A charming personality with an extraordinary acting talent, Khurshid Begum was the first artist to emerge as the leading Bollywood singer/star in early 1940s. Till then film music was dominated by New Theaters of Calcutta with highly accomplished singer-actors like K.L. Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, K.C. Dey, Rattanbai, Uma Shashi and Kanan Bala.
There was little singing talent in Bombay film industry. Those actors who sang in films like Devika Rani, Lila Chitnis, Bibo, Shanta Apte, Ashok Kumar and Surendra Nath did not achieve much fame as singers. The playback singers had yet to appear on the scene.
Khurshid who had no formal training in music, had a God-gifted voice and a natural talent of turning lyrics into enchanting melodies. She attained countrywide fame and popularity after teaming up with K.L. Saigal in Ranjit Film Company’s super hit “Bhakta Surdas” (1942) and “Tansen” (1943). Sharing with Saigal their common Punjabi background and outlook, Khurshid showed up as a natural heroine of Saigal. On his part, Saigal too gave the impression of being perfectly at ease with Khurshid and his performance was spontaneous. No wonder, Saigal-Khurshid duo instantly shot into limelight and both were, acclaimed as superstars.
Born around 1912-14 in Chunian Tehsil of Lahore, Khurshid embarked on her professional career with Madan Theatres of Calcutta after the advent of talkies in 1931. Madan was then the leading film producing company in India with a chain of cinema houses all over the country. The heroines in the silent era were mostly drawn from the Anglo-Indian community who joined films under glamorous native names. Ruby Myers, a telephone operator, became Sulochana — the leading star of the early 1930s. Then there was Irene Gasper who appeared in some films as Sabita Devi. But as they were not proficient in Hindi-Urdu, they were replaced by the professional well-trained theatre artistes.
Khurshid with Mubarak in “Tansen”
Khurshid with her screen name Miss Shahla made her debut with a role in Madan Theatres’ “Laila Majnu”. She followed it up with some supporting roles in “Shakuntala”, “Chitra Bakavali”, “Hathili Dulhan” and “Muflis Ashiq”. In the meantime, there was hectic activity in Lahore and a number of producers such as A.R. Kardar, R.L. Shorey and J.K. Nanda had set up their studios. Khurshid appeared in Shorey’s Kamla Movietone production “Radhey Shyam” and then as a heroine in “Swarg Ki Seedhi” directed by J.K. Nanda (1935). Unfortunately, all those films produced at Lahore flopped miserably at the box office and the artistes and technicians were forced to quit Lahore and seek their fortune in the successful film companies of Calcutta and Bombay (now Kolkata and Mumbai).
Lovely husky voice
Khurshid moved over to Bombay in 1935 and joined Saroj Movietone. After struggling for a few years, she finally made her mark in “Lal Sitara” (1939) produced by Everest Pictures and directed by Ezra Mir with music by Rafiq Ghaznavi. It was a romantic drama set in a fantasy version of gypsy life. Khurshid was acclaimed for her remarkable performance and hailed as a budding actress of great promise with her charming seductive looks and lovely husky voice. She was earlier noticed in Saroj film “Murad” (1937) with the well-known hero Jairaj who recorded that Khurshid was the third heroine whom he had kissed on screen, the other two being of the silent era, Madhuri (Meena Kumari’s eldest sister) in “My Hero” (1930) and the popular heroine of “She” or “Aurat”, Zebunissa.
Fortune smiled on Khurshid and in 1940 she rose to stardom with the Ranjit’s box office hit “Holi” when she co-starred with the then famous hero Motilal. Directed by A.R. Kardar with D.N. Madhok’s tuneful lyrics set to music by Khemchand Prakash, the film earned her fame and popularity. Her other notable hits were “Musafir” with its hit song “Piyaji Aan Milo” and “Shadi”. Playing the heroine’s role with Motilal, the upcoming superstar of Bombay, Khurshid reached the pinnacle of her fame in “Pardesi” (1941). Her famous number “Pehle Jo Mohabbat Se Inqar Kiya Hota”, a typical ghazal tune established her as the leading singing actress of her time. This paved the way for her selection by Chandulal Shah, the chief of Ranjit, to play the heroine opposite K.L. Saigal in “Bhakta Surdas” with music by Gyan Dutt. Khurshid’s superb performance in the role of “Chintamani”, the courtesan who transforms Bilwamangal, her lover, into a saintly figure was applauded in superlative terms. She embellished it further with her solos and popular duets with Saigal. Her hit songs were “Panchhi Bawra, Chand Se Preet Lagai”, “Chandni Raat Aur Tare Khile Hon’ and “Madhur Madhur Ga Re Manva”. The following year (1943), she scaled still greater heights in her second appearance with K.L. Saigal in “Tansen”, one of the all-time great classics of Indian cinema. The film was a runaway success and Khurshid was voted as the top superstar by the audiences.
It was “Tansen” which brought Bollywood in the world of film music then dominated by the New Theatres of Calcutta. In a way, “Tansen” immortalised all those connected with its production — director Jayant Desai and the music director Khemchand Prakash who played no small role in grooming Khurshid into a consummate artiste. The film’s opening scene showed Khurshid singing that sparkling melody, “Ghata Ghan Ghor, Ghor Mor Machay Shor”. Other melodies included “More Balapan Ke Sathi” and “Barso Re Kale Badarwa”.
Later, though Khurshid appeared in “Shahenshah Babar” (1944), “Mumtaz Mahal” (1944), “Moorti”, “Prabhu Ka Ghar” (1945) and “Maharana Pratap” (1946) but none of these could make any mark. As a singer-actor Khurshid had by now lost her pre-eminent position to Bul-bul-e-Hind Noor Jehan. Further, the playback singers, like Amir Bai Karnatki, Zohrabai Ambalewali, Parul Ghosh and Raj Kumari also appeared on the scene, upsetting her career.
Khurshid left for Pakistan in 1947 with her husband Lala Yakub, an actor with Kardar productions whom she had married earlier in 1946. According to M. Rafiq, a famous film historian, Khurshid was not so active in Pakistan and appeared as heroine only in two films both in 1956: “Fankar” and “Mandi”. Unfortunately, these films despite Khurshid’s songs and Rafiq Ghaznavi’s music failed at the box office. After leaving Yakub in 1956, she married a businessman Irshad Bhaimiyan and came to be known as Irshad Begum. Hereafter, she retired from the films and engaged herself in philanthropic work. She chose to keep herself aloof and declined to give any interviews or talk about her film career. Many singing film stars tried to copy her style but without much success.
Khurshid died on 18th of April, 2001, in Karachi after a prolonged illness. The fading generation of her fans in the subcontinent, still remember her and revel in her music.
