Mujeeb Aalam (2 September 1948 – 2 June 2004) was a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

playback singer A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync the ...

who had a short film career. His singing style was a mixture of

Mehdi Hassan Mehdi Hassan Khan (; 18 July 1927 – 13 June 2012), known as Mehdi Hassan, was a Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer of great renown. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential figures in the history of ghazal singing, ...

and Ahmad Rushdi's style. He sang dozens of hit songs in late 1960s. However, he lost his popularity in mid-1970s as more versatile singers like

Akhlaq Ahmed Akhlaq Ahmed (; 10 January 1946 – 4 August 1999) was a Pakistani film playback singer and still considered one of the leading voices of the film industry. Early life and career He was born in Delhi in 1946 and started as a stage singer ...

and A Nayyar entered

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# ...

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production company, production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre- ...

Early life and career

Mujeeb Alam was born in 1948 in the city of

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

and then settled with his parents 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 ...

. He started his career at the age of 14 from

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 ...

, Lahore. Musician ''Hassan Latif'' gave him the chance to sing in his film

Nargis Nargis Dutt (born Fatima Rashid, also known as Nirmala Dutt; 1 June 1929 – 3 May 1981) known mononyomusly as Nargis was an Indian actress and politician who worked in Hindi cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest and finest actresses in the ...

, but the film didn't release. However, in 1966, he recorded songs for the film ''Jalwa'' and in 1967, a song from Chakori ''Woh mere samney'' became popular. He got recognition in the mid- sixties and became one of the prominent playback singers in the industry. He sang over 12,000 songs and won a number of awards. He also performed at hundreds of musical concerts in and outside Pakistan. Alam’s songs were picturised on film artists like

Nadeem Nadeem/Nadim/Nadiem/Nedim () is an Arabic masculine given name. It means "best friend of the drinker", "companion", "confidant", or "friend". The name is common among many communities, including Christians, Muslims and Jews, in the Greater Middle ...

Waheed Murad Waheed Murad (; 2 October 1938 – 23 November 1983), also known as Chocolate Hero, was a Pakistani film actor, producer and script writer. Famous for his charming expressions, attractive personality, tender voice and unusual talent for acting, ...

, and Mohammad Ali.

Death

Mujeeb Aalam retired from films in 1979. He used to participate in private shows and musical programmes which were broadcast from Pakistani television and other TV channels. Mujeeb resided in Block J, North Nazimabad,

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, for quite some time. On Wednesday 2 June 2004, according to his daughter, he left his home at 11:15 pm and as they were about to approach Super Highway when Aalam complained of chest pain and he felt difficulty in breathing. He stopped the car, picked up a bottle of water but fell on the steering wheel. She further said that her father was taken to a private hospital near Sohrab Goth where he was pronounced dead. He was 55 years old.Death anniversary of Mujeeb Alam observed
Radio Pakistan website, Published 2 June 2020, Retrieved 19 December 2021 Aalam's funeral prayers were held on Thursday afternoon at a Mosque near his residence in ''Gulshan-i-Maymar''. He was laid to rest at ''Sakhi Hasan graveyard''

where his friend, 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 ...

is also buried.

Popular songs

* "Main teray ajnabi shehr main" * "Main tera shehr chhor jaoon ga" for film ''Shama Aur Parwana'' (1970), lyrics by Saifuddin Saif, music by

Nisar Bazmi Nisar Bazmi (1 December 1924 – 22 March 2007) was a composer and music director of Indian and Pakistan film industry. Nisar Bazmi was known as one of the accomplished musician of South Asia. He also introduced new singers like Alamgir and Me ...

* "Main khushi se kiyoon na gaoon, mera dil bhi gaa raha hai" * "Woh naqab rukh ulat kar meray samnay na aain". * "Woh meray samnay tasweer banay baithay hain" for film

Chakori ''Chakori'' ( ), is a Pakistani Urdu feature film. This film was released on 22 March 1967 on Eid-ul-Azha Day in Dhaka, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The film was directed by Captain Ehtesham. It was Nadeem's and Shabana's debut film. The ...

in 1967, music by

Robin Ghosh Robin Ghosh (, ; 13 September 1939 – 13 February 2016) was a Pakistani-Bangladeshi playback singer and film music composer, best known for singing and composing music for Lollywood films from 1961 to 1986. Robin Ghosh had a notable contributi ...

. This was a breakthrough hit song for him that earned him real fame and a

Nigar Award The Nigar Awards () were presented in an annual award show to recognize outstanding achievement in Pakistani cinema, after having been revived in 2017 following a 15-year absence. The honors are awarded by Nigar Magazine founded in 1948. The ...

in Pakistan.

Awards and recognition

as 'Best Singer' for film

in 1967.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aalam, Mujeeb Muhajir people 1948 births 2004 deaths Entertainers from Kanpur Nigar Award winners Pakistani playback singers Singers from Karachi 20th-century Pakistani male singers 20th-century Pakistani singers