Pakistan’s most famous singer Noor Jahan, who ruled the hearts of people with her magical voice for seven decades, may be no more in this world, but she is still present in the hearts of her fans. Noorjahan’s real name, born on 21 September 1926, was Allah Rakhi Vasai. He sang about 10 thousand songs not only for Pakistani but also for Indian film industry. These include songs in Hindi, Sindhi, Punjabi, Bengali, Pashto and Arabic languages. Noorjahan’s popularity can be gauged from the fact that she had also made the vocal nightingale Lata Mangeshkar her fan. At the same time, famous singer Noorjahan was also awarded Mallika-e-Tarannum.
Noor Jahan was born in Kasur, about 45 kilometers from Lahore, during the British era. His family was associated with music, so he was placed under a maestro to take music lessons. Noor Jahan was fond of acting and singing since childhood, so she moved to Calcutta with her sisters. There he debuted with the film ‘Hind Ke Taare’ released in 1930 and established himself as a popular child artist just a year later. During this time, he met the famous singer Mukhtar Begum, who changed his name from Allah Rakhi Vasai to Noorjahan.
Noorjahan lived life on her own terms. There were many good and bad turns in his life. Noorjahan married twice. Her first marriage was to Shaukat Hussain Rizvi in 1942, with whom she moved to Pakistan during partition. But his relationship with Shaukat Rizvi could not last long and both separated in 1953. Noor Jahan’s second marriage was to Ijaz Durrani in 1959, which lasted till 1971. At the same time, Shaukat Rizvi has mentioned in her book ‘Noor Jahan Ki Kahani Meri Jubani’ that she had a relationship with Pakistani cricketer Nazar Mohammad.
The stories of Noorjahan and Pakistani cricketer Nazar Mohammad are famous even today. It is said that because of Noorjahan, the Test career of Pakistani cricketer ended prematurely. In fact, once Noorjahan was caught by her husband in a closed room with Nazar Mohammad, after which the cricketer jumped from the first floor and his hand was broken. After this he got his hand repaired by a wrestler, but it went wrong and he had to retire from Test cricket prematurely.
While living in India, Noorjahan worked in films like ‘Khandaan’, ‘Jugnu’, ‘Duhai’, ‘Naukar’, ‘Dost’, ‘Badi Maa’ and ‘Village Girl’. Meanwhile he also started singing. The first song Noorjahan recorded was ‘Saala Jawaaniyan Maane Aur Pinjre De Vich’ for ‘Gul e Bakawali’. Whereas in Pakistan, Noorjahan worked in many films including ‘Gulnar’, ‘Lakhte Jigar’, ‘Anarkali’, ‘Fatekhan’, ‘Pardesiyaan’ and Mirza Ghalib. In 1963 he said goodbye to the world of acting. He died of a heart attack on 23 September 2000.
