Noor Jahan, who the world termed as Queen of Melody (Malika Tarannum), is being remembered today on her tenth anniversary, Geo News reported Thursday.
Her career spanned seven decades. She was renowned as one of the greatest and most influential singers of her time in South Asia and was given the honorific title of Malika-e-Tarannum.
Allah Wasai who later got fame as Noor Jahan, was born on September 12, 1926 in Qasoor. She started her
career with background support music and soon her voice and style of singing was liked and appreciated.
Ustad Ghulam Ali Khan led her in music world. She also participated in several films before the partition of Sub-Continent. Her one of the best films is Jugnu with Dileep Kumar.
She also worked as a film director. Chann Way, Dupata, Pattey Khan, Anarkali, Intizar and Koil are her famous movies.
Born in a Punjabi family of musicians, Wasai was pushed by her parents to follow in their musical footsteps and become a singer but she was more interested in acting in films and graced the earliest Pakistani films with her performances. She holds a remarkable record of 10,000 songs to her singing credits in various languages of India and Pakistan including Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and Sindhi languages, Along with Ahmed Rushdi, she holds the highest record of film songs in the history of Pakistani cinema. She is also considered to be the first female Pakistani film director.
In 1957, Jahan was awarded the President’s Award for her acting and singing capabilities.
Born in Kasur, Punjab, British India and was one of the eleven children of professional musicians Madad Ali and Fateh Bibi.
The family would often perform in the alley where the drug sales took place , although only Wasai’s eldest sisters would go on to pursue their passions in acting. Two of her sisters, Eidan Bai and Haider Bandi, were successful actors at the rural Taka Theatre in Lahore.
In 1986, on a tour of North America, Jahan suffered from chest pains and was diagnosed with angina pectoris after which she underwent a surgery to install a pacemaker. In 2000, Jahan was hospitalised in Karachi and suffered a heart attack. On Saturday afternoon, December 23, 2000, Noor Jahan died from heart failure. Her funeral took place at Jamia Masjid Sultan, Karachi and she was buried at the Gizri Graveyard near the Saudi Consulate in Karachi.
Via: The News
