Golden Era of Bollywood: SURAIYA-Malika-e-Husn and Malika-e-Tarannum

Along with Kanan Devi and Noor Jehan, Suraiya was one of the most prominent female singing stars of the Golden Era of Hindi films.She had great looks, natural expressions and a sweet soothing voice. She was the heart-throb of the nation in the 40s and early 50s. In a career spanning over 20 years, Suraiya acted in about 65 films and sang close to 350 songs. She lived like a star all her life. She did not turn to playback singing past her prime age  nor she switched to character roles. Her beauty coupled with melodious voice captivated the hearts of generations of movie and music lovers. Today I pay tribute to her on her 88th Birth Anniversary.
Suraiya was born Suraiya Jamaal Shaikh on 15th of June 1929 in Gujranwala in the Punjab province of the undivided India (now in Pakistan). Later her parents shifted to Bombay well before partition.She had a natural talent for singing, acting and dancing from childhood. She received basic training in music, when her mother used to take her to Hindustani music teacher or 'masterji' for training.At the age of 9 she first sang for a children's program for All India Radio,in fact it was Madan Mohan who was her childhood friend insisted her to come with him to All India Radio Bombay for this children programme.Naushad sa’ab, who heard her voice on the radio, got in touch with her to sing for Kardar sa’ab’s film, ‘Sharda’. And she sang ‘Panchi ja peeche raha hain bachpan mera’, which was picturised on Mehtab.
Her first song as a child-singer was "Boot karun main polish babu" (as a playback singer) in the film Nai Duniya (1942), composed by Naushad. Suraiya sang as a child playback singer for actress Mehtab in Sharda (1942), Kanoon (1943) and Sanjog (1943), with Naushad as the music director. Mehtab was a big name those days,Initially she was hesitant to have her as her playback singer, but on hearing her, she wanted Suraiya to sing all her songs in her films.
Manna Dey, recorded his first song under the baton of his uncle K C Dey a duet“Jaago jaago aayi usha, panchhi bole jaago”  with Suraiya in Tamanna 1942.
By the year 1945, she was establishing herself as singer and also as an actor (though in smaller roles as she was not grown enough to be the lead actress). For “Main kya karoon” (1945) she sang two duets with Hamida Bano. “Suno more raja, nazariya milaaike” for composer Neenu Majmudar from this film.
In the year 1945, Suraiya acted in K Asif’s multi-starrer magnum opus film Phool (1945). It had a stellar star cast of Wasti, Veena, Prithviraj Kapoor, Yakub, Sitara, Durga Khote and Suraiya. She sang as many as four songs for legendary composer Master Ghulam Haider for this film.
K L Sehgal who was on top liked her singing and agreed to sing with her,Suraiya seemed to be holding herself pretty well in this song.The song “Rani khol de apne dwar, milne ka din aa gayaa” was a sweet melodious romantic number.
The film Anmol Ghadi was a major milestone in Suraiya’s career as she got to work with another mega singing star Noor Jehan in this film.The film was musical hit and still remembered for its music by Naushad.She played the second lead and had three solos to her credit.All the three songs became popular,the two songs Main dil mein and Mann leta hain angdaai are happy songs and the third song"Sochaa thaa kya, kyaa ho gayaa" was a sad song.
The year 1947 was also very important for not only India but also to Suraiya. Many Muslim artists migrated to Pakistan but Suraiya continued to stay in India.This year came Dard which had the music of Naushad the film was a musical hit,All of Suraiya’s five songs from this film became very popular.Her duet “Betaab hain dil” with Uma Devi/Tuntun also became a big hit.Another song Dil dhadke aankh mori phadke became immense popular.
The year 1947 saw release of as many as five of her films, a couple of them major musical hits.This year she sang six songs for a newcomer composer Naresh Bhattacharya for the film Daak Bangla. She sang four solos and two duets for this film. Her duet with Mukesh “Jab badal ghir ghir aayenge, kaho jee kit jaayenge”was liked by the music lovers.This year her film with K L Sehgal " Parwana"released,she starred with Saigal but did not have any duet with him. The film was again a musical hit.Her three solo songs “Paapi papihaa re, pee pee na bol”, “Mere mundere na bol, kaaga jaa, jaa kaaga” and “Jab tum hi nahin apne, duniya hi begaani hain” became major hits. She looked innocent and pretty with Saigal in his song “Us mast nazar pe padi.. kahin ulajh na jaana”.
The year 1948 proved to be her best with Vidya (her first film with Dev Anand), Gajre (MD Anil Biswas), Kaajal (MD Ghulam Mohd), Rang Mahal (MD K Dutta), Shakti (MD Ram Prasad) releasing the same year.For the film Vidya, Suraiya sang for the first time for Sachin Dev Burman.All the five songs from this film showcase the talent and versatility of S D Burman and Suraiya.Her breezy romantic duet with Mukesh (Laai khushi ki duniyaa) and solos “Kinaare kinaare chale jaayenge” and “Jhoom rahi jhoom rahi khushiyonki naav” have become favorites of music lovers. This film brought two young hearts closer and then they went on to become romantically involved in real life.
This year she also associated with another great Music director duo Husnlal-Bhagatram.  She sang for the film Aaj Ki Raat and Pyaar Ki Jeet released that year for them. Pyaar Ki Jee was a musical blockbuster with superhit songs like “Tere nainon ne chori kiya” and “O door jaane waale, waada na bhool na jaana”. Their rhythmic music, Qamar Jalalabadi’s imaginative lyrics and her soulful singing captured hearts of the nation. Till date, whenever one thinks of Suraiya one remembers these songs. This team repeated their success the very next year with the film Badi Behen.
Major hit of 1949 was Dillagi with handsome Shyam, once again becoming a musical blockbuster. Naushad had a junior artist (nick named Shyam) give male voice to actor Shyam with Suraiya in the superhit song “Tu mera chand mein teri chandni”. Her solo “Murli wale murli baja” also became very popular.
In 1950 she starred with Raj Kapoor in Dastan (MD Naushad) and with Dev Anand in Afsar (MD S D Burman) and Nili (MD S. Mohinder).By this time  Nargis , Madhubala and Meena Kumari were also successful as heroines,she had to face a tough competition with them.Though they were not singing actresses but by this time Playback singing was also on rise,Some of her films like Laal Kanwar, Moti Mahal, Goonj, Mashooka (with Mukesh), Bilwa Mangal were not accepted in box office.Her popularity was in wane.Her reign at the top was from 1947 to 1952.Her contract with A. R. Kardar ended with Deewana, after which she reduced her assignments in films. She made national news with Sohrab Modi's film Mirza Ghalib (1954), which won a national award, the President's Gold medal for the Best Feature Film. In the film, she made vivid, the role of the married Ghalib's lover.
She also acted with famous singer and aspiring actor Talat Mehmood in Waaris (Raahi matwaale) and Shammi Kapoor in Shamma Parwana (Meri dildar na milaya) but none of these films received the success like her late forties films. In the subsequent years she starred in smaller budget films like Mr Lambu, Trolly Driver, etc. Her swan song is supposed to be “Yeh kaisi ajab dastaan ho gayi hai” composed by Sajjad Husain for the film Rustom Sohrab (1963).
Rustom Sohrab (1963) was her last film. The song, 'Yeh kaisi ajab daastan ho gayi hai'^[33] from the film, which was one of her finest songs, was also her last, as with this song Suraiya also said 'adieu' to her singing career, along with her film career.
Naushad experimented withher in a few western tunes for the film Dastan. Her songs like “Aaya mere dil mein tu” and “Ta ra ri ta ra ri” (with Mohd Rafi) became very popular. She had become the highest paid actress and continued with the success in the films like Shokhiyaan (Raaton ke neend chheen lee), Sanam (Ke sska kiya matlab hai), Rajput (Raste pe hum khade hain), Do Sitare (Mujhe tumsai mohabbat hai).
After her mother's death in 1987, Suraiya started feeling lonely in her rented apartment (owned by Aswin Shah) in Krishna Mahal, Marine Drive in Mumbai, where she lived from the early 1940s until her death in 2004 at the age of 74. She possessed several apartments in Worli and a house and orchard in Lonavala.