Shamshad Begum: The Original Nightingale

Written by Manohar Iyer

The Hindi film music scene in the thirties was dominated by tradition-imbued melodies of conservative and purist composers mostly belonging to the Bengal and Maharashtra school of film music. In striking contrast to these composers with their heavy classical leanings and theatrical moorings, was the Lahore-based Master Ghulam Haider who defied tradition, set a new trend and brought about a musical revolution with his effervescent and free-wheeling compositions like Sawan ke nazaare hain, laut gayi paapan andhiyaari, Ek kali naazon ki pali, Diwali phir aa gayi sajni... from Dalsukh Pancholi's epoch-making money spinner “Khazanchi”. These modern sounding rhythmings reverberated in the early forties and stirred the entire nation which was then reeling in the aftermath of World War II. Ghulam Haider set his lilting melodies, which had the rich flavour of the lush folk songs of Punjab, to vibrant and vigorous rhythm and presented them through a new orotund singer named Shamshad Begum, who with her bold, bright and boisterous singing went on to become the leading and the highest paid numero uno star singer of the forties and acquired the legendary status in the dawn of her career.

Sadly, it is in the twilight of her light (She turned ninety two on 14^th April 2011) that a super songster like Shamshad Begum has been conferred the prestigious Padma Bhushan and recognised for her melodious contribution to the field of Hindi film music! Need to mention, she deserved many more awards and accolades and deserved them much earlier in her life time – at a time when it would have made a bigger difference to the singer who had at all times made an unfathomable difference to the lives of millions of music lovers all over the world.

By Abhay

Legendary singer, Shamshad Begum ji was the dominating singer in the 1940s and is one of the few artists today who were singing even in the 1930s. Her style of singing was unique and was loved by millions all over the world. Her major output was in the forties with the mid fifties seeing a gradual decline in output. She was undoubtedly the biggest playback singer during her active period at a time when actress-singers like Noor Jehan, Khursheed and Suraiyya were extremely popular. Her singing career started tapering off in mid fifties with her singing her last song probably around 1971 although some songs continued to release as late as 1981. She has been away from the media/public arena since seventies. She has stayed abroad and all over India accompanying her son-in-law who was in army during his various postings.

 Even though I did not grow up in forties listening to her songs, I got my exposure to her songs of the fifties and some really popular ones from forties. At the time, Radio was the only means of enjoying songs. We could not afford records, therefore, listening pleasure was confined to radio broadcasts.

 Having arrived in USA in seventies, songs started becoming available on cassettes, LPs, CDs and so on and the world of music suddenly was more readily available. I started listening to songs of era before me specially forties. On the male side, there was only one - unparalleled Saigal. On the female side, there were many voices - Noor Jehan, Shamshad Begum, Kanan Devi, Suraiyya, Amirbai Karnataki, Khursheed, Rajkumari and Zohrabai Ambalewali. For some reason, Noor Jehan's singing (except for a few songs) did not make a significant impact on me. I did like Suraiyya’s songs but appreciated them more in the movies watching her sing rather over just listening to the audios alone. Two voices which struck me most were those of Shamshad Begum and Kanan Devi. Shamshad Begum's voice was relatively heavy but It had an inherent extreme sweetness about it. Her style of singing was unique and no one has ever been able to clone her. During the interview with her, she clarified that she stuck to her principle of following the music director's instructions rather than attempting to develop her own “style”.

 In recent years, I have interviewed many other surviving music related personalities of the Golden era but I had never imagined in my wildest dreams, that I would one day get an opportunity to meet Shamshad Begum ji, leave alone my interviewing her considering her advanced age. Her magnetic charm which remains as strong as ever was one day to bring me all the way from America to her house in Mumbai by the grace of God.

 I had done a one hour special on April 14, 2011 on her 92nd birthday on my weekly radio show on Radio Dil. My ardent listener, Rupa Dore suggested that I send a CD of this heartfelt tribute show to Shamshad Begum. Through journalist Raju Bharatan, It was arranged for the CD to be sent to her. Raju Bharatan mentioned that she has tremendous memory, is very alert and enjoyed my program. I requested if an interview was possible and he mentioned only if I did it in person and not by phone from USA. I happened to visit India in Nov, 2011 and Usha Ji, her daughter agreed for me to come over. Nov, 18th 2011 was the day, I visited Shamshad Begum who lives in Mumbai with her daughter and son-in-law.

Few salient things from the interview 

1. Her uncle used to sneak her out for music trials.
2. How Shamshad begum saved Talat Mehmood's career which could have been over even before it began.
3. A rare song sung by Shamshad Begum on Mahatma Gandhi's death.
4. Mohammad Rafi's father bringing Rafi to Shamshad Begum for a referral
5. Why she avoided social parties
6. Her reaction when watching films while heroines singing her songs.

7. how she almost became an actress

8. she originally sang famous Pakeezah song, Inhi Logon Ne in 1941.

You can listen to the interview here:-

 The interview clarifies many incorrect facts found on the internet including Wikipedia, specifically about her birthplace, childhood, her having a business in Delhi (no such thing) and about lack of her pictures from her singing days.

Here is reproduction of Khaiyyam speaking on Shamshad ji. It is reproduced from Pulkit's post on HF. Thanks Pulkit.

"I didn't do much work with her though I did record some songs which didn't see the light of day for various reasons. But I knew her. Her voice was one of its kind and her enunciation was wonderfully clear. She commanded a lot of respect both at the personal and professional level.


We used to have small and big budget films even then. Shamshad was ever willing to oblige, even if we approached her for a small film and pay her less than the fee she commanded. She will always be remembered as the singer who never made excuses to cancel recordings, as one who did her work wonderfully well. She had quite a personality, yet she shied away from publicity -- you'd never see her getting photographed or written about.


She had worked with all the popular composers of her day and was quite the ruling queen for three decades. It is the sign of her good upbringing that despite tremendous success, she was never arrogant. She had everything that life could offer, yet she was always down-to-earth. She was also extremely cooperative, a quality she shared with Mohammad Rafi.


What can I say about her songs -- each number she touched became a hit. She was very popular in Punjabi films too. Till today, people speak of her with awe and respect. She never indulged in politics or troubled anyone. One never heard her criticise anybody and she was very jovial too.


She sang quite a lot with Ghulam Haider whom we consider the prophet of film music. Shamshad and Haider's wife, Amrozia Begum were very good friends. They even sang together and gave performances on All India Radio and Lahore Radio."