As you move ahead, pass on your optimism and
faith to the next generation.
The above phrase holds true to the
renowned singer, Iqbal Banu. Banu was born
in 1935 in Delhi, India. She took keen
interest in music from her earlier days.
Banu’s friends and family urged her father
to allow her to learn music and he agreed.
Hence, Banu learned classical music,
including thumri and dadra, from ustaad
Chand Khan in Delhi. Later, ustaad Chand
Khan recommended Banu to All India Radio,
Delhi, where she sang for a while.
A Pakistani landlord was surely struck by
Banu’s beauty and innocence and proposed
her. Long story short, seventeen year old
Banu was wedded to him in 1952.
A promise made is a promise kept. Banu’s
husband gave his word to her that he will
never be a hindrance in her musical career.
Banu’s eyes smiled with the joy of today and
the promise of tomorrow.
They enjoyed a blissful married life for
twenty-eight years. Banu’s better half kept
his word up until his death in 1980.
Banu spend her married life in Lahore.
Initially, she took music lessons from
ustaad Aashiq Ali Khan and ustaad Abdul
Kareem Khan.
In reality, it is only in recent years
that many people have truly woken up to the
fact that women could also accomplish
remarkable things as men do.
Throughout her singing career, Banu
frequently recorded ghazals for Radio
Pakistan. In 1954, nineteen-year-old Banu
recorded her first film song. The lyrics
were ‘Tu laakh chalaree gori thum, thum, kay,
payal mein geet hain chham, chham, kay.’ The
film ‘Gum naam,’ March 26, 1954, music,
Inayat Husain, lyrics, Qateel Shifai- Saif
uddin Saif. All told, it is a very heartfelt
song.
The song below is an exquisite blend of
torment and anguish, pain and pathos.
Essentially, Banu lifted up her voice with
strength and made the lyrics all the more
forceful and effective:
‘Ulfat ki naye manzil ko chala tu bahain
daal kay bahoan main.’ The film ‘Qaatil,’
January 22, 1955, lyrics, Qateel Shifai,
music, Inayat Husain.
Ulfat ki naye manzil ko
chala tu bahain daal kay bahoan mein
Dil toarnay walay deikh
kay chal hum bhee to paray hain rahoan mein
Ulfat ki naye manzil ko
chala
Hum bhee hain wohe tum
bhee ho wohe
Ye apni apni qismat hai,
ye apni apni qismat hai
Tum khail rahay ho
khushiyoan mein hum doop gaye hain Aahoan
mein
Dil toarnay walay deikh
kay chal hum bhee to paray hain rahoan mein
Ulfat ki naye manzil ko
chala
Kiya kiya na jafaaein dil
pay saheen per tum say koi shikwa na kiya
Per tum say koi shikwa na
kiya
Phir Aaj hain kyon hum bay
ganay teri bay dard nigahoan main
Dil toarnay walay deikh
kay chal hum bhee to paray hain rahoan main
Basically, Banu’s every song represents
tremendous labor and endless observation on
her part. Below is one example:
‘Chore hamain kis desh sidharay.’ The
1955 film ‘Inteqaam,’ music, Inayat Husain.
Below is Banu’s meritorious and delightful
song, which partially explains her marvelous
fecundity of output by an assumed mediocrity
of talent:
‘Dono diloan pay hua hai ulfat ka asar.’
The 1955 film ‘Inteqaam,’ music, Inayat
Husain.
It fills ones heart with hope, aspiration
and longing as one listens to a soulful Banu:
‘Taroan ka bhee tu maalik, ye chand bhee
tera hai.’ The film ‘Sarfarosh,’ June 15,
1956, music, Rasheed Attre
Apparently, Banu did not possessed every
singing ability as a child, because she did
not then knew what she knows now.
Twenty-two-year old Banu gave her first
public presentation in 1957 at Arts Council
Lahore. In the annals of Indo-pak music, it
is seldom that a woman has been so loudly
and widely lauded for talents in so many
voices, and so many instruments. Yes, I am
referring to that occasion when Banu sang
Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s popular poetry, ‘Hum
deikhein gey jab takht giraye jayein gey,
jab Taj uchalay jayein gey.’ Truth be told,
Banu became an integral part of Faiz’s
poetry.
The chief characteristic of Banu’s voice
is the passion she inspired in every fan
that came near her, and the utmost devotion
of the admirers towards her.
Banu was brilliant in ‘Ik halki, halki,
Aahat hai, ik mehka, mehka saya hai'.’ The
film ‘Ishq-e-Laila,’ April 12, 1957, lyrics,
Qateel Shifai, music, Safdar Husain.
A glorious gift from the past: Banu’s
voice created a fabulous ghazal recorded in
humble circumstances fifty years ago.
‘Pareeshan raat saari hai, sitaro tum to
so jaao,’ the film ‘Ishq-e-Laila, lyrics,
Qateel Shifai, music, Safdar Husain.
Banu was a public singer at last to
exultant countrymen: ‘O sajan bichwa bajay
ray, lagee kisi say najaria.’ The 1957 film
‘Aankh ka nasha,’ music, Inayat Husain.
Perhaps, composer Inayat Husain utilized
Banu’s vocals considerably in ‘Aik pal bhee
naheen Aaraam yahan.’ The 1957 film ‘Aankh
ka nasha.’
Likewise, the emotions conveyed by the
depth and intonation in Banu’s voice is
exemplary in ‘Baan nainoan kay seenay pay
maroon gee mein.’ The film ‘Nagin.’ June 18,
1959, music, Safdar Husain, lyrics, Qateel
Shifai.
Readers, just think of the day when Banu
wore a plain, hauntingly evocative melody:
‘Ambwa ki darion say jhulna jhula ja, abkay
sawan tu sajan ghar Aaja.’ The film ‘Nagin,’
June 18, 1959, music, Safdar Husain, lyrics,
Qateel Shifai.
Admittedly, the despondency and despair
in Banu’s voice is vividly caught by
composer Khwaja Khursheed Anwar in
‘Shab-e-mehtaab hai tanhai hai.’ The film ‘Ayaz,’
April 29, 1960, lyrics, Tanveer Naqui
Banu enthralled millions of music buffs
in the melancholy strains of
‘Dasht-e-tanhaye mein aye jaan-e-jahan
larzaan hai.’ Poet, Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
Dasht-e-tanhaye mein aye
jaan-e-jahan larzaan hai
Teri Aawaaz kay saaye,
teray hoantoan kay saraab
Dasht-e-tanhaye mein doori
kay khas o khaak talay
Khil rahay hain teray
pehlu kay saman aur gulaab
I know with all my heart that those were
sublime moments when Banu sang ‘Daagh-e-dil
hum ko yaad Aanay lagay.’ Who can say when
such a magical evening might happen again?
Setting a good example influence people
more than precepts. Here is a dua in Banu’s
voice: Aaye ye haath uthayain hum bhee.’
This ghazal of Nasir Kazmi in Banu’s
voice also has an enduring quality: ‘Ishq
jab zam zama tanha hoga.’
Banu’s voice enraptured the listeners in
‘Ranjish he sahe, dil dukha nay kay liye Aa.’
Poet, Ahmed Faraz.
Thanks to the poise and intelligence Banu
displayed in this ghazal. The experience
seems like something imagined: ‘Tum Aaye ho
na shab-e-intizaar guzri hai, talaash mein
hai sahar, baar, baar guzri hai.’
Obviously, Banu’s rendition delineated
the tragic story: ‘Mohabbat karnay walay kam
na hoan gey, teri mehfil mein laikin hum na
hoan gey.’
It looks like Banu had been tested in
this ghazal and she came out strong: ‘Apni
mohabbat kay afsanay.’
Banu gave towering, trademark
performances through the years. Example,
‘Kab thehray ga dard,’ poet, Faiz Ahmed
Faiz.
With ghazals like this one, Banu drew a
steadily growing, more appreciative crowd:
‘Khamosh ho kyon,’
Banu’s rendering of Ghalib’s ghazal was
proof yet again that she is as much a
superlative ghazal singer as a keen observer
of humanity: ‘Muddat hui hai yaar ko mehmaan
kiye huye.’
Banu is equally at ease with Persian
ghazals. Consequently, she regularly made
her presence felt in the musical programs in
Iran and Afghanistan.
In 1974, the ‘Pride of Performance’ Award
was conferred on Banu for propagation of
music.
If Banu could leave one sentence as her
legacy to the posterity, perhaps that phrase
could be comprised of these four words,
‘Don’t ever give up.’
In this, the 71st year of
Banu’s birth, her lilting voice, its words
and tunes appear so appealing and
attractive, that they seem to coincide with
our real life stories. It is an affirmation
that Iqbal Banu’s familiar singing voice
will continue to dominate the eastern music
for a long time to come.