Ek Thi Khursheed
Khursheed Who?
I am sure most of the PFC readers would come back with this question after reading the title.. But those who were born before the Independence of India or the ones who are really interested in that era, should probably know who she was. Even I was not very familiar with the name until a few years back and came to know much about her when I was doing the little tribute documentary on Khemchand Prakash in 2007.
She was one of the most charming and charismatic actress plus singer of the first phase of Hindostani Film Industry, a prequel to Suraiya you can say as she started her career in 1931. She was a great team with KhemChand Prakash and this MD-Singer Jodi ruled the charts in early forties.
Listen to this beautiful song from Pardesi (1941) composed by Khemchand Ji which was a big big hit in those days.
Pahle Jo Muhabbat Se (Pardesi 1941)
Though she worked in a lot of films like Bhagat Surdas, Holi, Chandani, Musafir, Aage Badho, Moorti and Mumtaz Mahal, the film that was landmark in her career and made her name immortal was Tansen (1943) with K.L Saigal, where she played the character of Tani. Tansen is one of the most significant scores of that era and still remembered for songs like “Diya Jalaao”, “More Baalpan ke saathi”, “Ghata Ghanghor Machaave Shor”.
Two developements caused a downfall in Khursheed’s career.. The arrival of Noorjehan who dethroned Khursheed from the top spot and later the Partition, which made her to opt Pakistan as her residence and left India forever. She did a few films in Pakistan in mid 50s but could never attain the heights of early forties.
You could ask, why a post on Khursheed today.. Its her 97th Birth Anniversary today (April 14) and its unfortunate but true that we need Birth or Death Anniversaries to remember some of the stars of yesteryears.
Enjoy a few songs and performances of her from the film Tansen:
Barso Re :
More baalpan ke saathi : A lovely duet with KL Saigal (if you have ears for that era)
Rumjhum rumjhum chaal tihari : Interesting song with KLS, where KLS calms down the elephant.
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Whoa ..KL Saigal on PFC. Didnt think Id live to see the day… Love Rum Jhum . Cant deny the magic in his voice even if I have a “moti akal ” like Kursheed says ..
My favorites…..
Do Naina Matwaare tihare
Aye Dil e Beqarar jhoom
Diya Jalao Jhagmag from Tansen
Jab Dil hi toot gaya
Aye Quatib E taqdeer mujhe itna batade – kyun mujhse khafa hai kya maine kiya hai.
Aur bhi hain… sunoongi abhi
I am extremely glad that Im of a generation that can appreciate KLSaigal as well as Rehman.
Initially I dint find him trendy and that was in the 70s when KK ruled the roost…but hearing him everyday on Radio Ceylon he evetually worked hi magic right into my soul !!!
Thanks for digging out the memory of these invaluable lost gems of Hindi Film Music. Khursheed had a nice voice. Nice and heavy, very much in the tradition of the 30s and 40s. That voice completely disappeared with the advent of Lata (with the exeception of Shamshad who kept the flag flying for as long as she did). It has now made an appearance in the post-Lata era in voices like Rekha Bharadwaj etc.
My absolute favourite Khursheed track is this one from Bhakta Surdas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcIRTMXnQxQ
Pavan: Thanks for bringing Khursheed on PFC. Panchhi Banwra from Bhakt Surdas is my abs favorite of hers. While, as Ritu mentions, the voice is heavy (relatively speaking), there are so many subtle harkats and deft touches.
its nice to read abt people from the past era, gr8 work
Pavan – I discovered the work of Khursheed as late as in the last 10 days. Before that I had only heard her songs from Tansen and Bhagat Surdas. Having listened to over 50 of her songs in the last 10 days, I have developed a liking for her voice. Panchhi Baawara based on Raag Kedar is my favourite.
I wonder why she did not sing in the various films that she acted in Lahore in the 30’s. There must be some of her songs there. Films Holi & Pardesi made her the top singer lateron, around 1940.
I think her death anniversary is also in April
@Pavan,
Thanks for the post. I used to have a cassette
(2 volumes) having rare old songs of CH Atma, KLS, Pankaj Mullick, Khurshid, Nur Jehan, Ameerbai etc. DD was such a nice harbinger that it showed films of almost every artist ever existed on land of India.
—
Manto writes in his book:-
“In those days, there were two big names in Indian film music, Saigal and Nur Jehan. There was also Khurshid who had her own following and much praise was heaped on Shamshad.But the fact is that once Noor Jehan came on the scene, all voices except hers were, so to speak, lowered. Suraiya arrived later.”
Pavan,
Your article set me off. And here is the result. A small write-up on this wonderful wonderful song.
http://rituswanderlust.blogspot.com/2009/04/chaand-se-preet-lagaaye-khursheed.html
@DarknDusky
Though I knew the post would find a little audience on PFC, never cared for numbers. KL Saigal is a legend in the history of Hindi Films and Music. Mesmerizing and Magical in a huge number of songs. The haunting voice will not leave you even after days and weeks of listening to some thing. Saigal or Rahman, timeless musical creations will always find its listeners in every era..
@Ritu,Subrat,
Khursheed was a sensation in early forties and had she not moved to Pakistan after partition I am sure would have been as popular a name as Shamshad or Suraiya.
Pancchhi Bawra is a beauty and is one of my favorites too.. I expected participation of few PFCians and happy to see them contributing to the post as expected..
@crazyrals,
That was the idea behind the post..
@Aditya,
Just Ten Days?.. I hope the voice grows on you with every listening.. Panchhi baawara is my fav too as much as “Pahle jo muhabbat se”
@kcp
do you mean 50s not 30s?
yes her 8th death anniversary is on 19th April
@RK,
Yes mid 40s was the time when Baby NoorJehan of 30s arrived in full potential and almost captured it from Khursheed and others.
@Ritu,
Wow.. Thanks for posting.. am happy for my post more than ever:)
Pavan- great initiative.We must definitely try to have more such posts to honour the past legends.A lot of people probably never ever heard of such people & what better medium than PFC to bring it to the notice of people as well as pay homage to the legends.
its a great post..thoroughly enjoyed reading… 60-70 years ago, this lady was the best in her business… Great memoir
Pavan bhai,great article.apart from “panchi bawara,ghata ghanghor…..is also my favourite.Nayara Noor of Pakistan has sung her songs and are available on Youtube.i don’t know why i feel that there is some song sounding as pehle jo….can you recollect.
Haan yaad aaya–aankhon ko mila yaar se,jeene ka majaa le
Jee Dr. Saab,
“Pahale to muhabbat” sounds more like a typical bandish… yes Aankhon Ko Milaa (Bhaagam Bhaag/OPN) sounds quite similar to this one.. but you can also find the treatment a little closer to “Ae mohabbat tere anzaam pe rona aaya”
A little faster version (not a replica for sure) could well be “Bhari Mehfil Me Kismat Aazamaa Ke Hum Bhi Dekhenge”, but not to forget Naushad saab was one time assistant of Khemchand Prakash..
I meant “Teri Mehfil me” not “Bhari mehfil me”
In a way, I feel that Khursheed was a precurser to Shamshad Begum’s singing style..you know, an influence..also, was she there ever in Pankaj Mullick’s compositions in the early 40s bacause now on listening to Panchi Bawre, I seem to be recollecting something off a scratchy 78 rpm record of those times, my Dad’s collections..he was Pankaj babu freak!
hmmmm had never heard of her. Listening now.
I have a question. Why did these singers (I am sure I have noticed it among other singers of that era too) pronounced words like ‘lagaaye’ with a clear pronunciation of ‘y’ while we nowadays pronounce it like ‘lagaae’?
Nopes Pavan. I meant Lahore pre-independence. She moved to Mumbai and “then” became famous , as I said earlier, through Holi & Pardesi
Neerja,
Ye and E both are used in different context but today “E” is more commonly used…
“E” always comes with the plurals in Nouns..
“Ye” used in verbs but when its a control verb “E” comes in play instead of “Ye”
When two consecutive words have “E”/”Ye” as ending sound “Ye” is used in first word and “E” in second…
will confirm the exact usage from home…
kcp,
I have heard some not so nice stories about her initial life and avoided using them in the post as the information I had, couldn’t be authenticated..
ok..let us not get into that. AFAIK she was quite appreciated in the film Mirza Saheban of 1934.
She was born in 1918 ( so 97th is not right )
Her last film in India was Aap Beati (48). She married in Pakistan in 1956 and left acting/singing in films, totally. She died on 18th April 2001. She had no training in music/singing.
@Pavanji
I was wondering if the usage changed (from ‘ye’ to ‘e’) as the influence of urdu decreased on spoken hindi over time?
“When two consecutive words have “E”/”Ye” as ending sound “Ye” is used in first word and “E” in second…”
That’s an interesting fact. Do you have examples?
@25,
Ye to sochna padega ki Neerja ke “kiye gae” is sawaal ka jawaab kaise “diya jaae”….
lol! got it
Great article, thanks…with people like you around there is still some hope
@Pavan (#22, #26)
I am not sure I got it (sorry to pick a small point, otherwise totally unrelated to the main article) :
“laage hue”, “kharre utare” dont seem to follow it.
“kare gaye” reverses the rule. (not sure if its even correct Hindi actually. maybe “kiye gaye” should be correct. I dunno.)
@rbehemoth
‘kare gaye’ sounds like punjabified hindi to me.
Check you examples again. The question (and pavanji’s answer) is about pronunciation of ‘y’ when it comes between two vowels.
Please do tell me about her early life. I am fascinated by the life stories of these women who came from dubious backgrounds but eventually led lives of prosperity and ‘izzat.’ I never heard of Khurshid but eventually found her through listening to Saigal in the last 5 years. I have written a little book-let on her … all info from the internet. There is hardly anything known about her. Dev Anand worked with her in Age Barho … has someone read his auto-biography …does he mention Khurshid? There is loads on Nurjehan whose voice I never much liked but I guess she was the flavour of the day. And even Nurjehan has not mentioned Khursheed in any of her interviews …she mentions Mukhtar Begum nad Jehanara Kajjan … were they not on good terms? Oh I hope someone who knows about her is still alive. She did not have any children.
I think someone ought to write a book on her … she surely deserves a tribute for her wonderful voice.