Lal Mohammad Iqbal were a Pakistani composer duo, consisting of Lal Mohammad (1933 – 29 September 2009) and Buland Iqbal (1930 – 25 July 2013). They were among the leading musicians of

Pakistan film industry The film industry of Pakistan, consisting of motion pictures, has had a large effect on Pakistani society and culture since the nation's independence. Pakistani cinema is made up of various sub-industries, including Lollywood, which mak ...

belonging to the golden era of film songs. Buland Iqbal composed music at

Radio Pakistan The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (); also known as ''Radio Pakistan'', serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate its founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in P ...

with his colleague Lal Mohammad and the duo was known as Lal Mohammad Iqbal. They had joined Radio Pakistan, Karachi within a span of six months in 1950. At first, they together composed 'geets' and 'ghazals' for Radio Pakistan. The duo is primarily remembered for their compositions in the voice of playback singer

Ahmed Rushdi Ahmed Rushdi (; 24 April 1934 – 11 April 1983) was a versatile Pakistani playback singer and was "an important contributor to the Cinema of Pakistan#The Golden Era (1959–1977), golden age of Pakistani film music". Regarded as one of the gr ...

Early life and career

Buland Iqbal was the son of ''Ustad Bundu Khan'' (1880 – 1955), the famous sarangi player of the subcontinent and he was the younger brother of ''Umrao Bundu Khan'', a

sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked three-stringed instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, Sindhi folk music, Haryanvi folk music, Braj folk music, and Boro folk music (the ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

and classical singer. Belonging to a family of classical musicians of

Delhi gharana The Delhi or Dilli Gharana, is a tabla traditional playing style, "regarded by many as the fountainhead of all the tabla gharanas" and known for being the first and oldest gharana playing style of tabla. It also is one of the six most common sty ...

, Buland Iqbal had command over numerous ragas, which he also sang. Iqbal used to compose music on Radio and then with his mate Lal Mohammad. He started his film career in 1961 with the film ''Bara Bajey'' (1962). They were first given the chance for films by playback singer

as Rushdi introduced them to different film producers. The duo composed music for at least 40 films and utilized the voices of many playback singers, including three vocalists from India, namely

Talat Mahmood Talat Mahmood (24 February 1924 – 9 May 1998) was an Indian playback singer who is considered as one of the greatest and most popular Indian male film song and ghazal singers. Although he tried his luck as a film actor, he did not succeed a g ...

C. H. Atma C.H. Atma was a playback singer in Hindi language films, ghazal singer and film actor. He was born in 1923 in Hyderabad (Sind), now in Pakistan. His real name was Atma Hashmatrai Chainani. He was the first singer from India to tour and sing outs ...

and

Mubarak Begum Mubarak Begum (5 January 1936 18 July 2016) was an Indian vocalist who sang in the Hindi and Urdu languages. She was a playback singer in Bollywood films during the 1950s and 1960s. She had also recorded and given public performances in a numb ...

. Their last film as a music director was ''Sab Ke Baap'' which was released in 1994. Lal Mohammad had died earlier on 29 September 2009 whereas over the last two decades, Buland Iqbal devoted his time to teaching classical and

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

singing. His devotion for music was so intense that till the age of 80, he would come to teach music four to five times in a week driving his motorbike from his residence in Liaquatabad, Karachi to many other parts of the city.

Death

Lal Mohammad and Buland Iqbal were totally forgotten by the Pakistani film industry and spent their last years in anonymity. Buland Iqbal died on 25 July 2013 in Karachi at age 83, whereas Lal Mohammad had died earlier on 29 September 2009.

Popular compositions of Lal Mohammad Iqbal

References

External links

Filmography of Lal Mohammad Iqbal on IMDb website
1930 births 2013 deaths Muhajir people Radio personalities from Karachi Pakistani film score composers Pakistani musicians Musicians from Karachi Pakistani people of Rajasthani descent {{Pakistan-film-bio-stub