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.
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
This post was great.
We all need to treat these people with more respect. I am only 22 years old and people from my generation don’t even know who people like Farida Khanum, Iqbal Bano and Nayyara Noor are. If there was more awareness raised in the media the perhaps the youth wouldbe aware of these people and respect them more. The govt. also needs to treat them with respect.
I wish these new music channels would have segments on the great singers we have had from our country in the past.
Adil Bhai,
Excellent post, the lady is a living legend alongside the greats of Pakistan namely Madam, Ustad Mehdi saab, Ustad Nusrat saab and Ustad Ghulam Ali. We have only three left, lefts savour them and especially pray and fight for Ustad Mehdi’s plight as his health is poor and the government of Mush doesnt give a damn even after endless emails from me to the famed President requesting his help to help the Ustaad.
Maybe someone who knows someone can raise the profile, adil bhai could you say a word or two in an article or in an interview or even contact some journalist friends. I would love to see Capital Talk or some program of that kind dedicated to how we treat our legends come about as a result of a phone call, stranger things have happened!
Feimanallah and Pakistan Legends Zindabad
Wasim
… The second verse is:
maen chaman mayN KHush nahIN hUN …
I regret the typo.