Welcome to the Madam Noorjehan Website

Noor Jehan, the Melody Queen, affected the lives and standards of Pakistan’s impressionable society as no singer has done in the sub-continent before her. There have been many more brilliant crooners in this region ever since the Mughal Period; but there’s no past example of such a singer who has influenced people of the two parts of sub-continent in so many various aspects of the social life. There is no other singer of such influence and long-term personal response as Noor Jehan in the 80-year film history of the sub-continent.

Noor Jehan the reigned supreme over the South Asian music scene for more than six decades. She rose from near oblivion of the
backwaters of Kasur, then hardly more than middle-sized Punjab town, to the dizzy heights of stardom as far back as the 40s, with
songs ranging from classical to folk and ghazal to geet. Her mastery over melody with a strong background of classical music remains unmatched. She sang Punjabi songs and Urdu ghazals with equal ease and amazing finesse.

Noor Jehan was born in Kasur on Sept 21, 1926. Her given name was Allah Wasai. She started her career on the stage at the age of six when Dewan Sardari Lal, financier of a theatre in Calcutta, took her there with her two older sisters Eiden Bai and Haidri Bandi, who were both stage singers. The three sisters instantly shot into the limelight. Allah Wasai became Baby Noor Jehan and never looked back again.

Director K.D. Mehra cast them in his Punjabi film Pind Di Kuri in which Noor Jehan sang her first film song. One of the film's songs,
Langh aaja patan channa dey o yaar, became an immediate hit, and remains a popular number even today. The picture was released in 1935, and the next year Noor Jehan was given roles in Fakhri-i-Islam and Heer Sial.

In 1937, when Pancholi Studio was set up on The Upper Mall in Lahore, its owner, Dilsukh Pancholi, employed Noor Jehan and her
sisters for the film Gul Bakawli. It set a record at the box office.

In 1940, Noor Jehan was cast in Yamla Jat, with M. Ismail in the male lead, and the following year she sang for the film Chaudhry.

The same year, Pancholi started work on the Urdu film Khandan for which he acquired the services of Syed Shaukat Husain Rizvi as
director. Rizvi had edited every film in which Noor Jehan had acted or sung since Calcutta, and their association was to later blossom
into love and marriage.

 Khandan was the first picture in which Noor Jehan was cast as the leading lady. She was only 15 years old at that time, and the prefix Baby was now dropped from her name. It is said Pancholi did not like the togetherness of Noor Jehan and Rizvi, and after the film was completed - released in 1942, it went on to become a hit - he sacked the actress. Noor Jehan's leading man in Khandan was Pran.

Rizvi and Noor Jehan then moved on to Bombay where the former started making Naukar, based on a story by Saadat Hasan Manto.
The film flopped, but the two decided to get married.
  
Rizvi then made Dost in which he played the role of Noor Jehan's brother. This too flopped.

Between 1943 and 1946, Noor Jehan acted in Duhaai, Nadaan, Lal Haveli, Bhai Jaan, Gaon Ki Gori, Bari Maan, Zeenat, Anmol Ghadi
(with Surendar Naath), Dil and Hamjoli. Zeenat proved extremely successful at the box-office, and its qawali number, Aahen na
bhareen, shikwey na kiye... is still fondly remembered by many.
 
Two Noor Jehan films were released in 1947 - Mirza Shahiban and Jugnoo, both directed by Rizvi and both resounding successes. Noor Jehan's leading man in Jugnoon was Dilip Kumar and the music was by Feroze Nizami. The song Yehan badla wafa ka... was on the lips of young and old alike.  

After partition in 1947, Noor Jehan and Shaukat Hussain Rizvi shifted to Lahore where they were allotted the Sheory Studios, which was subsequently renamed Shahnoor Studios. Here, Rizvi started his new picture Chanvay which also did well. This was their first movie in Pakistan post-partition and is remembered for its songs till date. It was at this point that Noor Jehan decided that she would sing only for pictures in which she also acted in.

In March 1952 came Dupatta which was directed by S. Fazli (Movie is remembered for Chandni Raaten). She also acted in Gulnar which failed. A little later she appeared in Patey Khan and seemed to have fallen in love with its distributor, M. Naseem. This created a gulf between Noor Jehan and Shaukat Rizvi and their marriage broke up. She was  survived by two sons and four daughters. The sons, (Late) Akbar Rizvi and Asghar Rizvi, run Shahnoor Studios and one of the daughters, Zille Huma, is also a popular singer.