Ahmed Rushdi
Ahmed Rushdi | |
---|---|
rock n roll | |
Occupation(s) | Urdu and regional playback singer |
Instrument(s) | Vocalist |
Years active | 1951–1983 |
Ahmed Rushdi
Born in
In 2003, 20 years after his death, Pakistani president
Early life
Ahmed Rushdi was born to a religious, conservative family of Hyderabad Deccan in 1934. His father, Syed Manzoor Mohammad, taught
Ahmed Rushdi did not get any sort of formal training of classical music either before or after becoming a successful playback singer but he had effective command over high and low notes. He sang his first song in the Indian film Ibrat in 1951 and got recognition. His family moved to Pakistan and settled in Karachi in 1954, where he began participating in variety shows, music programs, and children's programs on radio. In 1954, he recorded his first non-film song, "Bunder Road se Keemari", written by Mehdi Zaheer for the popular Radio Pakistan show Bachchon Ki Duniya; the song was a hit and became the steppingstone for Rushdi's future.[21]
Singing career
1950s and 1960s
After the success of "Bunder Road se Keemari", Rushdi was offered songs as a playback singer for films and quickly gained popularity.
The film Anchal (1960) was an important film in Rushdi's career. Music director Khalil Ahmed recorded an extremely sad number "Kisi chaman mei raho tum" in singer Saleem Raza's voice but wanted Rushdi to re-record the song as he was not satisfied with Saleem Raza's singing. Rushdi did so and the song recorded in his voice satisfied composer Khalil. Raza's career as a singer was affected and doomed later on. After that, whenever Khalil composed music for any film, Rushdi remained his first choice.[26] The mid-1960s saw the rise of brilliant singers like Mehdi Hassan and Masood Rana, but it did not affect Rushdi's career and he kept on leading the film music.
Music experts including
Rushdi recorded the ghazal "Shok-e-awargi" written by poet
Actor Nadeem's first film as a leading actor was Chakori (1967). Rushdi recorded four songs for this film in the composition of music director Robin Ghosh. "Kabhi toe tum ko yaad ayen gi", "Pyare pyare yar humare" and "Tujhe chahein meri bahein". The same year, film Doraha and Shehnai were released. He recorded all the songs for these films including "Bhooli hue hoon dastan", "tumhein kaise bta doon", "Han issi mor per" (film Doraha) and "Tujhey apney dil se mei kaise", "Nazaron se haseen hai", "Dunya mei tumko jeena hai agar" (film Shehnai).
In 1968, Rushdi recorded his first ever
Rushdi sang for Waheed Murad in the 1969 film
In 1969, the film Andaleeb was released. Ahmed Rushdi recorded all the songs for Waheed Murad in this film. The song "Kuch log rooth ker bhi" was a hit. Its sad version was sung by Noor Jahan. Although he sang for every film hero in Pakistan, his pairing with Waheed Murad proved to be the most popular, in such movies as Armaan (1966); the song "Akele Na Jaana" from that movie in Sohail Rana's composition gained Rushdi another Nigar Award. Well-known hits of Rushdi picturised on Waheed Murad such as "Lag rahi hai mujhey aaj sari faza ajnabi" or "Kuchh loag rooth kar bi" were composed by Nisar Bazmi, the legendary composer for Pakistani movies. Ahmed Rushdi-Nisar Bazmi pair and Ahmed Rushdi-Sohail Rana combination were two of the most successful singer-music director pairs of Pakistan film music.[31]
1970s and 1980s
The 1970s brought new faces such as
, Naag Muni and Baazi were released in 1971. Ahmed Rushdi had a playback in all the three films. He also won several awards for songs such as "Aik albeli si naar" (Naag Muni), "Tum bhi ho ajnabi" (Baazi) and "Poocho na hum ne kis liye" (Intezar). Perhaps, the song below never rang as true as it did after Ahmed Rushdi's demise: "Chore chalay hum chore chalay lo sheher tumhara chore chalay", film,Rushdi sang four solo songs and one duet for Waheed in the film Khalish (1972). "Honto pe tera naam"( with Mala), "Kal achanak jo sar-e-rah mili thi", "Ghussey mei gulabi gaal" and "Pyar hota hai". M. Ashraf was the music director. Around the same year, he sang for Mohammad Ali in the film Mohabbat. Rushdi recorded three songs in the film including a sad song "Khudara mohabbat na karna". The music director was Nisar Bazmi.
In 1973, he recorded a qawwali "Dil torney waley" for the film Mehboob mera mastana. Ahmed Rushdi also recorded a romantic number "Teri jabeen se chodhwin ka chand jhankta rahey" (film Nadan) for actor
In 1974, film Anhoni was released. Waheed Murad and Aliya were in leading roles. Music director Lal Mohammad Iqbal recorded two songs in Rushdi's voice. "Hai kahan who kali" and a sad number "Mei tujhey Nazar kia doon". In the same year he sang for actor Shahid in film Dharkan. He recorded a romantic number "Rangat gulabi chehra kitabi" for Shahid.
In 1975, Ahmed Rushdi recorded "Dil ko jalana hum ne chor diya" (Film Mohabbat Zindagi Hai). This song was picturised on Waheed Murad and gained countrywide popularity.[32] He sang another song "Mashriqi rang ko chor ke" for the same film. He recorded many songs for Pakistan television including "Dil mei tu hai", "Han issi mor pe" and "Bheegey hue mousam mei".
Film Sharmeeli (1978) was his last movie with actor Nadeem as a playback singer. It was a successful musical film whose songs gained popularity among the masses. Rushdi recorded two songs for Nadeem, "Tu samney hai mere" and "Bheegey hue mousam mei". The same year he recorded a popular song for Mohammad Ali "Aagey aagey mohtarma peechey peechey mohtram" (Film Apka Khadim). He sang a classical number "Tere naina barey chit chor" for the film Jab Jab Phool Khiley the following year. He also sang in films like Accident, Achey Mian, Bohut Khoob, Baarat and Aag Aur Zindagi.
The year 1980 proved to be a nightmare for Pakistan film industry. The number of
Rushdi was not only singing for films, but he was equally a busy figure for Radio and Television also. He remained a leading singer between 1954 and 1983. He sang for all the famous actors of Pakistan film industry. Rushdi recorded his last song "Ban ke misra ghazal ka" in 1983 for the film
Honorific title of Magician of voice
Ahmed Rushdi is credited with the honorific nickname of "Magician of voice" because of his ability of singing in different
First regular pop singer of South Asia
Ahmed Rushdi is considered to be the first regular
Because of Ahmed Rushdi, Pakistani music industry has steadily spread throughout
Personal life
Marriage
Ahmed Rushdi married Humera on 30 November 1963. His wife died in 1992, nine years after Rushdi. He belonged to a
Last years
In the early 1980s, Rushdi shifted to Karachi as he was not feeling well and wanted to have a proper heart treatment. He was also singing less for films and film music itself was facing a decline. The 1980s saw a nose-dive in the progress of cinema in Pakistan. The number of cinemas decreased rapidly and people preferred watching television over going to a cinema. Playback singing that once was popular now struggled to exist and the singers needed a new medium to start afresh. Even then, Rushdi's demand and popularity was still there with the music directors. He opened a music academy in order to teach music and playback singing to youngsters. Ahmed Rushdi never faced downfall as far as his singing career was concerned.[40]
Until the 1970s, Rushdi was one of the leading voices in the subcontinent. He recorded fewer songs in his last years on the advice of doctors.[41]
Death
Since 1976, Ahmed Rushdi was a heart patient and his doctors advised him to abstain from singing, but Rushdi refused by saying that music was his life. When he had a second heart attack in 1981, he was composing a musical album in the voice of singer
On his death, actor Waheed Murad said. "Today I have lost my voice." Waheed further said in an interview, "Sometimes I think that if I suddenly disappear or am no more for any reason, I would like to be remembered by the song 'Bhooli hui hoon dastaan, guzra hua khayal hoon-Jisko na tum samajh sakay mien aisa aik sawal hoon'." (I'm a tale forgotten, a thought bygone. I'm the question which you couldn't understand) which was also picturised on him in 1967 and sung by Ahmed Rushdi.[44] After Rushdi's death, Waheed Murad as well as other friends and singers had appeared on a show to pay him a tribute; many of those same people appeared on the show six months later, reminiscing about Waheed as he also died.
Popularity and influence
Ahmed Rushdi has changed the sound of
Once music director
Indian playback singer Kishore Kumar, being an admirer of Ahmed Rushdi, paid him a tribute at Royal Albert Hall London by singing Rushdi's one of the songs "Aik urran khattola aye ga kisi lal pari ko laye ga".[48][49][50]
Actor
Many of his contemporaries compared his music with that of classically trained singers, although Rushdi never had any influences from any classical singer. He is famously known as Magician of voice and his popularity also turned traditional classical singers against him but did not affect his fame and his death is termed as irreparable loss to the industry.[54]
Actor Waheed Murad declared Rushdi's song, "Bhooli hui hoon daastan", his favorite song.[55] Music directors like M. Ashraf and Nisar Bazmi also hold century partnerships with Ahmed Rushdi as they had composed hundreds of songs for him. According to complete songography, M. Ashraf composed 734 songs in 211 films for Rushdi but available figures indicate a composition of 132 songs in 100 films for him. The first film of this pair was Speran in 1961 and the last was Hero in 1983.
In 2018, Ahmed Rushdi's impact forced
Ahmed Rushdi influenced many singers in the music industry including
Awards
- 1961 – Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Chand Sa Mukhra Gora Badan" in film Saperan[23]
- 1962 – Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Gol Gappey Wala" in film Mehtaab[23]
- 1963 – Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Kisi Chaman Mei Raho" in film Anchal[15]
- 1966 – Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Akeley Na Jana" in film Armaan[23]
- 1970 – Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Aey Abr-e-Karam" in film Naseeb Apna Apna[23]
- 2004 – Life Time Achievement Award[15]
Graduate Awards
- 1965 – Best Male Playback singer for the song "Mohabbat Mei Tere Ser Ki Qasam" in film Aisa Bhi Hota Hai
- 1967 – Best Male Playback singer for the song "Haan Issi Mor par" in film Doraha
- 1968 – Best Male Playback singer for the song "Kabhi Toe Tumko Yaad Ayen Gi" in film Chakori
- 1969 – Best Male Playback singer for the song "Kuch Log Rooth Kar Bhi" in film Andaleeb
- 1970 – Best Male Playback singer for the song "Lag Rahi Hai Mujhey Aaj Sari Fiza" in film Anjuman
Musawwir Awards
- 1972 – Best Male Playback singer for the song "Meri Jaan Meri Jaan Yehi Zindagi Hai" in film Bandagi
- 1973 – Best Male Playback singer for the song "Hai Kahan Woh Kali" in film Anhoni
- 1975 – Best Male Playback singer for the song "Mashriqi Rang Ko Chor Ke" in film Mohabbat Zindagi Hai
- 1978 – Best Male Playback singer for the song "Tu Saamney Hai Mere" in film Sharmeeli
- 1979 – Best Male Playback singer for the song "Sab Kamron Mein Band Hain" in film Zameer
Other Awards
- 1967 – Best Sad Song Award for "Tujhey Apney Dil Se Mei Kaisey Bhuladoon" in the film Shehnai[15]
- 1968 – Classic Award for the song "Kiya Hai Jo Pyar To Padega Nibhana" in the film Dil Mera Dharkan Teri[15]
- 1970 – Silver Screen Award for the song "Chhor Chaley Hum Chhor Chaley" in the film Phir Chand Nikley Ga[15]
- 1973 – Al-Fankar Award for the song "Mei Tujhey Nazar kya Doon" in the film Anhoni[15]
- 1975 – Screen Light Award for the song "Dil Ko Jalana Hum Ne Chor Diya" in the film Mohabbat Zindagi Hai[15]
- 1983 – Rooman Award for the song "Ban Ke Misra Ghazal Ka Chaley Aaona" in the film Hero[15]
- 2000 – Best Singer Of The Millennium Award[15]
- 2001 – Legend Award[15]
- 2004 – Sitara-i-Imtiaz[58]
- 2005 – Indus TV Indus Music Hall of Fame[59]
- 2012 – Lux Style Award Lifetime Achievement Award[60]
See also
- Pakistan film industry
- Playback singer
- Ghazal
- Cinema of Pakistan
- Honorific nicknames in popular music
- List of Pakistani film singers
- List of Pakistani ghazal singers
- List of Lollywood actors
References
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