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To this day, play the remix version of the song Kajra Mohabbat Wala, and kids, youngsters and the elderly start swinging to it in tandem. Such is the energy and passion with which the song was sung originally by one of the great voices of Hindi cinema — Shamshad Begum — who passed away at the age of 94 in Mumbai on Wednesday. She is survived by her daughter Usha. Her husband, Ganpat Lal Batto, died in 1955.
Born in April 1919, Shamshad Begum may have not sung as many songs as latter day Hindi playback singers such as Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, but the lyrics that she touched with her vocal chords remain etched in public memory.
Among her hits during the 1940s and 1950s are Leke pehla pehla pyar, Kahin pe nigahen kahin pe nishana,
Kabhi aar kabhi paar, Boojh mera kay naam re, Saiyan dil mein aana re and the unforgettable Mere piya gaye Rangoon, wahan se kiya hai telefoon.
“Every number she touched became a hit,” music director Khayyam once said in an interview.
Mentored by sarangi maestro Ustad Hussain Bakshwale Saheb and composer Master Ghulam Haider, Shamshad Begum made her debut on AIR Lahore in 1937 and later sang Hindi and Punjabi songs for All India Radio, Delhi.
Her playback career began with Haider's Khazanchi in 1941 and Khandaan in 1942. Later, when Haider moved from Lahore to Mumbai, she moved with him as part of his team, adding to the repertoire of female playback singers such as Rajkumari and Amirbai Karnataki.
Shamshad Begum is referred to as the ‘original nightingale’ by her fans, who feel she did not get her due at the right time.
“She had quite a personality, yet she shied away from publicity — you'd never see her getting photographed or written about,” Khayyam said in an interview.
Honour should be conferred, never asked for. A reticent Shamshad Begum, like numerous other artistes who live and work at a distance from the corridors of power, got national recognition at the age of 90! She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2009.
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