Zohrabai Ambalewali (1918 – 21 February 1990) was an Indian classical singer and playback singer in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

in the 1930s and 1940s. She was considered one of the most popular female playback singers of early and mid 1940s. She is best known for her

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

or low voice range singing in the film songs, "Ankhiyan Milake Jiyaa Bharmaake" and "Aai Diwali, Aai Diwali" in 1944 hit ''

Rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan (from Malay language, Malay: ''rotan''), is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the clos ...

'' (1944), with music by

Naushad Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was an Indian composer for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the use of ...

, and "Uran Khatole Pe Ud Jaoon", duet with

Shamshad Begum Shamshad Begum (Urdu: شمشاد بیگم, IAST: ''Śamśād Bēgam''; 14 April 1919 – 23 April 2013) was an Indian singer who was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry. Notable for her distinctive voice and range, sh ...

in ''

Anmol Ghadi ( Priceless moment) is a 1946 Indian drama film directed by Mehboob Khan, starring Surendra, Suraiya, Noor Jehan and Zahur Raja. The film was a musical hit and is still remembered for its music by Naushad, with hits like "Aawaaz De Kahaan ...

'' (1946), also under Naushad's music direction. She, along with Rajkumari,

and

Amirbai Karnataki Amirbai Karnataki ( – 3 March 1965) was a famous actress/singer and playback singer of the early Hindi cinema and was famous as ''Kannada Kokila''. Mahatma Gandhi was an ardent fan of her song '' Vaishnav Jan To''. Early life Amirbai Karn ...

, were amongst the leading first generation of playback singers in the

Hindi film industry Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Hollywood". The industry, producing films in th ...

. However, by the late 1940s, the arrival of new voices like

Geeta Dutt Geeta Dutt (born Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri; 23 November 1930 – 20 July 1972) was an Indian Indian classical music, classical and playback singer. She found particular prominence as a playback singer in Hindi cinema and Bengali cinema (India) ...

and

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

, meant Zohrabai Ambalewali's career faded away.

Early life and background

Born and brought up in

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab (India), Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala ...

in present-day

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

, to family of professional singers, which lend to her surname, 'Ambalewali', started her musical training under Ghulam Hussain Khan and Ustad Nasir Hussain Khan. Subsequently, she was trained in music by the

Agra gharana The Agra gharana is a tradition of Hindustani classical vocal music descended from the Nauhar Bani. So far, Nauhar Bani has been traced back to around 1300 AD, during the reign of Emperor Allauddin Khilji of Delhi. The first known musician o ...

Hindustani music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

Career

Ambalewali started her career at age 13, as a singer with the

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

, singing mainly classical and semi-classical numbers. This led to recording a few albums of

thumri Thumri () is a vocal genre or style of Indian music. The term "thumri" is derived from the Hindi verb ''thumuknaa'', which means "to walk with a dancing gait in such a way that the ankle-bells tinkle." The form is, thus, connected with dance, dram ...

s with

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

. Eventually she made her Hindi film debut as a playback singer with film ''Daku Ki Ladki'' (1933) with music by Pransukh Nayak. After initial years in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

-based film industry, she shifted to

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

(now Mumbai). Her musical success came with film ''

'' (1944) under music director

Naushad Ali Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was an Indian composer for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the use of ...

, and such hit songs as "Aai Diwali Aai Diwali" and "Akhiyan Mila Ke, Jiya Bharma Ke". She sang for music director Naushad, again in hit films like ''

'' (1946), '' Mela'' (1948), and ''Jadoo'' (1951). She also sang a

qawwali Qawwali is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing originating in the Indian subcontinent. Originally performed at Sufi shrines throughout the Indian subcontinent, it is famous throughout Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and has ...

with

Noor Jehan Noor Jehan (21 September 192623 December 2000) was a Pakistani playback singer and actress who worked in both British India and later in Pakistan's cinema of Pakistan, cinema. Her career lasted over six decades, during which she recorded 10,00 ...

and Kalyani "Aahen Na Bhareen Shikway Na Kiye" in '' Zeenat'' (1945), which was the first ever Qawwali recorded in female voices in South Asian films and became very popular among the public. This was the era when heavy

-style and the leading playback singers with nasal voices were singing in the Hindi cinema, with singers like

Khurshid Khorshīd or Khorshēd ( , meaning ''the Sun'' or the "Radiant Sun"), also spelled as ''Khurshed'' and ''Khurshid'', is a Persian given name. In the modern day as well as historical Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, but also in Iraqi Kurdistan, Egypt, ...

. This was right before the arrival of

in 1948, which along with

and

Sudha Malhotra Sudha Malhotra (born 30 November 1936) is an Indian playback singer. She also acted in some Bollywood films and as a playback singer, worked in popular Bollywood movies in the 1950s and 1960s, like '' Arzoo'', ''Babar'', '' Dhool Ka Phool'', ''A ...

shifted the popular taste towards finer voices, effectively bringing their careers to a gradual end. Another major film playback singer of that era

decided to migrate to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and had a highly successful singing career in

until she died in 2000. Zohrabai Ambalewali retired in the 1950s from the film industry, though she continued to sing at the performances of her daughter Roshan Kumari, a noted

Kathak ''Kathak'' is one of the eight major forms of Classical Indian dance, Indian classical dance. Its origin is attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern India known as ''Kathakar'' ("storyteller"), who communicated stories from the ...

dancer, who also performed in

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...

's film ''

Jalsaghar ''Jalsaghar'' ( ''Jalsāghar'', ) is a 1958 Indian Bengali drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray, based on a popular short story by Bengali writer Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay, and starring Chhabi Biswas. The fourth of Ray's feature fil ...

'' (1958).

Filmography

* ''Daku Ki Ladki'' (1933) * ''Gramophone Singer'' (1938) *'' Geet'' (1944) * ''Pehle Aap'' (1944) * ''

'' (1944) * '' Zeenat'' (1945) * ''

Sohni Mahiwal ''Sohni Mahiwal'' () or ''Suhni Mehar'' is a traditional Punjabi– Sindhi folk tragedy. Set in central Sindh or northern Punjab, depending upon the version of the tragedy, the folktale depicts the separation of two lovers and their tragic d ...

'' (1946) * ''

Devar ''Devar'' is a 1966 Hindi film directed by Mohan Sehgal. It stars Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Deven Verma and Shashikala. The music is by Roshan and the lyrics by Anand Bakshi; this is their only film together that met with success. The fi ...

'' (1946) * '' Elaan'' (1947) * '' Mela'' (1948) * ''Chunariya'' (1948) * ''

Mahal Mahal may refer to: Places * Mahal, India, a small town in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, India * Mahal, Punjab, a village in Jalandhar district of Punjab State, India * Mahal, Paschim Bardhaman, a census town in Pandabeswar CD Block in ...

'' (1949) * ''Dil Ki Basti'' (1949) * ''Preet Ki Manzil' (1950) * ''Jadoo'' (1951) * ''Kashmir'' (1951) * ''Usha Kiran'' (1952) * Amber (1952 film)

References

External links

* Filmography of Zohrabai Ambalewali {{DEFAULTSORT:Ambalewali, Zohrabai 1918 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Indian women classical singers People from Ambala Hindustani singers Indian women playback singers Bollywood playback singers Singers from Haryana Women Hindustani musicians Women musicians from Haryana All India Radio people