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Any discussion of Pakistani Classic Cinema has to begin with the greatest legend in Asian Film History, The Queen of Melody, Noor Jehan.
Here dedication to the film and music arts began in British India. She was trained from a very early age in the art of classical singing under Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Her career began as a live singer and performer on stage and she was given the stage name Baby Noor Jehan.
Noor Jehan's first acting and singing role was in the Punjabi Film 'Pind di Kuri' (1935), directed by K.D. Mehra. This was followed by the film 'Missar Ka Sitara' (1936).
In 1942 she played her first main lead role in the film Khandan(1942). This was directed by Syed Shaukat and Hussain Rizvi. She was also the play back singer for the actress Husn Bano. Hussain Rizvi became her husband latter the same year. They both moved to Pakistan, Karachi in 1947.
In Pakistan, a string of hit films and songs followed:
Chan Wey (1951), Dopatta (1952), Patey Khan (1955), Intezar (1956),
Nooran (1957), Anarkali (1958), Neend (1959), Koel (1959), Mirza Ghalib (1961), Qaidi (1962),
Due to the pressures of bringing up a family, Noor Jehan left acting in 1963. A career spanning 33 years, from 1930 to 1963.
However, she continued as a play back singer. She is estimated to have made more than 40 films and sung around 20,000 numbers during a career which lasted more than half a century. She is internationally recognised for her contribution to the film and music industry and respected by many of her peers across the globe.
Here I have selected a number of film clips for your pleasure from the Apex film archive. I hope to add more film titles from time to time.
A single frame from the film AnarKali was colourised in PhotoShop. There are 25 frames to each second of film footage. To process the whole film it would take a team of people.
Pictures of Noor Jehan from films in the Apex Archive
