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Surayya: The last singing actress
Heartthrob of millions in the subcontinent, legendary actress Surayya died in Mumbai on January 31 at the age of 75. She joined the Indian film industry at a time when film actresses were required to record songs filmed on them in their own voices. By 1950, she had become one of the major singing stars of Indian cinema.
Born in Gujranwala on June 15, 1929 as Surayya Jamal Sheikh, she spent her early youth in Lahore. Discovering her latent singing talent, her maternal grandmother took the teenage Surayya to Mumbai, then known as Bombay, in 1941 where she made her debut as a child actress in the film Taj Mahal the same year. In Bollywood, composer Naushad Ali used her vocals for the songs in films Stationmaster (1942), Sanjog and Sharda (1943). In particular, the song Panchhi jaa from Sharda scored high with millions of cinema buffs across the subcontinent. In 1942, composer Khurshid Anwar also used her voice to record a few songs for the film Ishara, which, too, was extremely popular. Interestingly, Naushad wrote in his autobiography that little Surayya, at the time of recording, had to stand on a chair to reach the microphone!
Nicknamed Malika at home, Surayya was launched as a singing and dancing star in the Bombay Talkies film Hamari baat in 1943. However, it took her a few more years to reach the upper echelons of Indian cinema. In addition to performing with top stars like Shyyam and Dev Anand, she also starred in lead roles opposite legendary singer K. L. Saigol in the films Omer Khayyam, Tadbeer and Parwana.
According to experts, Surayya introduced an acting style which was reminiscent of adakaari (manners) of the north Indian Muslim aristocracy. Her historical film, Mirza Ghalib and melodramas like K. Asif’s Phool substantiate the point. This style of acting was used by Mehboob in his classic Anmol ghari and Kardar in his film Dastaan to fuse modernity with an aura of tradition. This style was present in the otherwise radical Dev Anand films such as Afsar, Shaair and Jeet. Her performances in films during the second half of the 1940s and throughout the ’50s expertly integrated gestures, music and speech.
Surayya’s maternal grandmother and uncle were reputed to have adversely influenced her life to such an extent that she remained an unmarried and unhappy person throughout her film career, which spanned close to 20 years, and throughout the rest of her life. It is even said that her nani prevented her from tying the knot with Dev Anand.
It is said that Surayya had a crush on Hollywood screen legend Gregory Peck. The actress wrote to Peck and, as the story goes, one day she received a knock on the door of her Mumbai home and lo and behold, it was none other than the dashing Mr Peck! It is hard to gauge the truth behind this particular incident, but the fact that Peck and Surayya met is beyond doubt.
Composers Husan Lal Bhaghat Ram, Master Ghulam Haider, Sajjad and S.D. Burman recorded songs in Surayya’s voice for movies in which she was cast to play the lead role. A majority of these songs broke all popularity records at the box office. Even after 50 years, their enchanting freshness is still felt by many listeners. She was gifted with a voice which did not require much training. She started singing at a very young age and was inspired by a musically conducive environment at home.
For senior citizens, the songs rendered by the artist revive nostalgic memories of the good old days when film music used to be original and unadulterated by foreign pop varieties. Included among her many popular songs which still retain their appeal are, Bigri banane waley (from film Bari behan), Socha tha kia, kia ho giya and Mein dil main dard basaa layee, (Anmol ghari) and the naat composed by Naushad, Beech bhanwar mein (Dard).
A number of leading composers during the golden era of subcontinental cinema have observed that there was something very sweet and peculiar in Surayya’s voice, which contributed to her meteoric rise in popularity. Her voice, which was pleasingly pliant, had much sonic depth and had an ebullient appeal for young and old alike. Khurshid Anwar once said that Surayya’s voice was like a blotting paper as “she could absorb even the subtlest nuances of my compositions and could reproduce the same after a couple of rehearsals.”
Surriya is no more, but her songs will continue to inspire newcomers in the filed in addition to providing many hours of listening pleasure to music buffs in the subcontinent.
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