Remembering our Legends: Saleem Raza's mellifluous songs still captivate the hearts of millions

One of the unfortunate aspects of the glitzy world of entertainment is that even its once much sought-after celebrities and heartthrobs of millions are forgotten soon after their eclipse from the showbiz. Those artistes, whoes songs once cast hypnotic spells on their fans and cinema audiences, after a few years of their demise fade into historic oblivion.
Many examples can be cited to prove the point. Cine-goers and music buffs unwittingly become forgetful of the contributions of the heroes, heroines and singers in the films to our cultural ethos soon after their death or exit from the world of entertainment. Many artiste has suffered from societal neglect and collective indifference of the people during the past 59 years of our existence as an independent country. Among them were a number of singers associated with Pakistan film industry and the electronic media.
Late Saleem Raza whose mellifluous film songs captivated the hearts of millions of movie fans and radio audiences in the sub-continent for two decades (1955-1975) is now almost a forgotten entity of Pakistani cinema. The fact that he is no more remembered by film and music buffs offers a sad commentary on our uneven propensity to honour the distinguished sons of the soil, and the scant regard we have for creative artistes. A playback singer, who provided much aesthetic pleasure to so many cine goers and listeners in Pakistan should have been treated better by cultural bureaucracy, art-promoting organisations and, above all, the people of Pakistan, for his contributions to the melodic culture of the country.
It was on November 23, 1983 when the popular playback singer of Pakistani silver screen died in Vancouver, Canada, of kidney failure at the age of 51. Earlier, he had immigrated to Canada in 1975 in search of green pastures after suffering total neglect of the Lahore-based film composers. Young Saleem, who was once the most sought after male playback singer of the country, was not treated well after his exit from Lahore-based film industry. At times the producers and frontline composers fell over each other in their attempts at signing him for their films.
But in early 1970s he was not getting even a single offer for the recording of a film song in a month. He was left with no choice but to say goodbye to his country. Had it not been the help of his working wife, Maud, he and his family would have faced starvation. Already, he was suffering from the pangs of penury.
Born as Noel Dias on July 7, 1932 in Amritsar, Saleem Raza did not belong to a musical dynasty -the gharanas of professional musicians, which have produced so many maestros in the country. However, he was lucky to have benefited from melodic wisdom of several composers and musicians early in his youth. He made his debut as a singer from Radio Pakistan, Lahore with the pseudonym of Saleem Raza.
After a brief stint with the radio in Lahore as a casual artiste, he caught the attention of composer G.A. Chishti, who used his voice for the recording of a song in the film 'Haqeeqat', which was screened in cinema halls in the year 1955. After that eventful recording, and as a sequel to a spurt in the activities in the film industry of Pakistan, Saleem Raza rose to greater heights in popularity within a relatively short period of time. Noticing the potential of his velvety voice, inveterate composers of the like of Khurshid Anwar, Feroze Nizami, Master Inayat Husain and Rasheed Attrey skilfully employed his vocals to communicate their melodic ideas to cine-goers.
Late Saleem Raza spent long training periods with several musicians of Lahore. He was known to have benefited from the experiences of Master Sadiq Ali, the blind pianist; Ustad Ashiq Husain and several other musicians with whom he came into contact during the formative years of his career. For nearly 20 years, he was associated with film dome in Lahore and recorded over 600 songs for more than 300 films produced from Lahore, Karachi and Dhaka film studios.
He went rapidly from strength to strength and reached the pinnacle of popularity in a relatively short span of time. Even at that time, he maintained his contacts with Radio Pakistan from where he broadcast his music regularly, despite his frequent recording engagements for the movies. Soon after the advent of television in Lahore on November 24, 1964, he participated in TV programmes as and when he was asked by the producers of music programmes of the new electronic medium.
Scores of film songs recorded in the voice of late Saleem Raza won wide popularity because of the quality of his vocals and the lilt and cadences of their compositions. Another factor, which contributed to his songs was their juxtaposition in the movies on leading heroes of the silver screen- Santosh Kumar, Darpan, Akmal, Aslam Parvez, Sudhir, Habib and Ijaz Durrani. Included in his popular songs were: 'Jaan-e-Bahar' (Azra), 'Aiy Dil Kisi ki yaad mein' (Tera Sahara); 'Banaa key maira nashemann jalaa diya' (Do Rastay); 'Chaand takkay choop choop kay' (Ishq-e-Laila); 'Zindgi mein ek pal bhi chain aye na' (Hamsafar), and 'Aiy nazneen toojh sa haseen' (Shamaa). The songs 'Aiy dil kissee ki yaad mein' and 'Aa ja paas mairey' composed by Master Inayat Husain and Khurshid Anwar, respectively became very popular among the listeners. One of his songs, 'Yaro mujhey moaf rakho' (Saat Lakh), sold over 100,000 copies of which Saleem was presented a silver disc, especially cut for the occasion by the gramophone recording company as a token of its appreciation for his melodic talent.
His tally of awards, received from professional and cultural organisations for artistic excellence, included the Niagar Award in 1960 (and again in 1963); the Musawwar Award in 1960; the Screen Light Award in 1962; and the Social Services Award in 1968. He was also honoured for his "Best War Contributions" during 1965 and a gold medal awarded him in 1966 by the Pakistan Arts Council, Lahore, for his distinguished services to the creation and popularisation of quality music.
Two significant influences contributed to the chiselling of Saleem Raza's musical personality. The first was from Master Sadiq Ali, who provided him intensive musical training thus equipping Saleem with enough theoretical knowledge about the melodic arts. Being a singer of considerable natural aptitude, the late crooner quickly responded to the instructions of his teachers and soon developed sharp tone perception, musical direction and a sense of purpose.
The second most import influence on him was that of composer G.A. Chishti, who introduced him as a playback singer in Pakistan film industry. It proved a turning point in his career as it opened up a vast new panorama of musical landscape, which Saleem explored skilfully.
After migration to Canada, Saleem Raza set up a music academy in Vancouver in which scores of Asian-Canadians learned sub-continental varieties of popular music. He also participated in local cultural events, which served as a springboard for him to jump on to higher point on the popularity chart by participating in privately sponsored soirees in different Canadian cities.
In Pakistan popular songs of the late crooner are only sparingly broadcast by different stations of Radio Pakistan and telecast by Pakistan Television. With the passage of time his name is being pushed into the shadows. He is now known mostly among senior denizens, a majority of whom is getting prepared for its final showdown with Nature.