Pakistan Celebrates 100th Birth Anniversary of the Melody Queen Noor Jahan, Today

Pakistan on Monday, 21st of September, marked the 100th birth anniversary of legendary singer and actress Noor Jehan, fondly remembered as Malika-e-Tarannum (Queen of Melody), with tributes pouring in from artists, cultural institutions and fans across the country.

Born Allah Wasai on 21 September 1926 in Kasur (then British India), Noor Jehan began her career as a child artist in the early 1930s. At a very young age she performed on stage in Calcutta as “Baby Noor Jehan.” Her first recorded song came in 1935 for the Punjabi film Pind di Kuri. She soon appeared in several Punjabi films, including Gul-e-Bakawali (1939), Sassi Punnu (1939) and Yamla Jat (1940), where her voice and screen presence quickly won audiences.

By the early 1940s she had moved to Lahore and then Bombay, where she became a major singing star. Landmark films such as Khandaan (1942), Zeenat (1945), Anmol Ghadi (1946) and Jugnu (1947) established her as one of the leading actresses and singers of the pre-Partition era. After migrating to Pakistan in 1947 with her then-husband, director Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, she co-founded Shahnoor Studios in Lahore.

In 1951 she made history by directing, acting in and singing for the Punjabi film Chann Wey, becoming Pakistan’s first female film director. She continued acting in films such as Dupatta (1952), Intezar (1956), Anarkali (1958) and Koel (1959). From the early 1960s she largely retired from acting and focused entirely on playback singing, going on to record thousands of songs in Urdu and Punjabi films. Her patriotic songs during the 1965 war further cemented her status as a national icon.

Noor Jehan passed away on 23 December 2000 in Karachi at the age of 74. A century after her birth, her music remains as powerful and cherished as ever.