Madam Noor Jehan Special "Tarrannum Vol 1"

"Noor Jehan" ***Malika E Tarrannum*** After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Jehan decided to move to Pakistan along with her husband Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. She left Bombay and settled in Karachi with her family. Three years after settling in Pakistan, Noor Jehan starred in her first film in Pakistan, Chan wey (1951), opposite Santosh Kumar, which was also her first Punjabi film as a heroine. Shaukat and Noor Jehan directed this film together making Noor Jehan Pakistan's first female director. Noor Jehan's second film in Pakistan was Dopatta (1952) which turned out to be an even bigger success than Chan wey (1951). Her penultimate film as an actress/singer was Mirza Ghalib (1961). This contributed to the strengthening of her iconic stature. She gained another audience for herself. Her rendition of Faiz Ahmed Faiz's Mujh se pehli si mohabbat mere mehboob naj maang is a unique example of tarranum, reciting poetry as a song. Noor Jehan last starred in Baaji in 1963, though not in a leading role. Noor Jehan 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 Jehan made 14 films in Pakistan, ten in Urdu, four in Punjabi. After quitting 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 sang the song Kaisa Naseeb Layi Thi, picturised on Musarrat Nazir. She received many awards, including the highest Pakistani honour in entertainment, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (The Pride of Performance) in 1966, Pakistan's top civil award. She sang a large number of duets with Ahmed Rushdi, Mehdi Hassan, Masood Rana and Mujeeb Aalam. She had a great understanding and friendship with many great singers of Asia, for example with the late great Alam Lohar and many more singers also. In the 1990s Jehan also sang for then débutante actresses Neeli and Reema. For this very reason, Sabiha Khanum affectionately called her Sadabahar (evergreen). Her popularity was further boosted with her patriotic songs during the 1965 war between Pakistan and India. Jehan visited India in 1982 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Indian talkie movies, where she met Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in New Delhi and was received by Dilip Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar in Mumbai. It was in 1965 when India attacked Pakistan at mid night. To boost the moral of the nation and the defence forces, many patriotic songs were written, composed and sung with full fervour. Noor Jehan also played her due role and sung many patriotic songs enthusiastically, which became tremendously popular. Some enormously praised and soul stirring songs are listed below. Ae watan kay sajeelay jawano, Mere naghmay tumharay leeyay hain Aeh putr hataan tay nahin wikday, Tu lubni ain wich bazar kuray Mereya dhol sipahia, Tenun Rub dyaan rakhhan O mahi chhail chhabilah, Haey neen kernail neen jarnail neen Yeh hawaoun kay musafir, Yeh samandaroun kay rahi, Meray sir bakaf mujahid, Meray suf shikan sipahe Rung laey ga shaheedoun ka lahoo, Yeh lahoo surkhee hay aazadi kay afsanay ki Mera sohnan shehr Qasoor neen, Hoya dunya wich mashhoor neen.