Film music of Pakistan, which not too long ago, successfully competed with the best songs recorded in films produced from studios in Mumbai, India, seems to have suffered a great set back in quality in the past few decades. It touched the acme of its glory during the decade of the 1960s, when original songs composed by inveterate and time-tested Lahore-based musicians won recognition and applause, not only from every nook and cranny of Pakistan, but also music buffs from the entire length and breadth of India.
In those days, Indian composers plagiarized some of the tumultuously popular songs recorded in films produced in Pakistan. A majority of Pakistani composers belonged to a rare breed of original composers, who have had sound grooming in classical music. A number of them were also highly qualified individuals whose formal education had equipped them to easily and perceptively comprehend the subtle nuances of the feelings and emotions as reflected in different situations in the films. They would sit with the directors and poets to discuss the scenarios as depicted in the lyrics provided by inveterate poets of the like of Qateel Shifai, Tufail Hoshiarpuri, Tanvir Naqvi, Muneer Niazi and Habib Jalib. It used to be a teamwork, which invariably resulted in the invention of popular tunes for every new film.
Included among the composers, whose contributions to the refinement of Pakistani film music won recognition and wide acclaim, were Master Ghulam Haider, Khurshid Anwar, Feroze Nizami, G. A. Chishti, Master Inayat Husain, Rashid Attrey, Sohail Rana, Nisar Bazmi and Master Abdullah, to name a few. All of them were master composers, who used either folk or classical music as basis for their enchanting new compositions. Their songs recorded in the voices of popular playback singers like Zubaida Khanum, Naseem Begum, Naheed Niazi, Mala, Ahmed Rushdi, Saleem Raza, Muneer Husain, Masud Rana, Mujeeb Alam and Mehdi Hasan reached the lips of millions in Pakistan and abroad. Some of them are still hummed and whistled by millions reminding us of the golden era of Pakistan film industry.
Slowly but surely film music in Pakistan suffered on account of the demises of several master composers, and the self-exile in which the rest of them put themselves due to a various of reasons, including the desire of the uneducated but rich financiers to dictate terms to directors and composers. The shrinkage of market for Pakistani films also had its adverse impact on the quality of films produced from Lahore. The situation has reached such an impasse now that one can hardly notice an original composition for a song of a film produced in Pakistan.
Lack of creative ingenuity among the so-called, almost uneducated composers and the desire of the producers to lift popular songs from Indian movies, have contributed further to the qualitative cloying of film music in Pakistan. I have had the privilege of personally knowing and interacting with many original composers of Pakistan during the past few decades. I can state from my experience that they were a hardworking lot, who would not rest until the melodies composed by them were refined to a level when they were fit for recording. The current situation in Pakistan film industry does not portend a better future for Pakistan film industry, which has created so many records in achievement and excellence in the past.
A couple of decades, the emergence of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on the firmament of sub-continental music created hopes for the revival of Pakistani film music as a number of his compositions recorded in Pakistan and abroad became uproariously popular in South Asia, Middle, Europe and North America. His compositions were also recorded in several films produced from Bombay and Lahore. Songs like Mast Mast and Saanoon ek pal chain naan avey went straight to the hearts of the listeners. In those days, other songs like Mera Laung Guacha, composed by Wazir Afzal and recorded in the voice of Musarrat Nazir, also won wide public acclaim and along with several Pakistani songs were plagiarized by Indian composers.
However, it was like a silver lining on the otherwise dark horizon, which dissipated soon. The departure of Nusrat Khan to his ethereal abode and the disappearance of several original composers cast a gloom on the horizon of our film industry and once the exclusive reserve of original Pakistani composers, film music started slipping in historical oblivion.
A few months ago, I participated in the process of selecting "the best" movies produced in Pakistan during the years 2002 and 2003, but painfully came to the conclusion that none of the entries deserved consideration much less any accolade. The music for these 14 films, which were selected by Pakistan Film Producers' Association for screening by the panel, was so poor that it did not merit any consideration. The tunes of a majority of songs recorded in these films had either been lifted from old movies, or were simply plagiarized. Some of the tunes were also taken from rock music currently in vogue in Western countries.
Another aspect of Pakistani film songs, which surprised several members of the panel, including this scribe, was that they had been recorded in the voices of Indian singers and the lyrics had been provided by Indian poets. The credit lines of these films did not indicate this behind-the-scene activity. The producers of these films used facilities of Mumbai studios for the recording of those songs.