Remembering Zubaida Khanum: the golden-age voice of Lollywood, 13 years on

October 19 marked 13 years since the death of Zubaida Khanum, one of the most loved playback singers of Pakistan’s film golden age. Her name was trending again this week as fans and outlets remembered her.

A short, brilliant career

Zubaida Khanum was born in 1935 in Amritsar, in British India, and moved to Pakistan, where she became one of the leading voices of Urdu and Punjabi cinema in the 1950s.

Her career was short but remarkable:

• According to The Express Tribune, she debuted in 1951 with the film Billo, and, as her son later said, “she never really had to struggle because her very first song was a hit.”
• She sang more than 200 songs in almost 150 films, according to The Express Tribune (Wikipedia puts the total at over 250).
• She also acted in supporting roles, including Patay Khan (1955) alongside Noor Jehan, and Dulla Bhatti (1956).
• She worked with composers such as Rasheed Attray, Safdar Hussain, Ghulam Ahmed Chishti and Khwaja Khurshid Anwar, and recorded duets with Ahmed Rushdi.

The films and songs people remember

Her filmography reads like a list of the era’s classics:

• Punjabi: Heer (1955), Mahi Munda (1956), Chann Mahi (1956), Yakkay Wali (1957), Kartar Singh (1959)
• Urdu: Anokhi (1956), Sarfarosh (1956), Ishq-e-Laila (1957), Saat Lakh (1957)

Her song “Aye Mausam” from Saat Lakh is often credited with making the actress Neelo famous. From Sarfarosh, songs such as “Teri Ulfat Mein Sanam” and “Aye Chand Unse Ja Kar” are still played on radio and shared online.

Why she stepped away

In 1959 she married the famous cinematographer Riaz Bukhari and left films to raise a family. In later life she sang naats and devotional music at milads. Her son Faisal Bukhari also became a cinematographer and director. He said she was “known for the expressions she brought to her songs.”

Her passing

Zubaida Khanum died of a cardiac arrest in Lahore on October 19, 2013, aged 78, on the same date as her husband’s death anniversary.

Why she still matters

Today’s OSTs and Coke Studio covers stand on the foundations laid by singers like her. Zubaida Khanum’s voice carried the feelings of a whole generation of filmgoers, and her songs, more than six decades later, still sound fresh. If you have never heard her, start with Sarfarosh.