Tribute to Noorjehan at PNCA
Islamabad
March 12, 2021
Islamabad: PWA (Progressive Writers Association) and PNCA (Pakistan National Council of the Arts) joined hands to pay tribute to Madam Noorjehan today (Friday) at PNCA. The audience was taken back to a small town in Qasoor in 1926 where Noorjehan was born as Allahwasai. She learnt to sing early in life (even before she learnt to cry). The family went to Kolkata around 1930 and Allahwasai became Baby Noorjehan She made a name for herself with Punjabi songs. The family returned back to Lahore.
What follows is a long journey. Noorjehan worked in films at Lahore during early thirties. She later left for Mumbai, worked and made a name in Urdu films. Got married to film director-editor Shaukat Hussain Rizvii. Her notable films in Mumbai included ‘Bari Maa’, ‘Zeenat’, ‘Anmol Ghari’ and ‘Jugno’. In 1947, the couple decided to return to what was now Pakistan. The friends, including Dilip Kumar, tried to talk them out