RMIM Archive Article "205".

From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
#
# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: Suraiya
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# Posted by: kalyank@sybase.com (Kalyan Kolachala)
# Source: Encyclopaedia  of Indian Cinema
#


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			 Suraiya Jamal Sheikh
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Major singing star of 50s Hindi-Urdu films, born in Lahore. Debuted as
child actress in 1941 (Taj Mahal). Later did playback singing for
Mehtab (Sharada, 1942). effectively launched as a singing and dancing
star in the Bombay talkies. She acted with Saigal in some of his last
Hindi films: Omar Khayyam, Tadbir and Parwana. With Noor Jehan (with
whom she acted in Anmol ghadi) and Khursheed (Mumtaz mahal, 1944), she
introduced an acting style strongly nostalgic for the adakari
(manners) of North Indian Muslim feudalism (e.g. her Urdu historicals
like Mirza Ghalib and melodramas like K. Asif's Phool). That style was
often used, most notably by Mehboob in his classic Anmol ghadi and
Kardar in Dastaan, to endow modernity with an aura of tradition. It
served this function even in her otherwise radically different Dev
Anand films (Afsar, Shayar, Jeet). Like Shanta Apte, the other major
singing star of the time, her performance expertly integrated gesture,
music and speech.

Filmography (Only films she acted in)
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1941 - Tajmahal
1942 - Statiom master, Tamanna
1943 - Ishara, Hamari baat
1944 - Phool
1945 - Main kya karun, Tadbir, Yateem, Samrat Chandragupta
1946 - Chehra, 1857, Hasrat, Omar Khayyam, Jag biti, Urvashi, Anmol ghadi
1947 - Dak bangla, Dard, Do dil, Do naina, Natak, Parwana
1948 - Aaj ki raat, Gajre, Kajal, Pyar ki jeet, Rang Mahal, Shakti, Vidya
1949 - Amar kahani, Badi bahen, Balam, Char din, Dillagi, Duniya, Jeet, Lekh,
       Naach, Shayar, SIngaar
1950 - Afsar, Dastaan, Kamal ke phool, Khiladi, Nili, Shaan
1951 - Do sitare, Rajput, Sanam, Shokhiyan
1952 - Diwana, Goonj, Khoobsurat, Lal kunwar, Moti mahal, Resham
1953 - Mashuqa
1954 - Bilwamangal, Mirza Ghalib, Shama Parwana, Waris
1955 - Inaam, Kanchan
1956 - Mr Lambu
1958 - Maalik, Miss 1958, Trolley driver
1961 - Shama
1963 - Rustam Sohrab

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The article doesn't list Sharda (1942) by Naushad, which has her first
song: "Panchi jaa". One would notice that she was semi-retired after
1954 and has only 8 films in 9 yrs (55-63). Incidentally 1954 is the
year Dev Anand married Kalpana Kartik (Mona Singh). I wonder if
there's any connection. Also sometime in the late 40's (?) Suraiya
would sing only songs picturized on her. That, IMO, was a great
tragedy. This would be tragic particularly in the 50's, when IMO she
was at her best, and was working in very few films and consequently
singing only a few songs.  I feel Suraiya the singer suffered because
of Suraiya the actress. This is analogous to Apple not licensing Mac
OS on other platforms to protect the sale of Macs :) Some of her best
songs were with Anil Biswas, Ghulam Mohammed, Hansraj Behl and Husnlal
Bhagatram, IMO. She also has a lot of films with Naushad who
introduced her.

Enjoy,
Kalyan



From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian