Adil Najam
Last year the mobile phone company Mobilink had released a wonderful tribute to Mehdi Hassan on the occasion of Independence Day, conceived and produced by actor Shaan; now of Khuda key Liye fame. We had carried a number of posts on that wonderful tribute (here, here and here) and have recently featured it again on our sidebar. This year, Mobilink released a similar tribute, this time to Farida Khannum.
It is done equally tastefully and although the song itself does not have the gravitas and passion of ‘Yeh watan tumhara hai‘, the visuals and the sentiments are very moving. I, at least, have been listening to it repeatedly over the last many hours.
Of course, the ghazal and geet maestro Farida Khanum deserves - nay, demands - a separate and detailed post. She is in a class by herself and some of the most memorable renditions of Urdu ghazals and geets have been from her. To even think of writing about her music overwhelms one. She is a giant. Truly a giant of her craft. But more than that she is also a wonderful person and the big smile and welcoming demeanor that you see in this new video is not an act. It is very genuine. I have had the pleasure (in an earlier life) of interviewing her and spending some time with her. Her sense of humor and her sense of compassion are legendary … and real.
I hope to write a real post on her when I can do justice to it (unfortunately my list of posts-to-write keeps growing longer), but right now I wanted to at least share some of her greatest musical gems with our readers.
For me, to think of Fareeda Khannum is to think of ‘woh ishq jo hum say rooth gaya‘. This is not the best recording to that song, but listening to it still gives me goosebumps. Powerful poetry, rendered with amazing poignancy.
Although her forte has always been the ghazal, Farida Khanum’s geet have been equally memorable, including some Punjabi folk songs such as Balle Balle Tor Punjaban Di. But probably the signature geet fromFarida Khanum is ‘Mein nay paaon mein payal tou pehnay nahiN.’ Again, this is not the best recording of the song, but it is memorable nonetheless.
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Nice post. One of my favorite Farida Khanum ghazals can be found here:
http://www.muziqpakistan.com/songs.php?auth=113
Under the album ‘Best of Farida Khanum’ click on ‘Is Tarah Qissa Mera’. No matter if you hear it once or many times you will not be able to get the tune out of your mind :)
Thank you Adil Sahab for a wondeful post. For me “Ajj jaanay kee zid na karro” tops the list.
regards
Another great post by ATP.
I wish someone at ATP could put a similar piece together about Iqbal Bano.
Dasht e Tanhaye may ………
Farida Khanum is colossal. I heard VH1 Pakistan is going to be launched by ARY Group. VH1 probably is a channel dedicated to old / classical music. I hope it sees the light of the day, so that we can listen to our musical greats regularly. They don’t find any airtime on our existing music channels.
its lovely…..i remember one of her songs ’soni dharti Allah rakkhey kadam kadam abad…kadam kadam abad’[hope i am not wrong] her voice superb ..may i add magestic…thanks again and again.
Bananafish & Adil bhais,
You are so right about the lack of info on the legends, surely the Musik and Aag and others can have a legends program showing music from yesteryear.
Adil bhai any thoughts on my suggestion?
Feimanallah
Wasim
A^fat ky shwkhiyAN hayN tumhAry nigAh meyN
sung by Farida Khanam goes right to my heart.
Viqar Miani: thanks for reminding the readers of Mukhtar Begum - it is sad that these immortal voices have not been introduced to the younger generations. PTV used to promote our artists but in the current race for commercial gains, it has also fallen prey to mindless entertainment.
One of my favourites from Mukhtar Begum - also rendered by Farida Khanum - is:
Chori kahin khulay na naseem-i-bahar ki khushboo urra ke layee hai gaysu-i-yaar ki
Both Mukhtar B and Farida K have rendered with sensitivity and playfulness that captures the delicate nuances of this ghazal.
Another amazing ghazal (probably by Daagh) rendered by Farida Khanum is:
Mere qabu mein na pehraun dil-i-nashad aaya
woh mera bhulnay wala jo mujhe yaad aaya