Tufail Niazi (

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

, ur, طفیل نیازی) (1916 – 21 September 1990) was a Pakistani folk singer whose songs include "Saada Chirryan Da Chamba Ae," "Akhiyaan Lagiyaan Jawaab Na Daindian," "Layee Beqadran Naal Yaari, Tay Tut Gai Tarak Karkey" and "Mein Nai Jana Kheriyan De Naal." He used to perform regularly on

Pakistan Television Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore. Background Historical c ...

( PTV) and

Radio Pakistan Radio Pakistan serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate Radio Pakistan's founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in Pakistan. The network was established on 14 Augus ...

Early life

Tufail Niazi was born in 1916 at a Village (Manderan) in

Jalandhar District Jalandhar district is a district in Doaba region of the state of Punjab, India. District headquarters is Jalandhar city. Before the Partition of India, Jalandhar was also the headquarters of the Jalandhar Division, with constituent districts J ...

, Punjab, British India. He was a disciple of Mian Wali Muhammad of

Kapurthala Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buil ...

and Pandit Amar Nath of Batala. He also trained with his father Haji Rahim Baksh in

Goindwal Goindwal ( pa, ਗੋਇੰਦਵਾਲ, meaning ‘City of Govind’, an epithet of God), also known as Goindwal Sahib and alternatively transliterated as Goindval, is located in Taran Taran district in the Majha region of the state of Punjab ...

. He used to sing at Harballah Festival in his childhood. Tufail Niazi migrated to Pakistan after

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

in 1947. He ran a milk shop to make his ends meet until he got opportunity at

Radio and TV career

Tufail Niazi was not a Niazi by caste. Aslam Azhar, then PTV's senior producer and managing director, gave him the name Tufail Niazi because Tufail had told him that his 'pir' (spiritual leader) was Pir Niaz Ali Shah. So do not be confused with his last name, he did not belong to Niazi tribe. After the introduction of TV in Pakistan in 1964, he often appeared on the national television as a performer. Soon afterwards, his popularity soared as a folk singer in Pakistan. Before this, Tufail had been known simply as Tufail, Master Tufail, Mian Tufail or Tufail Multani. Later, under ''Uxi Mufti'', he worked tirelessly to help set up and sustain the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage ( Lok Virsa) in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

, Pakistan. He travelled all over Pakistan to gather folk treasures.

Awards and recognition

In recognition of his work, Tufail Niazi received the Presidential

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

Award in 1982.Profile of Tufail Niazi on Folk Punjab website
Retrieved 27 March 2022

Death and legacy

Tufail Niazi died on 21 September 1990 at

, Pakistan. His two sons Javed and Babar Niazi have taken on their father's legacy and perform regularly on

, in the same manner their father did. Folk singer Tufail Niazi was paid rich tributes at a musical evening that was organised in his honour at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on 30 May 2011.Tributes paid to Tufail Niazi
Dawn (newspaper), Published 1 June 2011, Retrieved 27 March 2022Tribute: Folk singer Tufail Niazi remembered
The Express Tribune (newspaper), Published 21 September 2015, Retrieved 27 March 2022

Musical style

Tufail Niazi was a folk musician deeply influenced by classical forms. His mastery of classical vocals, combined with a soulful melodic voice mesmerised audiences. The profound Punjabi

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

elements in his storytelling, which was characteristic of his repertoire, together with his energetic singing while clothed in a

'Lacha' and a silk 'Kurta', created the impression of a performer for whom art was inseparable from life. His singing was often intensely moving, as when he sang about the lives of

epic lovers, most notably

Heer Ranjha ''Heer Ranjha'' (or ''Heer and Ranjha'') ( pnb, , ਹੀਰ ਰਾਂਝਾ ) is one of several popular tragic romances of Punjab, other important ones being "Sohni Mahiwal", " Mirza Sahiban" and " Sassi Punnhun". There are several poetic ...

, richly evoking their anguish against the setting of a Punjabi rural social environment. Work of Tufail Niazi has been recreated in various TV music programmes and movies, both in Pakistan and India. In 1998, Tufail's song "Laai beqadaran naal yaari" was recreated in Indian movie Wajood as "Tut gai tarak kar ke" by

Anu Malik Anwar Sardar "Anu" Malik (born 2 November 1960) is an Indian music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. He is an Indian National Award and Filmfare Award winning musician, who primarily composes music for the Hindi film indus ...

, although his name remained uncredited. In 2006, Pakistani movie Majajan featured Tufail's "Ve tu naire naire wass ve" performed by Azra Jahan. In 2013, Asad Abbas paid tribute to Tufail Niazi by performing "Kade aa ve mahi gal lag ve", in Coke Studio Season 6 produced by Rohail Hayat. In 2014, when Strings band opened their first season of Coke Studio (season 7) as producers, they remade "Lai Beqadaraan Naal Yaari", performed by Tufail's sons as a tribute to the legend. The same year, "Kheryaan De Naal" was also remade and performed by Tufail's sons (Niazi Brothers).

References