millions of cine-goers and music buffs with the tantalising quality of her voice that had magic, glow and a certain vivacity, more than enough to mesmerise the audiences in cinema halls.
Here once again I quote from Raju Bhartan's book, Lata Mangeshkar - a biography, to substantiate my point about the rise of Shamshad Begum as the Number One playback singer of Sub-continental cinema. He says: "Sawan kay nazaaray hain was the Shamshad Begum-led number that gave film music its lilting la la la la motif. There were other Shamshad Begum chart-busters in Khazanchi, among them Ek kali nazzon ki pali; Laut gayi paapan andhiyarri; Nainon ke baan ki reet anokhi; and Peene kayu di aaye peeye jaa. Shamshad Begum of Punjab thus became the sonorous new voice gifted to India by Master Ghulam Haider through Khazanchi." A non-Punjabi musicologist Bhratan was perhaps oblivious of the popularity her songs in Punjabi and Urdu films produced in Lahore had gained before her joining Bombay film industry.
The late Master Ghulam Haider used Shamshad Begum's voice for his compositions in the films Chal Chal Re Naujawan and Humayun, a majority of which hit the bull's eye in terms of popularity. The songs Apne Dhiyya Se Mill Kar Aayee Ho and Nainaan Bhar Aaye Neer can be quoted to make the point. After her debut in the Bombay film industry, Shamshad Begum continued to ride over the crescendo of popularity.
Besides Master Ghulam Haider other composers, including Naushad Ali, also used her vocals for their songs. Later, she recorded the compositions of O.P. Nayyar, C. Ramchandra and Madan Mohan. The film Mela (1949) proved such a great success as to take her career to the pinnacle of glory. Who can forget the heart-rendering song, in which she put her best in duet with Mukesh.
Naushad used her in the films Andaaz, Aan, Chandani Raat, Anokhi Adaa, songs of which reached the lips of millions in the Sub-continent. The song Badal Aaya Jhoom Kay in Kardar's Shahjehan, and the hit songs of films Babul and Deedar, composed by Naushad Ali, took her name to still greater heights. That was the time when she was facing a challenge from Lata Mangeshkar, but she rose to the occasion like a real champion with such translucent renditions as Chhod Babul Ka Ghar, Naan Sochay Tha Yeh Dil Lagane Se Pehle, Duniya Badal Gayee and Milte Hee Aankhain Dil Hua Deevana Kisi Ka (a duet with Talat Mahmud).
The cassette, which I enjoyed listening with my friend contained several songs from these films, which sounded still as fresh as when they were recorded 30 or 40 years ago. Her duet with Lata Mangeshkar, Darr Naan Mohabat Ker Lay in film Andaaz, presented Shamshad Begum in a true picture, putting a seal of recognition on her transparent voice and her melodic prowess over contemporaries of that period. For those denizens, who still remember Shamshad Begum, the two-volume cassettes have special attraction. Twenty five songs out of the 37 included in the album had been composed by Naushad Ali, the doyen of Bollywood composers.
However, the cassettes contain only those songs, which were recorded in films produced in Bombay, mostly during the post-partition period. It would have been considered a great contribution to the chronicles of film music in the sub-continent if songs recorded in her voice for the films produced in Lahore before August 1947 (like Yamla Jat and Khazanchi) had also been included in the album. The octogenarian singer, who is living in seclusion with her married daughter in Mumbai has been completely forgotten by the composers and producers associated with Indian film industry.
There was a time when the producers and composers were seen falling over each other in their quest to sign Shamshad Begum for the recording of songs in their films. The tragedy in the lives of artistes is that when they are passing through the evenings of their lives, and when they need attention the most, they are almost totally ignored by those whose businesses once thrived on the co-operation of the ageing artistes - actors, actresses, composers and singers. This is the pattern that is being adopted all over the world in the domain of mass entertainment. A lack of fiscal discipline among the ageing artistes during the prime of their careers also contributes to their miseries.