Zahida Parveen (1925 15 May 1975) was a Pakistani classical singer and a film playback singer. She was known as ''The Nightingale'' and ''The Queen of Kafi''.

Early life

Zahida Parveen was born in 1925 at

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

during

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. Her parents died when she was very young so she was raised by one of her sisters, Peeran Ditti. She joined Patiala gharana school of classical music to learn singing from sarangi player Baba Taj from Kapurthala. Then she studied with Hussain Bakhsh Khan, a sarangi player from Amritsar.

Career

After partition, she moved 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 learned singing from Ashiq Hussain of Patiala Gharana in Lahore. Then she started singing at Radio Pakistan, Lahore. In 1949, she worked as a film playback singer and recorded a qawwali with Iqbal Bano and

Munawar Sultana Munawar Sultana (8 November 1924 – 15 September 2007) was an Indian cinema actress, who acted in Hindi films. She is cited as one of the "popular" actresses of the late 1940s to early 1950s period, along with Noor Jehan, Swarnalata and Rag ...

in the film ''Mundri''. The qawwali was composed by

G.A. Chishti Ghulam Ahmed Chishti (Punjabi, ), (often abbreviated to G.A. Chishti) (Punjabi, ), (17 August 1905 – 25 December 1994) was a Pakistani music composer, attributed as being one of the founders of Indian and Pakistani film music. He is also some ...

. 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 ...

, she performed the songs "Kya Haal Sunawan Dil Da" and "Maindi Ajj Kal Akh Phurkaandi Aei", a composition of

Khwaja Ghulam Farid Khawaja Ghulam Farid (also romanized as Fareed; /1845 – 24 July 1901) was a 19th-century Sufi poet and mystic from Bahawalpur, Punjab, British India belonging to the Chishti Order. Most of his work is in his mother tongue ''Multani'', or what ...

with kafi style the songs were recorded for

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 ...

on gramophone and became popular hits. Then she recorded many more Kafis in Urdu, Saraiki, Hindi, Punjabi and Sindhi languages for His Master's Voice recordings, as well as for radio and on-stage. In the 1940s, she began to sing songs for films in Kheyal style and in classical vocalization and she did playback singing by singing light classical music in different forms like in geets and ghazals. In 1957, she along with Ustad Fateh Ali Khan recorded a song ''Nain Se Nain Milae Rakhoni Ko'' for film '' Waadah'' (1957 film), the song was composed by

Rashid Attre Abdul Rasheed Attray (15 February 1919 – 18 December 1967), also known as Rasheed Attre, was a Pakistani film score composer. Early life and career Rasheed Attre was born in Amritsar, Punjab, British India in 1919. His father, Khushi Mohamma ...

. In 1958, she worked in film ''Begunah'' and sanged a classical song ''Kaisi Raat Rageeli Aai'' in duet with

Naseem Begum Naseem Begum (), (24 February 1936 – 29 September 1971) was a famous Pakistani film playback singer. She was known as ''The Tradegy Queen'' for singing sorrowful and downhearted songs in films. She rose to prominence in the late 1950s, a ...

. The same year she was hired again by music composer

for film ''Jan-e-Bahar'' and was paired with Naseem Begum. The duo sang the song ''Ab Tou Ji Bhar Ke Khanjar Chalaenge Hum'' in raag darbari style. In 1964, she was honoured by '' All Pakistan Music Conference'' with a ''Gold Medal Award'' for her contribution to the music industry.

Personal life

Zahida was married and had a daughter named Shahida Parveen. She also wanted her daughter to be a singer. So she trained her daughter in a similar style and Shahida became a student of Ustad Akhtar Hussain Khan at the insistence of her mother.

Death

Zahida Parveen died at the age of 50 on 15 May 1975, 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 ...

. She was laid to rest in

Miani Sahib Graveyard The Miani Sahib Graveyard ( Punjabi, ) is the largest graveyard in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. It is in the centre of Lahore. Its origins date back to the Mughal era, making it one of the oldest graveyards in the region. Miani Sahib Graveyard ...

Filmography

Awards and recognition

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parveen, Zahida 1925 births 20th-century Pakistani women singers Singers from Lahore Punjabi-language singers Hindi-language singers Urdu-language singers 20th-century Pakistani singers 1975 deaths Radio personalities from Lahore Pakistani ghazal singers Musicians from Amritsar Performers of Sufi music