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"TERE NAINOON NE CHORI KIA MERA CHOTA SA JIA"
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"MAN MOR HUA MATWALA KIS NE JADOO DALA"
Surraiya
By Mushtaq Abdullah
"Noorjehan was born great, Lata achieved greatness, I had singing greatness thrust on me"
Suraiya was born at Lahore in 1929. Her full name is Suraita Jamal Shaikh. She received formal education at the New (J.B,Petit) High School for Girls in Mumbai and studied Persian and Quran at home. Her maternal uncle M. Zahoor used to perform character roles in films. During school vacations in 1941, she accompanied him to the Mohan Studios where shooting of film "Taj Mehal" was being done. There was a role for a child in this film. The director Mr.Nanubhai Vakil suggested her to perform the role and she agreed to face the camera for the first time. The shot was considered OK.
During her school days she used to participate in "Children Program" on Radio along with Shammi and Rajkapoor. She could sing some popular songs of that time with melody and fidelity. Appreciating her singing talent, a song
"Boot karun mein polish" was recorded in her voice by Naushad Sahib in 1942 for the film
"Nai-Dunia". In the same year she performed a role in film
"Station Master" Other films of her playback singing with music by Naushad Sahib were
"Sharda" (Punchi Ja- pechey raha hae bachpan mera), "Qanoon" and
"Sanjog".
"Aye Jawani Jae Jawani ja ke phir na aye"
"Mohe Mora Bachpana Lade Balma Jawani Bhae Na"
She also acted in film "Tammana" (1942) with music by K.C.Dey. In the next year (1943) she acted as heroin in film "Ishara" (Punghat pe muralia baje) with music by Kh. Khursheed Anwar and "Hamari Baat" (Ghar hum ne liya hae tere ghar ke samne) with music by Anil Biswas. Her other main films with Khursheed Anwar were "Parwana" (Papi Papihare pipi na bol), "Singhar" (Nea nenoon mein rang) and partly in "Yateem". Anil Biswas also directed songs for her in "Gajre" (Door papiha bola), "Do Sitare", "Waris" and partly in "Jeet". During the shooting of "Samrat Chandragupta" with music by C.Ramchandra, she met K.L.Saigal. He desired to act with her in film "Tadbir" (Rani khol de dawar milne ka din agea - music Lal Mohammed). The two other films in which they acted together were - "Omar Khayam" and "Parwana".
"PAPI PAPIHARE PIPI NA BOL BERI PIPI NA BOL"
It will be appreciated that she has paid due regards to most of the famous directors of that time, who groomed her in acting, singing and dancing. Other such actresses of that time were Noor Jahan and Khurshid. After independence they migrated to Pakistan. Most of Suraiya's melodious songs were composed by the mastereos like Naushad, Anil Biswas, Khurshid Anwar, Sajjad Husain (films"1857"- "Teri Nazar mein mein rahoon" and Rustom Sohrab- "Yeh kesi ajab dastan"), Ghulam Haider ("Phool" and "Jagbiti"-Hum ko bhool na jana o perdesia), Naresh Bhatacharia (Dak Bangla- "Pipal ki chaon mein"), Shayam Sunder (Chardin , Kamal ke phool - "Mita sake to mita de dunia" and partly Urvashi) and Pt. Gobind Ram (Do Dil - "Mati ka buut bha gea")
Naushad's Anmol Garhi, Dard (Naat - "Beech bhanwar mein"), Natak, Dillagi, Dastan and Diwana will remain classics for ever. Her other hit films were with music by Husnlal Bhagatram include Aaj ki Raat, Pyar ki Jeet ("Tere naino ne chori kia") , Bari Behen ("Who pass tahein ya door "), Balam ("Jo Bhole hein thuje aey dil"), Nach ("Jo tum badle"), Sanam ("Nea nea hae pear"), Shama Parwana ("Sar mehfil jo jale"), Kanchan and Trolley Driver. Ghulam Mohammed composed music for her Kajal, Shair ("Kia cheez hae mohhabat"), Mirza Ghalib ("Nukta cheen hae and "Rahey ab aesi jaga"), Malik and Shama. S.D.Verman's composition include Vidya, Afsar ("Man More hua matwala") and Lal Kunwar. Her songs in Hunsraj Behl's Khilari ("Chahat ka Bhulana Mushkil hae", "Dile nashad na ro"), Shan ("Tarap ae dil"), Rajput. Moti Mehal and Resham are still remembered by music lovers. She respects guidance of Jamal Sen in her singing for "Shokian" (Ratoon ki neend chen li) and Bilo C. Rani in "Bilwamangal" (Parwano se preet sekh le).
Other notable directors who composed music for her songs include K.Dutta (Rang Mehal and partly Yateem) Krishen Dayal (Lekh- "Dil ka qarar lut gea" - "Badra ki chaon tale"), S.Mohinder (Nilli), Sardul Kwatra (Goonj), Madan Mahan (Khobsoorat), Roshan (Mashuqa- "Mera bachpan wapas aya"), S.N.Tripahi (Inaam), O.P.Nayyar (Mr. Lambo) and N.Dutta (Miss 58). Music for her other films was composed - "Mein kia karoon" by Nino Mujamdar, "Chehre" by M.A. Mukhtar, "Hasrat" by N.Sagir /Arun Roy, "Do Naina" by Mohammed Shafi, "Shakti" by Ram Parshad /Azim Beg and "Amar Kahani" by Baij Sharma.
At early stage of her acting shooting was done at Andheri or Goregaon and for rehearsal of songs she had to go to Naushad Sahib at Kardar Studios at Parel. After picturization of songs she was required to visit Gramophone Co. at the "Fountain" where songs were edited by Naushad Sahib for three minutes of disc time. Her songs are estimated to be about 2000. She suggested Lata's name to C.Ramchander for playback singing of "Duniya" but Chitalker insisted and preferred her songs. She very much praises Lata's singing. "Husnlal" was considered by her as a patient teacher.
I met her more than twenty years back in 1980.She has a good collection of books, Actually reading books is her hobby. Her favourite authors are - Sumerset Maugham, Marie Corelli and Khalil Jibran.
"Mere dil mein koi na aey"
Surraiya and Dev Anand had remained in love for considerable time but she could not dare to face the family and public criticism to their wedding proposal. She never felt that way for anyone else although she continues to receive letters from many of her fans. She was also proposed for marriage by actor Rehman.
"Dour Papiha Bola Raat Adhi Reh Gai Meri Thumari Mulaqat Baqi Reh Gai"
Surraiya's idol was Gregory Peck and he visited her by surprise during a night of 1954 while in transit at Mumbai on his way to Srilanka for shooting. He was much impressed by her simplicity.
"Woh Paas Rahein Ya Door Rahein Nazroon Mein Samae Rehte Hein"
"Teri Nazar Mein Mein Rahoon Meri Nazar Mein Tou"
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Dev Anand molded himself in postures of Gregory Peck but after long awaiting he married Kaplna Kartak. "Tum Mujhko bhool jao aab hum na mil sakhein ge" "Din Pe Din Beete Jaen Jane Waley Na Ayen Mein Kia Karoon" Now she has no restrictions on her eating and as such gaining weight in natural way. She is very fond of "Biryani" dish. She has a craze for ornaments. Her selection and collection of jewelry is unique. Even while going to bed, she often continues to wear them. |
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About herself she humbly observes "I never considered myself a great artist - certainly not a good singer. With no training in music at all. I sang because in those days it was the vogue for heroines to sing their own songs. I do not know why people liked my voice." May god bless her with a long healthy life.
"Din Guzra Raat Aye - Dharkan Laga Ji" "Dharakte dil ki tammanao mera peyar ho tum"
About the Author
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Mushtaq Abdullah, a leading businesman, has the largest collection of gramophone records in the sub-continent. His devotion and efforts in this regard, have been acknowledged by the electronic media of the region. His unique library comprises over 24000 songs covering mainly Bombay Films Music -
Suraiya, being his most favourite singer. He has almost all of her recorded songs. For enriching his knowledge, he has met several leading personalities of the film-world in the sub-continent. These include music composers Anil
Biswas, Sajjad Husain, Bilo C Rani and Basant Parkash (nephew of Late Khem Chander
Parkash) -a flute playing expert, and the legends in acting like Saradar
Akhtar, Lalita Pawar, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Pran He also met Lata, Asha and Usha
Mangeshkar. His library also comprises rare video films in large numbers. He is now busy in preserving his audio collection by digital re-processing. God help him and keep him in good health
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