Nayyara Noor stormed into playback singing for films in 1973, amid speculation that renowned playback singers Runa Laila and Shahnaz Begum might return to the then newly created Bangladesh.

Nayyara Noor started out with Gharana’s Tera saya jahan bhi ho sajna for music director M. Ashraf. Nisar Bazmi’s Bol re gurrya bol zarra from Aas the same year was another smash hit. Soon, the young lass was picked up by Nashad (film: Aabru), Kamal Ahmed (film: Mastana) and none other than the legendary Khawaja Khurshid Anwar (film: Shirin Farhad). Within a few years, the wisp of a girl had rendered half of her career’s film songs.

It was the influence of ace music director Robin Ghosh that made Nayyara carefully choose the songs offered to her. From Sharafat (1974) to Dooriyan (1984), she was one of the options, besides Mehnaz, to playback for Robin Ghosh’s actress-wife Shabnam.

Nayyara lent her vocals to actresses Sangeeta, Mumtaz, Nisho, Najma and even Zeba, who was on her way out by the time Nayyara started playback singing for films. The third and final version of Mujhe dil se na bhulana by Nayyara, filmed on the child star Shahzeb, is still remembered as the perfect finale for the Nadeem-Shabnam starrer Aaina, a film considered amongst the greatest films from Lollywood.

With the decline of films, Nayyara’s re-emerged on television with kabhi hum khoobsurat thay from the PTV drama serial Teesra Kinara (1980). Penned by Ahmed Shamim and composed by Khalil Ahmed, the song immortalised the Rahat Kazmi-Sahira Kazmi starrer. Nayyara also rendered the OST of popular later day TV dramas such as Dhoop Kinaray (1987), Chand Girhan (1991), Nijaat (1993), Parosi (1995), Hawain (1997) and Zaibunnisa (2000).

The way Nayyara understood the lyrics and delivered the lines was quite phenomenal. For NTM’s Parosi, Nayyara’s voice echoed pain in Iftikhar Arif’s Abhi kuch din lagaingay. Also, the loneliness in Khalida Riyasat’s character of Jahan Ara was moved many notches up by Nayyara Noor for a tune composed by veteran composer Arshad Mehmud.

Begum Akhtar’s Woh jo hum me tum me qarar tha, a poem by Momin Khan Momin, was given a new life by Nayyara Noor

who rendered it for Sahira Kazmi’s PTV long play Zikr Hai Kai Saal Ka, in the mid-90s. Nayyara’s song, Komal komal, a rare collaboration of Arshad Mehmud and Farooq Qaisar aka Uncle Sargam, during the black-and-white days of PTV, was revisited after pop sensation Nazia Hassan rendered it in late ’80s.

Among Nayyara’s evergreen patriotic numbers, Iss parcham kay saaye talay remains an all-time favourite at almost every Independence Day school parade on August 14, every year. And no Independence Day celebration is complete without Watan ki mitti gawah rehna and Jo naam wohi pehchaan.

Published in Dawn, ICON, August 28th, 2022