Suraiya

Early life

Suraiya as a child of six years in 1927

Suraiya was born in Gujranwala, Punjab (British India) to the owner of a furniture shop, Aziz Jamaal Sheikh. Soon, her father moved to Lahore and Suraiya was taken by her mother, Mumtaz Begum,and maternal grandmother, Badshah Begumto Bombay in early nineteen thirties, when she was one year old. Her maternal uncle, named Zahoor (also known as M. Zahoor) also came to Bombay and became a well known villain in films.Suraiya's father, later came to live with her and he died on the day of 'Holi' in March 1963. She attended New High School, now known as, J.B. Petit High School for Girls in Fort, Mumbai. Later, 1942 onwards, when she started singing for films as a 12 year old, her school principal Miss P.F. Patuck told her father not to let her be absent from school during school days. She sang for Mehtab in three films in 1942-43 and also acted and sang in a few films as a child artiste. In her childhood, Raju Bharatan, a few years younger to her who later became a famous music and sports writer, critic and correspondent, actor Raj Kapoor and composer Madan Mohan, both a few years older, were her neighbourhood friends. Raj Kapoor and Madan Mohan, both used to sing with her in A.I.R.(All India Radio), when she was a six-year-old girl. In fact, Madan Mohan first introduced her to A.I.R.(All India Radio) as a child singer. Later in life, Raju Bhartan wrote extensively about Suraiya in his books, while Raj Kapoor was her hero in one of her films, Dastan (1950), and Madan Mohan composed music for her film, Khubsoorat (1952).

Career

Suraiya (aged 16) as heroine in film 'Parwana' in 1947
Suraiya made her debut as a child artist in Usne Kya Socha (1937). She got a prominent role as a child artiste with the help of her uncle M. Zahoor, who was then a popular villain in films. During a holiday from school in 1941, she accompanied him to Bombay's Mohan Studios to see the shooting of the film Taj Mahal (1941 film), which was being directed by Nanubhai Vakil. Vakil noticing the charm and innocence of young Suraiya, selected her to play the role of young Mumtaj Mahal.
While she was singing for children's programs for All India Radio, Mumbai, as a six year old, Raj Kapoor and Madan Mohanwho were her playmates in her neighbourhood and were 5–6 years older to her, used to be her co-artists. In fact, they first introduced her to AIR. Raj Kapoor, later, attained fame as an actor and a film maker, while Madan Mohan became well-known music director. Both were associated with her, later as an adult, as her hero and as her music director respectively in films. In AIR, Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari was then the Station Director at the Bombay Radio Station. Once, music director Naushad Ali heard Suraiya's voice, he chose her to sing as a 13-year-old for Mehtab in Abdul Rashid Kardar's film Sharda (1942). He became Suraiya's mentor and she sang some of the best songs of her career under his baton. Later he gave hits after hits when Suraiya became full-fledged singing star in Anmol Ghadi (1946), Dard (1947), Dillagi (1949) and Dastaan (1950). Naushad Ali composed approximately 51 songs for Suraiya, coming at 2nd place after Husnlal Bhagatram for composing the highest number of songs for Suraiya.
Suraiya in the film 'Char Din' in 1949 opposite ShyamSuraiya in a pre-1950 film-1Suraiya in a film role
As a child artist, she acted and also sang in Tamanna (1942), Station Master (1942), and Hamari Baat(1943). As an adult, Suraiya initially played as a co-star with the heroine in K. Asif's Phool, Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi (1946),(which was written by Aghajani Kashmeri also known as Kashmiri) and Dard (1947). She acted as a heroine in the film Tadbir (1945) on the recommendation of K. L. Saigal, who liked her voice during a rehearsal of a song for Jayant Desai's film 'Samrat Chandragupt'(1945) in which she was acting. He recommended her name to Desai opposite himself in 'Tadbir'(1945).She went on to co-star with K. L. Saigal in Omar Khayyam (1946) and Parwana (1947 film). Although by then she had a couple of hit songs, but the four solo songs which she sang in Parwana for music director Khwaja Khurshid Anwar made her a genuine singer-film star. She had high regards for Khwaja Khurshid Anwar for whom she sang thirteen songs during 1943 to 1949 period. More opportunities arose for Suraiya after reigning famous actress Noor Jehan and Khursheed Banomigrated to Pakistan following the Partition of India in 1947.

As a singer

Suraiya recording a song for film 'Pagalkhana' (1952)(incomplete) for Vasant Desai (composer)(with hair) and P.L. Santoshi (director)(balding)

Suraiya had a very sweet voice from childhood. She could sing all types of songs with ease, whether sad, with pathos in her voice, or romantic with amorous love, or comic with playful jest. Suraiya was initially, not a classically trained singer in Hindustani music, knowing the 'grammar' or theory of Hindustani music, yet she was a practical singer by nature. She became the most outstanding singing star of her times from 1945-1963 and reached dizzying heights during 1947-1950 in her popularity as an actress.Suraiya photo of film 'Dillagi'(1949) with her autographSuraiya in 'Bari Behan' in 1949 opposite Rehman(hero) and Geeta Bali(supporting actress).Suraiya and Raj Kapoor in film 'Dastan' (1950)Suraiya and Dev Anand in film 'Sanam' in 1951Suraiya with music director Madan Mohan, wife Sheila and Lata Mangeshkar in 1953 after Madan Mohan's marriage
Suraiya's 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. She went on to sing playback for Mehtab for Sharda, Kanoon and Sanjog (1942–43) under him, when her principal, Miss P.F. Puttack, took a strong view of her truancy from school, and her ‘adventure’ came to an abrupt halt. As a singer, Suraiya sang as a playback singer for actress Mehtab in Sharda (1942), Kanoon (1943) and Sanjog(1943), with Naushad as the music director and A R Kardar as director and producer. At first, seeing baby Suraiya, Mehtab was hesitant to have her as her playback singer, but on hearing her, she wanted Suraiya to sing all her songs in her films. Suraiya debuted with Manna Dey in his first Hindi film song in 'Tamanna' in 1942, for which his uncle, famous K. C. Dey was the music director. Again in 1942, Suraiya paired with Rajkumari in 'Station-Master' for the song 'sajan ghar aye'.
A few years later, the great singer actor, K.L. Saigal was so impressed by the singing of 16 years old youthful Suraiya, that he readily agreed to have her opposite him in the film 'Tadbir' as a heroine and a singer in 1945. Saigal again opted for Suraiya as his heroine and a singer in films 'Omar Khayyam'(1946) and 'Parwana'(1947). 'Parwana' was Saigal's last film and was released after his death.
Later, Suraiya continued to work with music director Naushad in a few films and in 1946, she appeared with actress Noor Jehan in Anmol Ghadi as a co-star and Naushad as the music director. She sang three songs in the film, which became popular, of which "Man Leta Hai Angdai" went viral throughout the country. In a span of 22 years, she gave a number of hits. In her honey-rich voice, songs like "Woh paas rahain, ya door rahein","Tere naino ne chori kiya","Tu mera chaand, main teri chandni", "Yaad karun tori batiya"and the rare classical number, "Man mor hua matwala" created hysteria in the country.