Noor Jahaan

Noor Jehaan(September 21, 1926 – December 23, 2000) was a famous South Asian singer and actress. She is revered in Pakistan by her title Malikah-e-Tarannum (Queen of Melody) and is considered to be one of the greatest singers to have come from the Indian Subcontinent. Noor Jahaan has appropriately sung around 10,000 songs in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Sindhi films in both India and Pakistan.

Life
Birth and Family
On the dark and stormy night of Tuesday, September 21, 1926, in a small house of poor musicians, at Kot Murad Khan in the sleepy town of Kasur, in rural Punjab, a newborn baby girl was alive. When the child was born, her father's sister on hearing her wail, said to her brother "This one even wails in accordance with the scale". She was named Allah Wasai. This girl's voice was destined to never be heard beyond the four walls of the humble dwelling ever again. Her parents were professional musicians and genealogists working for local landowning families, performing at life cycle events. The family also performed at the local theatre and at seasonal fairs. Her father was Mudad Ali and her mother was Fateh Bibi and she was the youngest child of her parents in a family of thirteen. Noor Jahaan had six brothers - Mian Nawaab Din, Gul Muhammad ("Gulloo"), Muhammad Husain, Muhammad Shafi, Siddique, and Inayat Hussain. Noor Jehan had six sisters - Aidan Bai, Haidar Baandi, Gulzar Begum (or Bibi Gulzar), Amina Begum, Bahaaro, and Undam Begum ("Umda" or "Machine").
Childhood and stage career
From an early age, she displayed signs of having a melodious voice, which became more apparent by the time she was four or five years old. She could pick up just about anything - be it a folk song or a popular number from a theatrical drama - she could imitate it to perfection. Realizing her immense talent, her mother began to believe that her daughter had something exceptional to give to the world. So, the family moved to Lahore, where Noor Jahaan's sisters, Aidan Bai and Haidar Baandi, began their stage careers. In Lahore, her mother arranged for her to begin her training in singing and dancing alongside her elder sisters, Aidan Bai and Haidar Baandi. She received early music lessons under Kajjanbai, who made her do "riyaz" up to 12 hours a day. After her morning "riyaz", a teacher would come to help her learn to read and write. She received early training in classical singing under Ustad Ghulam Mohammed who instructed her in classical music and voice production within the framework of classical forms of thumri, dhrupad, and khayal. Noor Jahaan accompanied her sisters in a song extolling the Holy Prophet of Islam. It was composed by G.A. Chisti, and became a great hit. In Lahore, the sisters took part in zinda nach gana (live song and dance) which usually preceded the actual film show. From there, the family moved again to Calcutta, where it was hoped the two older sisters would break into films. This did not quite happen, though they continued to appear on the stage. During their stay in Calcutta, Mukhtar Begum, the sisters' ideal and a famous singing star in the 1930s, encouraged the three sisters and recommended them to various producers. She also recommended them to her husband, Urdu drama writer, Agha Hashar Kashmiri (1879-1935)'s Maidan Theatre, where she got the stage name Baby Noor Jahaan. In later life, Noor Jahaan adopted Mukhtar Begum's style of performing and wearing of a sari. The sisters got permanent jobs with one of the Seth Sukh Karnani Companies, Indira Movietone. Their popularity grew as they became known as Punjab Mail. At around this time, Noor Jahaan won a part in a silent feature film called Hind ke Tare (1930) made by Indian Pictures, Calcutta. Thereafter, the family moved to Bombay, where she made 11 silent films in 1931. Her first talkie feature film was Sassi Punnu, released in 1932. She joined Kohinoor United Artists and appeared in some of their films. Later, she was employed by Seven United Artists and played the lead in some of their films opposite Khalil. She took up singing at six years of age and started making stage appearances with her elder sisters for rural theatre companies called the Taka Theatre. Later, she joined Sharda Film Co. and has played important roles in several of their films. She did not sing original songs but the famous hits of the day. She was only nine years old when the great Punjabi musician, G. A. Chisti introduced her to the stage in Lahore. He composed some ghazals, naats and some folksongs for her and she got 7 1/2 annas for each song. She also received some classical music lessons under Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.
Career as a singer/childstar in Pre-Partition India
At this time, director K.D. Mehra, was in the process of making a Punjabi film, and persuaded his producer to cast the three in Pind Di Kudhi (1935). At this time, Baby Noor Jahaan was beginning to be known as a singer/actress of some merit. In this film, Baby Noor Jahaan sang and recorded her first film song which was Lang Aaja Pattan, Channa Da Yaar. She next acted in a film called Missar Ka Sitaarah (1936) by the same company and sang in it for music composer Damodar Sharma. Baby Noor Jahaan also played the child role of Heer in the film Heer Sayyal (1937). The role of Heer in this film was played by Balo, mother of famous Pakistani actress Sabiha Khanum. After three years in Calcutta, back in Lahore in 1938, it was Master Ghulam Haider who spotted her immense talent as a singer and composed songs that made her famous overnight. Baby Noor Jehan hit the nationwide with Gul Bakavli (1939) for renowned Bombay producer Dalsukh M. Pancholi where she recorded her first hit film songs, Shala Jawaniyan Mane and Pinjray De Vich. Baby Noor Jahaan's first box office hit was the Punjabi film Yamla Jat (1940). M. Ismail played the title role and it was one of his best roles. M. Ajmal got his first significant role in this musical film. Chaudhry (1941), though not as successful as Yamla Jat, followed. Revolutionary musician Master Ghulam Haider introduced Baby Noor Jahaan as a playback singer in Pancholi Art Productions' film Khazanchi (1941). It was the first film which was without actress Noor Jahaan on screen and her songs were picturised on other actresses.
Baby Noor Jahaan's appeal changed from a child struggling to play bit roles into a young woman with immense potential ready to take off and launch her singing and acting career. When it was decided to cast her as a heroine the basic problem with the producer and director was how to erase the impression of her being a child in public perception. They feared that she would not be accepted as a heroine by the audience that had billed her a few years of being a child star. The first step was to remove the "Baby" prefix from her name, and though she was young, she was burly and appeared older than her age. Her image on screen posed no problems to the director, and so was born Noor Jehan, set to enter the adult world, barely in her mid-teens.
Career as a singer/actress in Pre-Partition India
Noor Jahaan was first cast as a heroine in the Urdu film Khandaan (1942) opposite Pran (who later became one of India's most popular villains) as the hero. The film was also a debut for director Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. Pancholi had recently involved Rizvi in the editing of Gul Bakavli (1939), Yamla Jat (1940), and Chaudhry (1941). The songs of Khandaan (1942), composed by Ghulam Haider became instant hits and established her as one of the four leading singers of films in India (the other three being Kanan Devi, Shanta Apte and Khursheed)
Khandaan's success saw her migrating to Bombay, where she shared melodies with the singing star Shanta Apte in Duhai (1943). After that, there was hit after hit with songs from Naukar (1943), Nadan (1943), Dost (1944) and Lal Haveli (1944). By now her popularity outsripped all others. She was the darling of masses, recognized and adored both for her singing and acting. After taking the leading role in Nadan (1943), she was presented with second lead in Naukar (1943), while Shobhana Samarth took the lead opposite Chandramohan. Dost (1944), directed by Rizvi, had the extremely gifted Motilal as the leading man opposite Noor Jahaan with Rizvi playing her brother. It was in this film that Noor Jahaan lent her voice for the second time, to another actress named Husn Bano. It was in Lal Haveli (1944) that Noor Jehan starred opposite singing star Surendra (they later made Anmol Ghadi (1946) together). Lal Haveli was also noted for the fact that Meena Kumari then a child star, played Noor Jahaan's role as a child.
The year 1945 was a turning point for Noor Jehan. In Master Vinayak's Badi Maa (1945), she played lead with "Baby Lata Mangeshkar" and "Baby Asha Mangeshkar" in supporting roles. During breaks in shooting, she would ask the then unknown Lata to join in, in impromptu singing sessions. Once at leisure, after having Lata sing a song she had immortalised, Mere Liya Jahan Me from Khandaan (1942), Noor Jahaan said to Master Vinayak, the director of the film, Meri baat note kar leejiye. Iss ki yeh alag tarike ki aawaz ek din poori duniya se apna loha manvaayegi. Noor Jahaan's influence on the early songs of Lata are still discernible. Lata has always respected Noor Jahaan and considers her one of her favourite singers. In fact, Lata (Noor Jehan's dearest "Latto")'s early singing was inspired by Noor Jahaan, though the latter's weighty vocals were far car from Lata's sweeter and lighter voice. The year 1945 also brought Noor Jahaan her first superhit in Bombay, Zeenat (1945). It was her inimitable rendition of the music that gained her the title Mallika-e-Tarranum or Queen of Melody. She dethroned reigning singing star Khursheed and rendered the obsolete nautch girl style of Zohrabai Ambalewali and Amirbai Karnataki. She also achieved another milestone, when she sung a Qawwali with Zohrabai Ambalewali and Amirbai Karnataki which was "Aahen Na Bhareen Shikave Na Kiye" - the first ever Qawwali recorded in female voices in subcontinent films.
In 1946, Noor Jahaan acted in the enduring classic Anmol Ghadi (1946). The title was a fitting description of the magical moments in this film with superhit songs composed by Naushad making her the undisputed queen of films if there was any doubt left about her being a diva. Composers and lyricists vied to have their creations rendered by Noor Jahaan. In the film Anmol Ghadi (1946), she played a poetess named Lata (going by the name Renu) caught in a love triangle, featuring the other two singing stars of the era, Surendra and Suraiya. So popular was the film that Noor Jahaan's other three films released that year, Dil (1946), Humjoli (1946), and Sofia (1946) were pale in comparison. In Jugnu (1947), she starred with the then rising star Dilip Kumar. The music of the film catapulted the then struggling Mohammed Rafi. Noor Jehan had very few duets as her voice did not require the support and enhancement of others. Her effortless emotive capabilities and fluid grasp over the substance and essence of the lyrics is amazing, even to this day. Noor Jahaan's last film in India was Mirza Sahibaan (1947) which starred Prithviraj Kapoor's brother Trilok Kapoor opposite Noor Jahaan and the film brought some of her last musical hits.
Noor Jahaan sang 127 songs in Indian films and the number of talking films she made from 1932 to 1947 was 69. The number of silents was 12. Fifty-five of her films were made in Bombay, eight in Calcutta, five in Lahore and one in Rangoon, Burma.
Career as a singer/actress in Pakistan
The Partition of India was the partition of the film industry. During the partition in 1947, Noor Jahaan decided to migrate to Lahore in newly created Pakistan, despite Bombay being the real centre of show business. What was then the heartbeat of India was that Noor Jahaan became Pakistani. This must have been a momentous decision for her. She was undoubtedly at the height of her career both as an actress and a singer and she did not foresee any competition of any kind in the near future. The reason she opted to go to Pakistan was because she loved her hometown, Kasur and wanted to be in the country of her hometown. Dilip Kumar told her to stay in India but she said to him Jahan paida hui thi wahan hi jaoon gi (I will go back to the place I was born). Her husband, Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, did not hail from that part of the subcontinent. He was from Uttar Pradesh and there was no compulsion to shift to Lahore. Many of the Muslim performers who were struggling then to make a place for themselves did not opt for Pakistan and stayed behind in Bombay as it was the real centre for film-making. Many of them flourished in later years and earned the kind of money and fame that would not have been possible in the new country. Movement in the opposite direction was led by Dalsukh Pancholi who had to abandon his beloved Lahore and move to Bombay. Noor Jahaan was not a struggling artiste who found her rise to the top blocked by popular stars. She had found her place at the top. She needn't have come to Pakistan. She could have stayed in India and enjoyed her reign at the top. Yet she opted to come to Pakistan along with her husband to set up Shahnoor Studios in the outskirts of Lahore on the vandalised remains of Shorey Studios. This can only be attributed to her commitment to the new country. After the holocaust of the partition as things settled down, the film industry in Pakistan picked up pieces and made use of whatever was available. With the splitting of India in two, the labour force, many technicians, music directors, actors, and actresses either stayed in India or shifted to Pakistan. The richness and variety of music directors in Bombay could not be matched with the Punjabi dominating directors of Lahore and this was sorely felt as a limiting factor in the growth of the film music in the early years of the country. It also limited the richness and variety for Noor Jahaan to exploit. Being a singer of great creative ability, she made a virtue of her limitation and began exploring different styles.
Three years after settling in Pakistan, Noor Jehan starred in her first film in Pakistan, Chanwey (1951), opposite Santosh Kumar, which was also her first Punjabi film as a heroine. Shaukat and Noor Jehan directed this film together making Noor Jahaan Pakistan's first female director. The film was a runaway hit. Most of the songs rendered by Noor Jehan and composed by Feroze Nizami became instant hits, not only in Pakistan but also in India. The film itself ran to packed houses in major cities in East Punjab, proving that Noor Jahaan was still loved by millions of cinegoers and listeners of film music on both sides of the border. Indeed, the three year gap in her career did not make a dent whatsoever in her popularity. Noor Jahaan's second film in Pakistan was Dopatta (1952) which turned out to be an even bigger success than Chanwey (1951). Such was the popularity of musical score that no song based programme on Radio Pakistan, All India Radio or the newly introduced Hindi Service of Radio Ceylon, seemed complete without 1 or 2 of the film's numbers. In 1953 another Rizvi produced film, Gulnar (1953), directed by Imtiaz Ali Taj, though a well made film, proved to be grosser at the box office. However, its songs, penned by Qateel Shifai and composed by Ghulam Haider were highly appreciated by music connoisseurs.
After a years break, Noor Jahaan returned with another Punjabi film, Patey Khan (1955) opposite Aslam Pervez, which was another hit. Composer Akhtar Hussain scored some of his finest compositions of his career, all faultlessly rendered by Noor Jahaan. In fact, Indian music director O.P. Nayyar was so moved when he heard "Kali Kali Jaan Dukh" that it brought tears to his eyes and he insisted on hearing it again and again. Two films released in 1956 with Santosh in the main lead. One was Lakht-e-Jigar (1956). The film faired below average at the box office but the film's music is considered to be the best of composer G.A. Chisti's long and illustrious career. Composing for a Noor Jehan starrer for the first time, Chisti nonetheless managed to come up with one of the most captivating tunes he ever scored. Noor Jahaan immortalised Chisti's compositions. The second Noor Jahaan starrer of 1956, was undoubtedly one of the most significant musicals in the Pakistani film industry. Directed by Masud Parvaiz, Intazaar (1956), had music composed by Khwaja Khurshid Anwar who made his first release in this film after he came to Pakistan in the early 1950s. This film was also the first time Noor Jahaan worked with the musical giant and what a combination that was to be. Almost every song he composed for her and she rendered became a rage. Lata Mangeshkar, while recording an interview for the Urdu Service of All India Radio in the 1970s, referred to Intazaar (1956), as one of her favourite Pakistani musical hits. Small wonder then that Noor Jahaan was given the first President's Award in 1957 for best actress and best singer.
Compared to 1956, the following year was much less eventful. The one release was Nooran (1957), another Punjabi film, with Sudhir playing the main lead. Though the film had some enchanting numbers, the film failed to click at the box office. The year 1958, brought Noor Jahaan two superhits. The first was a Punjabi film, Choomantar (1958), with Aslam Pervez as the leading man, that had excellent songs rendered by Noor Jahaan under the direction of Rafiq Ali. The next release was Anwar Kamal Pasha's Anarkali (1958) in which Noor Jahaan played the title role opposite Sudhir who played Prince Salim. Despite the miscasting for both central roles, the film went on to be a jubilee hit solely on the popularity of Noor Jehan's songs composed by two music composers. Master Inayat Hussain, the original composer of the film, opted out of the film as the result disagreement with the director after the recording of just three songs. The task of composing the rest of the film's music was handed to Rashid Attre who composed some of the most memorable hits.
Her last films after 1958 were the musical hit Koel (1959), Pardaisan (1959), Nind (1959), Mirza Ghaalib (1961), and Baaji (1963). In Koyal (1959), a memorable hit is Mehaki Fizaayen (lyrics: Tanvir Naqvi). She struck new working relationships with Master Akhtar Hussain and Ustad Nazar Hussain, among others. Some of her most challenging and beautiful songs of her career as an actress/singer belong to the 1950s. In Neend (1959), she worked with music composer Rasheed Attre for the second time. Songs like Tere dar par sanam chalay aai, demonstrate how her voice had matured. Her daily riyaz and complete dedication to the music shone through. Her penultimate film as an actress/singer was Mirza Ghalib (1961). In this she sang the ghazals of Ghalib, the greatest Urdu poet. This proved to be a bridge between her past and her future. She had developed a love for poetry and now started recording works of leading Urdu poets, classical and contemporary. This contributed to the strengthening of her iconic stature. She gained another audience for herself. Her rendition of Faiz Ahmed Faiz's Mujshe pehli si mohabbat mere mehboob na maang is a unique example of tarranum, reciting poetry as a song. Noor Jahaan last starred in Baaji in 1963, though not in a leading role. She was shown sitting and enjoying the dance in the song - Sajan Laagi Tori Lagan Man Maa, sung by Farida Khanum. She was still looking her usual gorgeus youthful self. Noor Jahaan bade farewell to acting in 1963 after a career of 33 years (1930 to 1963). The pressure of being a mother of six children and the demanding wife of a hero (Ejaz Durrani) forced her to give up her career. Noor Jahaan made 14 films in Pakistan, ten in Urdu, four in Punjabi.
Career as a playback singer
After she quit acting she took up playback singing. She made her debut as a playback singer in 1960 with the film Salma. Her first initial playback for a Pakistani film was for Jan-e-Bahar (1958), in which she sung the song Kaisa Naseeb Layi Thi, picturised on Musarrat Nazir. She was soon the most famous playback singer through the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. She also made albums and even though she wasn't acting, she was still a hit. She received many awards, including with the highest Pakistani honour in entertainment, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (The Pride of Performance) in 1966, Pakistan's top civil award and countless cultural awards.
In the 1960s, she sang for heroines such as Sabiha Khanum (Mauseeqar (1962), Daman (1963) and Pak Daman (1969). Long after Sabiha retired, Madam Noor Jahaan as still singing for debutante heroines such as Neeli and Reema until the 1990s. For this very reason, Sabiha affectionately called her Sadaabahaar (evergreen). During the 1960s, Noor Jahaan's voice was seen evolving. It sounded mature and matched well with the sober performances of heroines such as Shamim Ara. Year after year, they stood side by side on stage. Winning smiles on their faces, shining Nigar Awards in their hands. 1966 - Aaj Ka Darya, 1967 - Lakhon Me Ek, 1969 - Salgirah, Shamim Ara - best actress, Madam Noor Jahaan - best singer.
In the 1970s, she sang for Shabnum in Dosti (1971), and the film is still remembered today for Noor Jahaan's memorable songs echoing in the picturesque Kaghan Valley. Dosti was followed by Rani's Anjuman (1970), Umrao Jaan Ada (1972) and Naag Mani (1972). This was the time when Noor Jehan gained weight and her voice started showing signs of fatigue, due to overuse in Punjabi songs, which had to be sung in a higher pitch. Composers like Nisar Bazmi started looking for younger voices such as Runa Laila and later, Naheed Akhtar. Yet, only Noor Jahaan could bring to life the agony of a dancing Rani in Umrao Jaan Ada - dressed in black and dancing to set herself free of the binding chains of her ankle-bells in Jo Bacha Tha, Woh Lutane Ke Liye.
In the 1980s, the production of Urdu films declined. Noor Jahaan's rejuvenated vocals made all the dancing mutyars of Punjabi cinema, dance their hearts out to her tunes from Anjuman (Sher Khan (1981)), to Neeli (Kale Chor (1991)) to Saima (Sakhi Badshah (1996)). Not even the impish Babra Sharif was to be left out (Mukhra (1988)). Rasheed Attre composed the tune of her ever-famous Gayegi Duniya, Geet Mere for Mauseeqar (1962)'s village singer Sabiha. Rasheed's son, Wajahat Attre, composed fast-paced Punjabi songs for her all through the 1980s and 1990s. She sang them in equal panache.
Her popularity was further boosted with her patriotic songs during the 1965 War between Pakistan and India. No one asked her to sing. She herself phoned Radio Pakistan one morning and said that she wanted to go and sing. They did not believe it and just kept asking, "Is that Madam Noor Jahaan?". They thought it was some kind of a hoax. Finally, she said, "You think I'm joking with all these bombs falling and these shells exploding?". She first had to get a pass to get out of the house because there was a curfew in the city. When she arrived, they were happy and excited. They kept saying, "It is really you". "Well you can see for yourself", she said. There were no musicians around but she said that didn't matter. She had taken four of her own, one of them was Mubarak, who played the santoor. She set the lyrics to music herself. Merya dhol sipahaya, Mera sonha sheher Kasur ni and Aai puttar hatan te nahin vikday were all her own compositions. It took her literally minutes to compose the tune for Aai puttar. She was accompanied on the tabla by Sabir and the sarangi was played by Nizam sahib. The recording was done by Azam sahib and there was, of course, Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum who wrote the words. She used to load her musicians into her car and off they would go to the Mall where the recordings were done. Once, as her car moved into the studio, a shell fell, just killing the sentry that had just waved them in. It could have been her. She had three little girls at the time. They were all ill and there was nobody to take care of them. Hina, the eldest, took care of the younger ones even though she was a child herself. She used to cook for them at five in the morning and then be on her way. When the siren sounded, she would push them into the trench they had dug. Her musicians used to tell her to get into the trench when their session was on and the siren sounded. She would tell them "If we have to go, let it be in front of the microphone, singing. Think of the boys who are out there fighting." When she sang Merya dhol sipahaya, it was not pre-recorded. She sang it straight into the microphone and it went live because the tape recorder was not working. It was a very poignant moment for her and she cried a lot. Then she sang. Hasan Latif, who was like a brother to her, helped her in those days. He said to her "You have done something beautiful". He gave her a lot of encouragement. He said she was like Umme Kulsum. She never forgot his words for they made a deep impression on her.
The diva revisited India in 1982 to attend a function celebrating the golden jubilee of the Indian talkie. It was the first time she had visited India since the Partition. The Malikah-e-Tarannum, enthralled her fans on this side of the border with her evergreen voice. She was granted an audience by the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at New Dehli's magnificent Rashtrapati Bhawan and was received by Dilip Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar in Bombay. They had kept in touch through meetings at the Wagah Border (1951), London and New York. She performed live on stage for the show Mortal Men, Immortal Melodies on February 11 of that year. As she sang Anmol Ghadi (1946)'s Awaz De Kahan Hai, all grievances were forgotten and the performer and her audience wept together. Noor Jahaan-ji, aap jitney baras hum se door rahi hain, theek utne hi baras humne aap ka intezar kiya hain (All these years that you were away, we have waited for you, counting each year as it passed by), remarked Dilip Kumar. That night, she achieved what no ambassador had ever achieved before. She returned home to give glittering performances for PTV's musical Tarannum.
Last years and death
In 1986, on a tour of North America, her mild chestpains recurred with severity. Her doctors diagnosed angina and an immediate operation was advised. The American surgeons performed a smooth surgery and Noor Jehan returned to Lahore with a winning smile while hiding her ticking pace-maker. She looked slimmer and prettier and flaunted a band around her neck that changed colours with ever-changing saris. Even her voice sounded fresh. Her facelifts in London were perhaps already known and perhaps also a minor surgical manipulation of her "singer's nodules" which are known to occur with voice overuse.
In 1996, Noor Jahaan recorded her last song in Pakistan which was "Ki Dam Da Bharosa?" for the film Sakhi Badshah (1996) and stopped singing due to failing health and newer trends in music. Noor Jehan stayed away from the limelight for four years - a period which seemed like ages for fans, and during which she received treatment at various hospitals. Fans and family, friends and foes, all prayed for a magical cure. Her ex-husbands, sons, daughters and grandchildren waited in attendance. Admirers carried fragrant bouquets and well-wishers sent get-well-soon wishes. Dilip Kumar visited from Bombay and General Musharraf from Islamabad. But none could stop her ailing heart from its downslide. It had taken much and could take no more.
Noor Jahaan's last days were painful. Once, she almost died but came through. She said that God had spared her life so that while she was alive, she could divide her property among her children because if she had not, after she was gone, there would be disputes and that would make her very unhappy. She was not to be disappointed. Her large home in the Liberty Chowk of Lahore's Gulberg Town which she had been smart enough to get declared commercial property by the Corporation was sold for Rs. 20 crore. She gave each of her six children Akbar, Asghar, Zile Huma, Hina, Shazia, Nazia Rs. 2.5 crore each. She was truly happy and relieved after she did that.
Noor Jahaan had been suffering and fighting off a terrible protracted illness concerning her ailing heart as well as several other ailments. She was sent to Karachi for treatment, where she suffered a heart attack. On Saturday afternoon, December 23, 2000, Noor Jahaan died from heart failure. She died on the night of Laylat al-Qadr (27th Ramadaan), which is a very important night for Muslims. The funeral prayers were offered at Jaamiyah Masjid Sultan, Karachi. She is buried in the Left Side of Gate 2 at the Gizri Graveyard near Saudi Consulate in Karachi. Her grave is built of golden marble and is a grave of striking beauty. In death, Noor Jahaan dissociated herself from those she kept her company all her life, and left in the company of taraweeh prayers. When news of her death spread, people could not resist and turned on their TVs in the middle of the holy night's prayers for one last look of that smiling, dimpled face - that magic, charisma, that legend they called Malikah-e-Tarannum Noor Jahaan.
Another source describes her death as: Allah Wasai of Kasur died in the arms of her loving daughters in Karachi - the daughters she had brought up as a single parent. Leaving behind millions in gold and cash for her children and thousands of immortal melodies for her fans, she had embarked on her last journey. The falling night of December 23, 2000, was the holiest night of the month of Ramadaan, a night when sins are forgiven and when the doors of heaven are flung wide open. Noor Jahaan, who never sang in her life without advance payment, was leaving for the Hereafter with booked promises.
Personal life
During the production of Khandaan (1942) and on the sets, a relationship turned affair developed between Noor Jahaan and Sayid Shaukat Husain Rizvi. They soon started a turbulent love affair which took place during shootings in Pancholi Studios in Lahore. When her brothers came to know of it, their love and marriage was opposed and her brothers beat her for this reason. Shaukat Husain Rizvi and Noor Jahaan both migrated to Bombay where the former began making the film Naukar (1943) which had Noor Jahaan playing a supporting role and it was written by Saadat Hasan Manto. The film flopped yet the two decided to get married. They finally eloped and married in 1943, against the wishes of Noor Jahaan's brothers and family who didn't want to lose her and also charged Rizvi for the abduction of her. Their marriage produced three children. They were Akbar Husain Rizvi, Asghar Husain Rizvi and Zile Huma. In 1955, she appeared in the Punjabi film, Patey Khan, and she seemed to have fallen in love with the film distributor M. Naseem. This created a gulf between Noor Jahaan and Shaukat Husain Rizvi, and they were divorced. Sayid Shaukat Husain Rizvi demanded Shahnoor Studios from Noor Jahaan in return for Zile Huma's custody. Madam gladly signed the property papers to get her daughter back. However, her film Pardaisan, produced by M. Naseem, released in 1959 and failed at the box-office, which led to differences between Noor Jahaan and M. Naseem, and the two parted ways.
However, Noor Jahaan didn't remain single for long. She soon fell in love with 25 year old actor Ejaz Durrani and they became very close. On October 19, 1959, they were married. Their marriage produced three daughters. They were Hina, Shazia and Nazia. Noor Jahaan glowed with marital bliss and was utterly devoted to Mr. Durrani (she seriously considered giving up singing for him). However, they were divorced on April 28, 1971. They were divorced because of Ejaz's affair with the famous Pakistani actress Firdous. A couple of months later, when Ejaz was picked up at Heathrow Airport, England with a cache of narcotics concealed in film cans tried and sentenced to four years in prison, it was Noor Jahaan who came to his help. She paid lawyers' fees, which were quite considerable and spent a lot of time and money to bail him out, despite her reputation of being tight-fisted. The man who had let her down and left her to raise three daughters, she helped generously in his adversity.
Descendants
Noor Jahaan has a few famous descendant's such as her daughter Zile Huma, who is a well-known Pakistani singer and the only of her four daughters to follow in her mother's steps, and her granddaughter Sonia Jahaan who is a fast-upcoming Bollywood actress. She was born to Akbar Hussain Rizvi, Noor Jahaan's eldest son and his French wife, Florence. Her birthname was Sonya Rizvi but she was re-christened Sonya Jahaan in honour of her grandmother. Her son now runs Shahnoor Studios alongside his half-brothers. Also, Zile Huma's youngest son Hamzah Ali is an upcoming name in the Pakistani film and music industry. He made his debut in films in 1997 when he first appeared in Sala Bigda Jayay. He said "I have seen it all, though it hasn't been long since I've joined showbiz but I have been part of it all my life because of my Naano and my mom". Carrying stardom in his blood, his elder brother, Ahmed Ali Butt, is the lead vocalist in the rock band E.P.. Also, two of the Pakistan movie industry's younger and highly talented singers, Azra Jehan and Saira Naseem, are Noor Jahaan's direct family.

This article has been tagged since June 2007.
• Noor Jahaan is credited in various ways such as, Noor Jahaan, Nur Jahaan, Madam Noor Jahaan, Madam Nur Jahaan, Noorjahaan and Nurjahaan.
• Sour and oily food is death to a good throat - who doesn't know that? And yet Noor Jahaan used to eat oil preserves (Aachaar in Urdu) and pickles (Turshi in Farsi) by quarters of seers and the interesting thing is that whenever she had a film song to record, she would eat quarter seer of pickle quite ritualistically, wash it down with ice-cool water, then reach over to the microphone. She said her voice was enlivened this way.
• Noor Jahaan never liked to step out of her home and never liked parties. She also preferred to avoid hotels and public gatherings. Noor Jahaan's eldest daughter Zile Huma only got to see the inside of Shahnoor Studios after she was married. Her three daughter's from Ejaz Durrani had never done that once. Noor Jahaan never sang at private functions because she believed this practice to be unprofessional.
• Noor Jahaan had a distinct look, her hair parted at the center and was tightly combed back in a braid. She believed in big and bold jewellery and wore double-breasted "kurtas" and "shararas". She brought back conservative dress code with her "dupatta" covering her head putting an end to the carefree heroine of the 1930s. The oomph and glamour Noor Jahaan possessed certainly caused many eyes to cast glances and many mouths to go on blabbering. Her trademark, heavy make-up, specifically of the eyes and lips remained hers till the end. Nobody managed to carry off those colourful and gaudy saris like Noor Jahaan. Rumour has it that she hardly wore the same clothes twice and the jewellery she adorned could be seen sparkling from quite a distance. Noor Jahaan also wore some revealing dresses in her days, including a one-piece bathing suit on the Clifton Beach, in Koyal (1959), with Aslam Pervez by her side.
• Noor Jahaan always preferred her year of birth to remain a romantic mystery. When interviewer Khalid Hasan first met her in 1967 she told him "People often wonder how old I am. Let me tell you, in terms of experiences of life and men, I have always been 100 years old."
• Noor Jahaan is one of Asha Bhosle's most favourite singers. On another website she said a few words on Noor Jahaan:
"Badnaam Mohabbat Kaun Kare Badnaam is my favourite song by Noor Jahaan. I had seen her in my early childhood when Badi Maa (1945) was being made. I played a small role in that film. I used to call her Aapa. She sings beautifully. She was one of the greatest female singers at the time of K.L. Saigalsaab".
• Master Ghulam Haider whom she considered to be her "film line" ustad, taught her how to stand in front of a microphone, how to render words such as hai and muhabbat, and how to breathe while singing.
• Despite being deaf from one ear, Noor Jahaan's voice and her music are an excellent piece of work.
• Noor Jahaan sings in Raagi which means she strains her vocal cords, thus rendering voice an artificiality. She is able to change, vary, strain, snap, twist, and swing her vocal cords according to the demand of the song. Noor Jehan's capability to strain her vocal cords wherever and whenever she desires has really made her a unique artist. Even in Alaps (prelude modulation), Taans (stretched key note), Pulteys (turn-over modulation) and Murkis (sudden metrical zig-zag), she is able to produce variety. Even master musicians have to be careful in the rise and fall of her voice. However, Noor Jahaan had a lack of refinement and purity in her voice, which eventually gave her more popularity in the lower classes of the Indian Subcontinent. Add to this the intensity of her vocals and you have a singer who has the power to make people hysterical. Being the cultural epicentre, Punjab certainly had a lot to extract from her, and the queen had more than enough to give.
• When she made an early meeting with Khalid Hasan, she told him about her growing up in Kasur. She said "We were brought up with great love, and our parents always doted on us and also told us that true joy resides in your own heart and you always carry it with you no matter where in the world you go. Nobody can bring you joy if you don't have it within your heart". She said many things that her parents told her that had guided her through life. "My father used to say that if you cannot help people, you should not harm them. He also used to recite Kabir: Aey Kabira teri jhoonpari jal-kattion ke paas: Jo karain ge so bharian ge, too kyoon bhavo udas. Because of my parents we grew up honest and hard-working, never greedy or envious of others who had more. We were happy with what we had. We were not ashamed of our slender means. It was not important. When I was a child, there was one prayer I always used to say: O God, do not make me dependent on anyone except on Your glorious mercy. I have taught the same thing to my daughters".
• The late Naseer Anwar once told Khalid Hasan a lovely story about Noor Jahaan. It happened in the 1930s in the city of Lahore. The devotees of a local Peer had arranged a special evening of devotional music in his honour. Among those who were brought on to perform was a little girl who sang some naats. "Sing us something in Punjabi, little daughter", the Peer said to her. She immediately launched into a Punjabi folk song, one line of which went something like: "may the kite of this land of five rivers touch the skies". As she sung the words in her young and perfectly modulated voice, the Peer went into a trance. Then he rose, put his hand on the girl's head and prophesied, "Go forth, little girl, your kite will one day touch the skies". How Pakistan has regressed as time has past was brought home to Mr. Hassan in the late 1970s when a mullah in Lahore issued fatwa against Noor Jehan, declaring her "outside the pale of Islam for having said that music was a form of worship".
• Noor Jahaan was an extraordinary woman who lived her life on her own terms. She went through good times and bad, marriages, divorces, heartbreaks, casual and serious love affairs, fame, fortune, lonelinesss, and in the last years of her life, unremitting ill health. She bore it all with quiet confidence and much grace. She never felt sorry for herself, never looked for pity. She was accused of being possessive. It is true that she was because she wanted to hold on to what she had acquired through her own efforts. She bore the financial burden of helping her large family through the years. Noor Jahaan looked after the financial needs of her large family - and even the family that was not immmediate - all her life. Once she said "People often ask me why I don't stop working. Well, how can I? If I don't work, who is going to take care of all these people". However, Noor Jehan was never known to have been religiously inclined. Noor Jahaan was as extravagant as could be and created a style of vivacity and flamboyance all her own.
• In a conversation with Naveed Riaz somewhere in the 1980s, she remembered her early years and spoke of them movingly. She spoke about her mother "After my morning riyaz, a teacher would come and help me learn how to read and write. At times, I found it a bit much and so one day, I declared that I was not going to study anymore. That was the only time my mother hit me. She struck me just once and said Nahin Nooriji, tussi parho gai. Now that I think about it, had it not been for her, I would not have learnt to read and write. When I record a song, I have the words in front of me on a sheet of paper. And by God, every time I look at sheet of paper, I remember my mother. I feel like raising my hands in prayer to God and asking Him to shower His blessings on my dear mother. You know, so much time has passed, but I can still feel the thrill of riding on my father's shoulder as he walked through the street. There I am, perched high, looking down on people and shops. O I remember those days!
• On another website, legendary music composer Naushad remembered Noor Jahaan and spoke about her:
"I don't remember exactly when I first met Noor Jahaan. It was much before the Partition of course, when she was singing in India. She was working in Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi (1946) along with Surendra Nath and Suraiyah. That was when I was first introduced to her. I was recording the song, Jawan Hai Mohabbat, set in Raga Pahadi. I was just told the story, the situation of the film and asked to record the song on the lyrics given to me. The recording was in Tardeo at National Studios, which is the air-conditioned market now. She liked the tune very much when I first played it for her. She even complimented me in front of Mehboobsaab. This was good for me because when I started giving music in films, she was already a big name. Her words carried weight and that helped me a lot. She sang for a lot of films for me and she gave me a lot of respect whenever she would sing Aawaz De Kahan Hai in every concert she had. Her first film was Khandaan, in which she also acted. Her husband, Shaukat Hussain Rizvi also made many films for her. She acted with Dilip Kumar in Jugnu too. She was a very warm and friendly person. At the same time, she was a very mischievous person also. In fact, while recording Aawaz De Kahan Hai, we had only one microphone. So she would stand on one side, and Surendra Nath stood on the other. Surendra Nath was a very timid man. A thorough gentleman and he could not take Noor Jehan's mischief in stride. What she would do is sing her lines and instead of turning away, she would stare right into Surendra Nath's face, making him nervous! He could stand it no longer, so he came to me and requested me to ask her to turn away once she finished singing her lines. She laughed and then did what I asked her to do. She had a certain innocence when she played such pranks on her colleagues, but they didn't mind it because they liked her very much. She missed her Bombay friends a lot. Recently, when we were both in America, she called me up and cried that she misses her old house in Chowpatty and her friends there. She always kept in touch even though she went to Pakistan. For an artiste, there are no boundaries. So even if she was in Pakistan, she was always remembered here as she remembered us."
• Noor Jahaan and Lata Mangeshkar were very good friends from the time they first met on the sets of Badi Maa (1945). At that time, Lata was an upcoming singer and a fan of Noor Jahaan's. Noor Jahaan commented her and praised her. She said:
Log kahate hain ki Lataji tumhe itna manti hain, Lataji tumhe Ustad samajhti hain, tumhe pyaar karti hain. Yeh sab main samajhti hoon unka badapan hain kyon ki Lata to Lata hain. Lataji ki tarah meri nazar mein to koi aaj tak paida nahin hua, Lataji ko Allah ne awaz di hain, ilm unhe unke Wallid sahab se mila, khuda ki taraf se unpar karam hain. (People say (to me) that Lataji believes in you so much, Lataji considers you to be her mentor, she loves you. All this I understand, it is their elevation (of appreciation) because Lata is Lata. Nobody in the likeness of Lata, in my eyes, has been born to this day. Allah has given Lataji her voice, she received her knowledge from her father. She has been bestowed on by God).
• In an old edition of the Filmfare magazine, Dalsukh M. Pancholi wrote an article about how he discovered Noor Jahaan:
One morning, a ten-year-old girl was standing at the entrance of my studio, and on seeing her, while getting out of my car, she began to sing. Her singing lacked polish and her movements were clumsy but her voice had a rare charm, and it held my attention. It took her in and cast her in my three films - Gul Bakavli (1939), Yamla Jat (1941) and Khandaan (1942). The girl was Noor Jahaan who became famous as a singing star and was known as the Nightingale of Punjab.
• Noor Jahaan's elder sister Aidan Bai was a famous stage singer, dancer, and actress in her days. She had a melodious voice and great acting skills. Eidan Bai was starring in the Urdu stage drama, Malikah, written by Tanwir Naqvi. Aidan Bai fell in love with Tanwir Naqvi, and their marriage took place in Lahore in 1948, two years after Naqvi's debut as a lyricist in Anmol Ghadi (1946). Their marriage lasted for 15 years and finally ended in a divorce in 1963.
• Noor Jahaan's upbringing, unfortunately, did not give her the same refinement that Lata had. The former was akin to having petty disputes (mostly professional), and while at it, also using foul language! Her insecurities led her to some very awkward situations, like at the time of the shooting of the pre-partition hit, Anmol Ghadi (1946), with co-star, Suraiyah. Both stars were getting ready for the shooting of a song, in which Suraiyah's clothes were slightly more beautiful than Noor Jahaan's. Before the song could be shot, the latter could not control her anger and took a pair of scissors and made shreds of the dress. Such was her insecurity.
• Noor Jahaan's forte was film music, but her strong classical music foundations gave her the liberty to sing the most difficult ghazals, both for film and non-film albums. A Pakistani poet has not tasted the sweetness of success if Noor Jehan has not obliged him by singing his work. Qateel Shifai, Ahmad Faraz, and Nasir Kazmi all have been immortalised courtesy of their works which Noor Jahaan has sung. Faiz Ahmad Faiz, a giant in his own right, went so far as to gift his famous poem, Mujhse pehli si muhabbat to her, upon hearing her rendition. In fact, most film pandits go so far as to refer to it as the greatest Urdu song ever sung. Quite a title, once you understand what that implies, for hundreds of Urdu poets have had their works sung by an equal number of singers, but the credit goes to none other than Noor Jahaan.
• Noor Jahaan and Lata Mangeshkar are both legends, albeit being separated by borders. Where the latter made no show of this fact, the former was quite the contrary. Noor Jahaan knew quite well that she was an icon and an institution, and never made the effort to hide this. In an interview telecast on National TV, she was bold enough to say "I would leave my husband, but not my music". This sweeping statement reflected not only her audacity, but her passion as well.
• When Noor Jahaan was very young, she accompanied her elder sisters, Aidan Bai and Haidar Baandi, in an Urdu song extolling the Holy Prophet of Islam , which became a hit. Its opening line was: Hanste hain sitaare, ya Shah-e-Madina and it was composed by G.A. Chisti. The director of the Punjabi film Pind Di Kudhi (1935), K.D. Mehra remember the popularity of the devotional song in Punjab some years earlier, and he put it in his movie although it being in Urdu, it was a bit of a misfit in a Punjabi movie.
• Noor Jahaan always said This voice is God's voice and I have preserved it with His grace. When I stand before the microphone, it is not just me standing there. Behind me, I can feel the presence of my parents. I know they are there. It is a miracle. When I go out there on stage during a performance, the voice that you hear is not my speaking voice. Believe me, I do not know where it comes from. It His gift which He has graciously place in my care. It is His, not mine. When I sing I feel the presence of God as well. It is my world, my life, my faith. Only God knows what goes through my heart, how I feel. I can't express it. My only aim now is to bring happiness to others, to serve people, to build hospitals and to help my children.
• According to an authentic source, Noor Jahaan recorded her last song at Evernew Studios in Lahore for director Masood Butt's film Insaaf Ho To Aisa (1998). The song was "Ladki Phansaali Tune", the music was composed by Taafu, the lyrics by Khawaja Parvaiz, and the song was picturised on Khusbu. Most probably this song was recorded in mid-1996. Due to her health problems, Noor Jahaan spent a lot of time to record this song; she recorded word by word with a lot of pauses. She never went to a studio after the recording of this song.
• An entry in Film Stars, a compendium published in Lahore in 1933, says, "She is slim, delicate and beautiful. She has soft black hair and bewitching eyes. She has recently appeared in Patit Pawan of Pratima.
• Noor Jahaan always referred to Yasmin, Sayid Shaukat Husain Rizvi's second wife whom he married after divorcing Noor Jahaan, as Gittho Begum because she disliked her very much.
• Zile Huma, Noor Jahaan's daughter and Ahmad Ali Butt, Noor Jahaan's grandson are both singers in their own right but both differ greatly from the maestro whose genes they inherited. It took Huma quite a long time to convince her mother to allow her to sing at private functions (something that Noor Jahaan strongly condemned and never indulged in personally), but when she got permission, her mother arranged a top-of-the-line orchestra to accompany her daughter. But Ahmed had a tougher time in getting his grandmother to accept the heavy metal music he loved. "She wouldn't even let me touch my guitar when she was in the house", Ahmad says.
• In Madam Noor Jahaan's last interview, she made the observation, "Life is a lie, Death is the truth".
• In the book, Stars From Another Sky, in the chapter, Noor Jahaan: One in a Million, Saadat Hasan Manto mentions that near the residence that Noor Jahaan and her husband Shaukat Husain Rizvi lived after their marriage, one of Noor Jahaan's elder sisters owned a brothel.
• In an interview, Pran, the famous character actor of Bollywood, talked about his first Urdu film, Khandaan (1942) in which he played the male lead opposite the then upcoming singer/actress, Noor Jahaan. He said At that time Noor Jahaan was still a growing girl and she was so short. They used to give her bricks to stand on. Even then, she was still a little bit shorter than me.
• Noor Jahaan never sang to record a larger number of songs to her name, but for the sheer pleasure of singing. While an actress, it was easier to strike a hit because she knew the mood of her songs which also gave a whole new touch to her marvellous talent. For example, in her song Kisi Tarha Mohabbat Main Chain Pa Na Sake..., the way she sang the last words - Pa Na Sake... was simply unmatched. This exceptional style is still known as the Noor Jahaan touch.
During seventies and Eighties, when Radio listining was at it's peak and a main and fastest source of information and entertainment on the earth, and legendry vocalists were enguying their popularity, same time Medam Noor jeahn was approving herself as one of the best singers of Urdo and Punjabi languages and became well known all over the world not even in the circle of Urdo,Hindi and Punjabi speaking people but outside of the sub continent and among other nations.
Her popular songs have been broadcasting by Radio Moscow, Voice of America,Radio Cylon(Sri Lanka) BBC, Radio Zahdan-Iran's Urdo service, Deuthchwelly (voice of Germany, Beijing Radio's Urdo service etc since they started thier Urdo,Punjabi and Hindi services.
Urdo service of BBC Radio once lanuched a survay or question to the listners that who is the best singer among these three singers, Medam Noor Jehan, Lata Mangeshker and Umi Kulsoom.in those days most responses were received by post and BBC had been flooded by unimaginable replies which could not declare the exact conclusion, BBC was only able to classify the three great singers have thier own very individual and rare voices with special talents and no one is the greater or lower then the other, every singer has her own class and vocal verstility which is not matcheabl with other. Her popular songs were very freequently broadcasted In certain areas of her abilities. In the other hand the only performer was Medam Noor jehan in Pakistani side who successfully lead the struggle to prove the talent and competitiveness of newly born country 's Lollywood film Industry) with Indian film industry. she did most of the jobs as a devotee for her nation.
Filmography
• Koel (1959)
• Pardaisan (1959)
• Neend (1959)
• Anarkali (1958)
• Choomantar (1958)
• Nooran (1957)
• Intezar (1956)
• Lakht-e-Jigar (1956)
• Patey Khan (1955)
• Gulnar (1953)
• Anarkali (1953)
• Do Bigha Zamin (1953)
• Dopatta (1952)
• Chanwey (1951)
• Mirabai (1947)
• Abida (1947)
• Jugnu (1947)
• Mirza Sahibaan (1947)
• Maharana Pratab (1946)
• Jadoogar (1946)
• Sofia (1946)
• Humjoli (1946)
• Dil (1946)
• Anmol Ghadi (1946)
• Bhaijaan (1945)
• Badi Maa (1945)
• Gaon Ki Gori (1945)
• Zeenat (1945)
• Dost (1944)
• Lal Haveli (1944)
• Naukar (1943)
• Duhai (1943)
• Nadaan (1943)
• Khandaan (1942)
• Faryad (1942)
• Dheeraj (1942)
• Chandani (1942)
• Susral (1941)
• Umeed (1941)
• Red Signal (1941)
• Chaudhry (1941)
• Yamla Jat (1940)
• Sajni (1940)
• Pyam-e-Haq (1939)
• Imandaar (1939)
• Gul Bakavli (1939) (as Baby Noor Jehan)

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