1947 - Part A: Saigal and Noorjahan gone.
Saigal was born on April 11, 1904 and learnt singing
from his mother Mrs. Kesar Kaur. Made just 28 movies and
sang about 250 songs, including non-filmi songs. The
legendary singer died on January 18, 1947. His last movie
was paravaanaa, his third and last with suraiyaa. Baby
khurshiid, later known as shyaamaa played his
sister. The music was by khurshiid anvar and lyrics were
by madhok. Saigal sang five songs,
TuuT gaye sab sapane mere,
ai phuul hans ke baag me.n kaliyaa.n khilaaye jaa,
kahii.n ulajh naa janaa,
muhabbat me.n kabhii aisii bhii haalaat paaii jaatii
hai,
baabul moraa maayakaa,
all classics. Suraiyaa matched him with equally great
songs,
paapii papiihaa re,
aa jaa baalamaa rain andherii Dar laage,
jab tum hii nahi.n apane,
mere munDere naa bol.
There was another excellent song by raajakumaarii,
saiyaa.N ne unglii marorii re raam qasam sharamaa gaii
mai.n,
a song that is regretfully missing from the available
video.
Excellent articles on Saigal are available in the RMIM
automailer.
A four-part article by Vish on Lata and Noorjahan, also
available on the RMIM Automailer is a must-read for all. The
legendary music director Sajjaad used to consider only Lata
and Noorjahan as singers, excluding all others, male or
female. In return, on Sajjaad's death on July 21, 1995,
Noorjahan said, "mai.n to ye sun kar bilkul bardaasht
nahii.n kar sakii aur rone lag gaii. ye log aise log hai.n
jo roz paidaa nahii.n hote. mai.n apne ko khushanasiib
samajhatii huu.N ki mai.n-ne sajjaad ke saath gaayaa hai.
hum to ab sirf yaado.n me.n rah ga-e hai.." Last two movies
of Noorjahan in India were juganuu and mirzaa saahibaan.
During the filming of juganuu, she married the director s.
h. rizvii. This movie is distinguished by diliip's natural
acting, a famous rafi-Noorjahan duet,
yahaa.N badalaa vafaa kaa,
appearance of rafi as a college student in the chorus,
vo apanii yaad dilaane ko,
and a very young shashiikala mouthing the roshanaaraa
begam
number,
desh kii purakaif rangii.n sii fizaaon me.n kahii.n.
Noorjahan also sang the famous songs,
umange.n dil kii machalii.n,
aaj kii raat saaze dile puradard naa chhe.D,
tum bhii bhulaa do,
and the last one which has her coughing,
hame.n to shaame Gam me.n kaaTanii hai zindagii apanii.
In a dance sequence in a cultural program of the college
was
filmed the song,
luuT javaanii phir nahii.n aanii, biit gayii to ek
kahaanii,
(sung by shamashaad) which goes on to show how "forward"
movies during your your parents' time were! The music was by
firoz nizaamii, B. A. and the lyrics by M. G. adiib and
asaGar sarahadii. Sulochana (real name Ruby Myers) was the
incharge of the girls' hostel. Kids, we shall meet more
Sulochanas soon, very soon.
mirzaa saahibaa.N
had music by amaranaath, two younger brothers,
husnalaal and bhagataraam. Lyrics were by
qamar jalaalaabaadii and aziiz kaashamiirii. Every single
song was a hit. The 10 songs include, two Noorjahan solos,
kayaa yahii teraa pyaar thaa,
aa jaa tujhe afasaanaa judaaii kaa sunaa.e.n.,
two Noorjahan-Durrani duets,
haath siine pe jo rakh do to qaraar aa jaaye,
tum aankho.n se duur ho,
a Durrani solo,
khaayegii Thokare.n ye javaanii kahaa.n kahaa.n,
two choruses with main voices of Noorjahan, Zohra and
shamashaad,
haaye re u.D u.D jaaye,
rut rangiilii aayii,
one Zohra-shamashaad duet,
suno merii sarakaar javaanii kyaa kahatii hai,
a chorus featuring shamashaad,
aaj miyaa.n jii ko cha.Dh jaaye buKaar,
and, lastly, a solo by Zohra,
saamane galii me.n teraa ghar hai.
As the superbly-talented Noorjahan was leaving India,
many other people were coming to India. Among them was my
father with his wife and a male child, me.
Some other remarkable events of 1947 will make the
second part of this article to be posted very soon.
Posted by Surjit Singh, a ``die-hard'' movie fan
period.
Die-hard because I am recovering from a (five-fold)
coronary
artery bypass graft surgery, the most common surgical
procedure done on Americans, an estimated 350,000 will
undergo it this year. The operation went very well and I am
recovering normally. It will take about two months for me to
become fully active in my work, but I can be active in my
hobbies much sooner! I will get my American citizenship in
October, but as far as I am concerned, this surgery makes me
a true American already!
The fact that I needed an operation was a total surprise
to
me and everybody else who knows me. I am a lacto-vegetarian,
do not drink, do not smoke, have no family history of heart
disease and have the typical Indian ``whatever will be, will
be'' attitude toward life, without any unusual stress in my
life. So why did it happen to me? Because, I did not do any
exercise whatsoever. So kids, give up smoking, give up
drinking, give up meat, give up stress, adopt a heart-
disease-free family, have a medical checkup annually once
you reach 40, and for RMIM's SAKE, START DOING EXERCISE NOW!
My e-mail is surjit_singh@yahoo.com.
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