IN 1950, two young and enthusiastic musicians joined Radio Pakistan, Karachi, within a span of six months.

Since they were of the same age and their other counterparts were older, they soon developed a friendship and started spending long hours together in pursuit of their interest.

Both of them were intelligent and creative and demonstrated their talent in composing 'geets' and 'ghazals' for Radio Pakistan.

Soon their talent clicked and was highly appreciated by senior officials of Radio and they got promotions to higher ranks.

However, the scope of activities at Radio Pakistan was limited compared to the abundant potential both of them had.

Soon they got a break in the feature film 'Bara Bajay', released in 1962, as a consequence of which cinegoers became familiar with the first pair of music directors in Pakistan's film industry Lal Mohammad Iqbal.

Their friendship of six decades ended on Sept 29 when maestro Lal Mohammad died in Karachi after a protracted illness.

The families of both had migrated from India. While Buland Iqbal's father, Ustad Bundu Khan, the famous sarangi player, came from Delhi, Lal Mohammad's father was a soldier in the army of Udaipur's Raja.

As a teenager, Lal Mohammad got fascinated with brass instruments played in the army band and developed an urge to play them.

While working at the radio station, Lal Mohammad started playing flute over which he had great command. He also played clarinet and saxophone. After their successful debut, there was no looking back as the duo composed music for at least 40 feature films.

Saeed Haroon liked their compositions so much that he availed himself of their services for all the films that he produced.

One of the songs from his film 'Ladla', sung by Ahmed Rushdi, 'Socha Tha Pyar Na Karen Gey', became a superhit.

Lal Mohammad Iqbal's two all-time greatest hits are 'Duniya Kisi Key Pyar Mein', sung by Mehdi Hassan for 'Jaag Utha Insaan', and 'Ae Abray Karam, Aaj Itna Baras', sung by Ahmed Rushdi for 'Naseeb Apna Apna'.

They also composed songs for famous Indian playback singer Talat Mahmood for the film 'Chhoti Bahen' and C.H. Atma for 'Preetam Aan Milo'.

During their peak days in the 1960s, the pair was so busy in professional work that they would even compose music while walking on the roads.

Lal Mohammad was flamboyant and would be at his best where fast-paced songs were concerned.

Many local organisations feel proud to hold music programmes to pay tribute to singers and composers from across the border.

However, it is a pity that with the exception of the Talents Guild no other cultural organisation arranged a function to pay tribute to these God-gifted composers during Lal Mohammad's lifetime. The quality of their work speaks for itself.

PARVEZ RAHIM

Karachi