By Makhdoom Riaz Syed*
Talat depicts not only a melodious voice but also a decent personality. Amateur singers of Talat’s tunes and his fans also reflect this aspect by universally demonstrating such aristocratic characteristics. Liking for his melodies is not confined to the India or Pakistan but encompass all places on the globe where Urdu/Hindi is a familiar language. Although Talat emerged as a leading singer of Ghazals but most of his Geets are also equally popular. With the passage of time Ghazal singing has undergone many changes but the singing style of Talat has an ever-lasting glory.
Talat Mahmood was born on 24th Feb 1924 at Lucknow UP India. His father Mr. Shah Manzoor Mahmood belonged to Makhdoom Shah Bahaul-Haq of Baba Farid Ganj Shakar dynasty. Shah Manzoor sung Iqbal's famous "Tarana" in a public meeting where Allama Iqbal was also present. The crowd honoured him by lifting on their shoulders. An HMV record was also released of the song. Shah Manzoor Mahmood also accompanied Dr.Ansari on his mission to Turkey. He had six children including Talat. Talat's elder brother Shah Hayat Mahmood had very good understanding of classical music. Legendary singers like Bare Ghulam Ali Khan Sahib, Ustad Faiyaz Khan Sahib and Roshan Ara Begum appreciated his awareness of raags. His brother Hayat Mahmood Khan served in important civil positions at Dhaka and Chittagong. The youngest brother Kamal Mahmood - an Army Officer, was also fond of singing. He had very melodious voice and was offered to sing for films but parental considerations restricted his singing over radio only.
Talat Mahmood first sung on All India Radio in 1939. As there were no recording facilities in radio stations at that time, he had to travel to various cities in pre-independence India for live broadcasts. Mr S.K. Sen of HMV from Calcutta approached him and his 6 songs were recorded in 1941 including “Tasweer teri dil mera behla na sakhey gee”. (“Sub din ek saman nahi tha” – being his first song / lyricist Faiyaz Hashmi / music Kamal Dasgupta). Punkhaj Malik liked his voice and invited him to the "New Theatres" of Calcutta where he performed with adopted name “Tapan Kumar”.
Kamal Dasgupta later composed music for MP Productions films. Talat acted and sung in MP’s "Raj Lakshmi " 1945, (song “Jago Musafir jago”, and basic “To sunn le mutwale”) and film "Tum aur Mein" 1947. He also acted as hero in Sampati (1949) of Calcutta’s Oma Productions and then shifted to Bombay where music director Anil Biswas introduced him in film Arzoo "Ae dil mujhe aesi jagah le chal jahan koi na ho".
He was married on 20th Feb 1951 with Nasreen (Born Rattanpur 17th July 1929).
The Cinegoers’ Association of India and the Film Journalists’ Association of Bombay awarded him for his songs in film “Sujata” – Jaltey haen jis key liye teri ankhoun mein diye - Music S.D.Burman. He sung lyrics of most of the contemporary poets and all the famous music composers used his melodious voice with greatest advantage.
He visited Pakistan and sung for 2 Pakistani films (with 3 songs) and 7 non-film songs.
Ghan ghor Gata 1961 “Kholi hae zaban phir bhi khamosh rahe hein”
Chiragh Jalta Raha 1962 “ Koi umeed bar" - “ Mushkil nikla dil ka sambhalna”
Non Film Pakistani Geets – "Koi ab tak nahi aya", "Tum tou do din ke liye aa ke chali jati ho", "Dono jahan teri mohabbat mein haar ke", "Nazroon se door wo rahe hum ko mila na piyar bhi", "Pipal ki chaoon tale sapno ke deep jale", "Bin tere kuch na bhae re sajan"and "Khuda who waqt na lae".
He was presented a shield by the Gramophone Company of Pakistan with “Khuda woh waqt na laye” inscribed on it. Earlier, on creation of Pakistan he had participated in singing Faiyaz Hashmi’s national songs (chorus) – “Azad musalman – Yeh pak zamin yeh pak falak yeh tera Pakistan” and “Taqleed-e-Mohammed bhool na ja”. He sung in many languages of the sub-continent including Pushto.
His film songs for the period 1941-1961 total to 384 and from 1961 to 1982 to only 34. Hindi/Urdu Films with his acting total to 13 and with his songs total to 273. His non-films Hindi songs total to 204. A list of other language films and songs is given below:
Asami Films 2 songs 2. Awadi Non-film songs 2. Bengali Films 3 with 5 songs. Non film Bengali Songs 41, Bhojpuri one film with 5 songs. Gujrati non film songs 6. Marwari non film songs 2. Marahati Films 2 with 3 songs and 3 non-film songs. Malium one film with one song. Ariya one non-film song. Punjabi 4 films with 5 songs. Sindhi one film with 3 songs. Telgo 3 films with 3 film songs.
In summary - Films for which he sang: 293, Film songs: 481, Non-film songs: 266, Total songs 747
(Data - courtesy of Dr M.Rafiq UK)
“Aye dil mujhey aesi jagah ley chal jahan koi na ho”
He had heart attack in seventies. Last recording of his song was done in 1985 and thereafter he sang only in private concerts. He was awarded Padma Bhoshan in early nineties. After prolonged illness, he passed away at Bombay on 9.5.1998.
His singer son Khalid Mahmood has created an Internet Web Site http://www.talatmahmood.com
Ahmed Mohiuddin, an industrialist of Karachi is also an amateur singer. His voice has marked similarity with that of Talat Mehmood. He has been paying tribute by singing Talat's famous songs from his college days. Mr Z.H.Faheem, an expert harmonium player and an emerging music composer also sings Talat's melodies with full devotion. Mr.Salahuddin an electric power corporation engineer is also an amateur singer. He also sings his favorite songs. Talat’s nephew in Pakistan also sings his melodies.
Apparently Talat's singing to a common listener appears to be simple, but those who understand fundamentals of music or the amateur singers can appreciate his performance delicacies of typical notes. His distinction in this regard is best authenticated by the legendary composer of the Indian Film Music -ANIL BISWAS "All the leading singers have been imitated but no one could match the fidelity of Talat - there is no substitute of him - he was unique".
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Syed Makhdoom Ali Riaz is basically a building construction industrialist. He is also writer / director of screenplays and stage dramas. He won best writer's award for "Human Rights & Policing" produced by him for ILO / Govt. He is the General Secretary of "Music Lovers Group" comprising amateur singers. He is known for singing Talat's songs. |
