The Melody Queen

The iconic Lata Mangesker on hearing Noorjehan's death in an emotive tone mentioned that she used to be inspired by that great crooner's voice and songs in her early days.

Even the saffornised leaders of the BJP like L K Advani and Shusma Swaraj averred that they were enthralled by the songs of Noorjehan blossoming into a full actress by playing the leading role in Pancholi Art Production's movie "Khandan" (1942) in which she co-starred with Pran. The latter became Hindi film's master in playing roles connected with vice.

Your cultural correspondent has credited Noorjehan with all the Kudos relating to the memorable song "Awaaz dey Kahan hai" rendered in Mehboob Khan's highly successful movie "Anmol Ghadi" (1946). But the fact remains that the song was a duet and the male singer, yesteryear's hero Surendra, sang half the part. Unfortunately, Surendra, a good singer in his own right, hardly received any accolade for his contribution to the aforesaid melody.

And though one can endlessly cite the numerous melodies that the mellifluous voice of Noorjehan has rendered, there are two more songs besides "Awaaz dey Kahan hai" which thrilled millions of musical buffs. The songs being Noorjehan's solo rendition of "Badnam muhabat konkarey" in the film "Dost" (1944) and the unforgettable duet with the matchless Mohammed Rafi titled "Yaha badla wafa ka bewafi hikey siwa kya hai" picturised in Shawkat Hussain Rizvi's celebrated film "Jugnu" (1947).