Farkhund Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: The 22nd death anniversary of melody queen Madam Noor Jehan will be observed tomorrow (Friday, 23 December) to remember her great contributions to the music industry.
Known as one of the most melodious and soothing voices of South Asia, the melody queen ruled the Pakistani music and film industry for six decades and sang over 20,000 songs and Ghazals in Urdu, Sindhi, Hindi, and Punjabi, claiming the honorific title of “Malika-e-Tarannum”.
Besides playback, folk, classic and other music genres, Noor Jehan also established herself as a versatile actress, first in British India and then in Pakistani cinemas.
Born as Allah Rakhi Wasai on 21 September 1926 in Kasur, Noor Jehan inherited her musical talent from her family and started her musical career at the age of nine as a child singer.
Noor Jehan earned recognition in acting, singing
She played many memorable leading roles in a number of movies, including Ghalib, Dopatta, Chanway, Ummeed, Khanadan and many more. Her last film Ghalib was released in 1961, after which she restricted herself to singing only.
She got recognition with the melodious ghazal of the famous poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Mujhe se pehli si muhbbat meray mehboob na maang. She also sang several patriotic national songs during Indo-Pak wars in 1965 and 1971, to amplify the zeal of Pakistani soldiers.
The melody queen received many awards for her talent in singing and acting, including the highest civilian award Tamgha-e-Imtiaz in 1966 and the Presidential Award in 1957. Noor Jehan died as a result of cardiac arrest on 23 December 2000 in Karachi.
