She enthralled thousands by her honey-voice. Millions swooned over her beauty. She was anointed by fans as 'Malika-e-Husn' (queen of beauty), and 'Malika-e-Tarannum' (queen of melody). She was Suraiya. The sovereign actress-singer of yesteryears.
Suraiya was born at Gujranwala ( Pakistan) on 15 June 1929. She came to Bombay along with her mother, maternal uncles and grandparents. Here she studied and entered the filmdom as child artiste in 1937 film Usne Kya Socha.
Thereafter in 1941 she bagged a role as a heroine in filmTaj Mahal. At the tender age of 13 Suraiya made foray into playback singing. Her first song was for film Sharda. She didn’t had any formal training in singing.
Her untrained voice had a peculiar charisma which caught the fancy of music director Naushad. Bollywood legend has it that Nuashad saw her in Kardar Studio where she had gone to watch film shooting and recommended her for playback. As Baby Suraiya her first song was for Kardar's Nai Duniya ( 1942). She ostensibily used to stand on a stool in order to reach the mike for singing.
After her initial phase Suraiya made her debut as a leading lady in Nanubhai Vakil’s 'Taj Mahal' .
In the early part of her career Suraiya got the support of Naushad. Under his tutelage she blossomed as a singer. Under the baton of Naushad Suraiya delivered some of her biggest hits in the early part of her career.
In Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi Naushad gave Suraiya three solo songs to sing. In the movie Suraiya was pitted against the colossal of her times, Noorjehan. During the making of the film Noorjehan gave a hard time to Suraiya. But Suraiya proved her mettle by her voice, and Naushad stood by her strongly. The film completed silver jubilee in Mumbai. Anmol Ghadi paved the way for Suraiya to become a singing superstar.
Hoever, Suraiya came to her own after Noorjehan married and migrated to Pakistan during Partition.
Suraiya was at the height of her popularity between 1947 and 1950.
This was the phase when Suraiya co-starred with Dev Anand in several block busters. Their proximity brought them emotionally close and they became romantically involved. However, their affair wasn't destined to see the light of the day. Suraiya's grandmother opposed the match and that was the end of the story. Suraiya was heartbroken and she never married. Dev kept Suraiya's love aflame in his heart till his last days. Thus tragically ended Bollywood's one of the most popular love stories.
In the 1950s, Suraiya faced competition from Lata Mangeshkar. However, sadly, her career was on the decline. The phase of actor-singer was on the wane. Geeta Dutt and Shamshad Begum had also joined the bandwagon. Suraiya sang her last song “Yeh kaesii ajab daastaan” in the Rustom-e-Sohrab ( 1953) At the age of 34 she said adieu to the film industry. She breathed her last on 31 January 2004 after a long battle with cancer.
Suraiya was born at Gujranwala ( Pakistan) on 15 June 1929. She came to Bombay along with her mother, maternal uncles and grandparents. Here she studied and entered the filmdom as child artiste in 1937 film Usne Kya Socha.
Thereafter in 1941 she bagged a role as a heroine in filmTaj Mahal. At the tender age of 13 Suraiya made foray into playback singing. Her first song was for film Sharda. She didn’t had any formal training in singing.
Her untrained voice had a peculiar charisma which caught the fancy of music director Naushad. Bollywood legend has it that Nuashad saw her in Kardar Studio where she had gone to watch film shooting and recommended her for playback. As Baby Suraiya her first song was for Kardar's Nai Duniya ( 1942). She ostensibily used to stand on a stool in order to reach the mike for singing.
After her initial phase Suraiya made her debut as a leading lady in Nanubhai Vakil’s 'Taj Mahal' .
In the early part of her career Suraiya got the support of Naushad. Under his tutelage she blossomed as a singer. Under the baton of Naushad Suraiya delivered some of her biggest hits in the early part of her career.
In Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi Naushad gave Suraiya three solo songs to sing. In the movie Suraiya was pitted against the colossal of her times, Noorjehan. During the making of the film Noorjehan gave a hard time to Suraiya. But Suraiya proved her mettle by her voice, and Naushad stood by her strongly. The film completed silver jubilee in Mumbai. Anmol Ghadi paved the way for Suraiya to become a singing superstar.
Hoever, Suraiya came to her own after Noorjehan married and migrated to Pakistan during Partition.
Suraiya was at the height of her popularity between 1947 and 1950.
This was the phase when Suraiya co-starred with Dev Anand in several block busters. Their proximity brought them emotionally close and they became romantically involved. However, their affair wasn't destined to see the light of the day. Suraiya's grandmother opposed the match and that was the end of the story. Suraiya was heartbroken and she never married. Dev kept Suraiya's love aflame in his heart till his last days. Thus tragically ended Bollywood's one of the most popular love stories.
In the 1950s, Suraiya faced competition from Lata Mangeshkar. However, sadly, her career was on the decline. The phase of actor-singer was on the wane. Geeta Dutt and Shamshad Begum had also joined the bandwagon. Suraiya sang her last song “Yeh kaesii ajab daastaan” in the Rustom-e-Sohrab ( 1953) At the age of 34 she said adieu to the film industry. She breathed her last on 31 January 2004 after a long battle with cancer.
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