Noor Jehan (21 September 192623 December 2000) was a Pakistani playback singer and actress. Her six-decade career spanned both British Indian and Pakistani cinema. Jehan had proficiency in Hindustani classical music, as well as in other genres including ghazals. She made her directorial debut with the film Chann Wey in 1951, becoming the first female film director in Pakistan. She is recognized for her contributions to music in South Asia, particularly in Pakistan. She was given the title of Malika-e-Tarannum ("Queen of Melody") in Pakistan.

Along with Ahmed Rushdi, she holds the record for having given voice to the largest number of film songs in the history of Pakistani cinema. She recorded about 10,000 songs in various languages, including Urdu, Punjabi, and Sindhi. She sang a total of 2,422 songs in 1,148 Pakistani films during a career that lasted more than half a century.

Early life

Noor Jehan was born as Allah Wasai on 21 September 1926 into a Punjabi Muslim family in Kot Murad Khan, near Kasur, Punjab, British India.She was born into a family of classical musicians.Noor Jehan's grandmother Amma Hasso was a famous singer and beloved by the public for her charitable work.Her father was musician and singer Imdad Ali,her mother was tawaif Fateh Bibi.Her aunt is also a singer.She was the youngest child born to her parents.

Career

thumb|Poster of Yamla Jatt (1940) Noor Jehan, M. Ismail, Pran

Career in British India

Noor Jehan began to sing at the age of five and showed a keen interest in a range of styles, including traditional folk and popular theatre.She started her training at age 11 in Calcutta, where ustads instructed her in the traditions of the Patiala Gharana of Hindustani classical music and the classical forms of thumri, dhrupad, and khyal.

As a child, Noor Jehan and her two sisters performed on stage in a rural theater troupe called "Taka Theater".At the age of nine, she drew the attention of Punjabi musician Ghulam Ahmed Chishti, who would later introduce her to the stage in Lahore. From 1945 to 1947 and her subsequent move to Pakistan, Noor Jehan was one of the biggest film actresses of the Indian Film Industry. Alongside Suraiya, she was the biggest star in the country before Independence.

Acting career in Pakistan

In 1947, Rizvi and Jehan decided to move to Pakistan, upon the independence of the British Indian Empire, and had resulted in partition of India.]]

She had an understanding and friendship with many singers of Asia, for example with Alam Lohar and many more. In the 1990s, Jehan also sang for then débutante actresses Neeli and Reema. Lionel Richie, Bob Geldof, Madonna, Boy George, and Duran Duran were some of the performers at the star-studded event which was attended, amongst many others, by thespian John Gielgud, Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter, and Oscar-winning actress Dame Peggy Ashcroft. In 1947, Shaukat Rizvi decided to migrate to Pakistan, and Noor Jehan moved too, ending her career in India.

Noor Jehan was also in a relationship with cricketer Nazar Mohammad. She married Ejaz Durrani in 1959. The second marriage also produced three children but also ended in divorce in 1971. She also had affair with actor Yousuf Khan.

Last years and death

thumb|Jehan's gravesite at the Gizri Graveyard near the Saudi Consulate in Karachi

Jehan suffered from chest pains in 1986 on a tour of North America and was diagnosed with angina pectoris, after which she underwent bypass surgery. According to her daughter, Shazia Hassan, she was suffering from chronic kidney disease in her last years and was on dialysis. In 2000, Jehan was hospitalised at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and suffered a heart attack. She was buried at the in Karachi.

Awards and honours

Noor Jehan received more than 15 Nigar Awards for Best Female Playback Singer, eight for Best Urdu Singer Female and the rest for Punjabi Playback. She has also received the Millennium Singer Award in Pakistan.

  • In 1945, for the film Zeenat, she was awarded a gold medal by Z.A. Bukhari.
  • Noor Jehan was ranked eighth in a list of Most Influential Pakistanis.
  • Mohammad Rafi always wished to make duets with her. Asha Bhosle, a Bollywood playback singer, stated in an interview:

::Jehan was one of my favourite singers and when I listened to her Ghazals, I realized how unusual compositions were those, so I decided to take them to a larger audience which they deserve.

:She added that;

::The world will never see a singer like her. Just as people have not seen another Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar there would never be another Noor Jehan.

  • British weekly newspaper Eastern Eye ranked Noor Jehan at 16th in a list of 20 Bollywood singers of all time. The entertainment editor of Eastern Eye wrote that:

::Jehan was the first female singing star of the Indian cinema and helped to lay the foundation of playback singing as we know it. She inspired a generation of singers including Lata Mangeshkar before single-handedly kick-starting music In Pakistan and inspired subsequent generations there.

  • In 1945, she became the first woman in the subcontinent to sing Qawwali in the film Zeenat. American Queen of Pop Madonna commented that, "I can copy every singer but not Noor Jehan".
  • In 1957, she received President's Award for her acting and singing in film Intezaar. It was the same film for which Khwaja Khurshid Anwar also received President's Award for Best Music Director.
  • In 1965, she received Special Nigar Award for her wartime songs.
  • In 1965, she was awarded Pride of Performance by the president of Pakistan for her singing and acting capabilities.
  • In 1965, she received Tamgha-e-Imtiaz from the army for her moral support in the Indo-Pak war.
  • In 1972, she received Silver Disc Award for Best Ghazal Singer followed by Farida Khanum and Roshan Ara Begum was the first to receive the award.
  • She was the only Pakistani singer to sing with the Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum.
  • In 1981, she received Special Nigar Award for her excellence in 30 years of her career in Pakistan.
  • In 1987, she received NTM Life Time Achievement Award.
  • In 1991, she became the first Pakistani singer to sing at the Royal Albert Hall London.
  • In 1996, she received Sitara-e-Imtiaz.
  • In 1998, she received PTV Life Time Achievement Award.
  • In 1999, she received Millennium Award for her services to Pakistani cinema.
  • In August 2014, she was declared as the Greatest Female Singer Of Pakistan of all times.
  • In August 2017, she was ranked at the top of Female Pakistani Singers.
  • She also retained the designation Cultural Ambassador of Pakistan.
  • On 21 September 2017, Google Doodle commemorated her 91st birthday.

Filmography

Films

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Year !! Film

!Notes

|-

|1935

|Pind Di Kudi

|as Child artist

|-

|1935||Sheela

|

|-

|1936

|Misr Ka Sitara

  • In Pakistani film, Manto the role of Jehan was played by Saba Qamar.
  • In 2022, Pakistani television actress Ayeza Khan paid tribute to Jehan by adapting her look in TV drama Laapata.
  • In 2022, a commemorative tribute to Jehan featured within the 'FaceoftheMonth' series by Indian film scholar, Ashish Dwivedi, published in The Edge Magazine.

Notes

References