Mubarak Begum breathes her last

Legendary singer Mubarak Begum, best known for crooning the title track of 1961 romantic-drama ‘Hamari Yaad Aayegi,’ has passed away after prolonged illness. She was 80. She died on Monday at her residence in suburban Jogeshwari in Mumbai. "Mubarak Begum passed away at 9.30 pm at her residence in Jogeshwari. She was unwell from quite some time," said a family member.

Begum, who gave scores of Hindi film songs and ghazals mainly during 1950s-70s, had not been keeping well for the last few years. She made her Bollywood singing debut with 1949 film ‘Aiye’ in which she had a solo track, "Mohe Aane Lagi Angdai Aaja Aaja", and "Aao Chale Sakhi Wahan" with melody queen Lata Mangeshkar.

Through the 1950s and 1960s, Begum worked with the best music directors in the film industry--S D Burman, Shankar Jaikishan and Khayyam-- on movies that starred screen legends like Sunil Dutt, Nargis and Rajendra Kumar.

She sang "Woh Na Aayenge Palat Kar" in Bimal Roy's ‘Devdas’ with music by Burman. Roy used her voice once again in ‘Madhumati’ (1958), where she sang "Hum Haal E Dil Sunaenge" for music composer Salil Choudhury.

"Kabhi Tanhaiyon Mein Hamari Yaad Aayegi", the title song of Tanuja-starrer ‘Hamari Yaad Aayegi’, remains one of Begum's most remembered tracks. "Neend Ud Jaaye Teri", "Mujh ko Apne Gale Lagalo" and "Humein Dum Daike" with Asha Bhosle are among her other known songs. "Saanwariya Teri Yaad Mein" from 1980 comedy ‘Ramu To Diwana Hai’ was one of her last tracks.

Besides Bollywood playback, she sang a few hundred other songs and ghazals in Gujarati, Urdu and Rajasthani and though always prominent could never attain the required heights. Unlike many others of her era, Mubarak Begum lapsed into early retirement by the late 1970s only coming out of the shadows of poverty to render an occasional Bollywood song.

Nevertheless, she had the privilege of working with some of the topnotch music composers and directors of her era and though statistically few, her songs prominently stood out in the musical cacophony. During the latter part of her life, she used to give regular stage performance and musical concerts but more for survival and paying her bills.

Several times, her frustration and rage would seep out before the media and she accused certain singers of stifling her voice and sabotaging her career echoing what another legend, Shamshad Begum, had voiced on several occasions. The politics in Bollywood music cost her dearly-- her career, her financial progress and even coveted awards or honours but she took it in her stride.

Mubarak Begum once recounted how her detractors and certain contemporaries blatantly told music composers not to give her singing assignments, or they would be banned by them (the singers). As a result, though many wanted to use her melodious voice, few barring the big and established composers actually took the risk of antagonising the other leading female singers, and gradually Mubarak Begum was "unheard" of in the music world.

There were occasions in the past few years when her family had to appeal for financial help to take care of the medical expenses of her daughter and then even herself. - Agencies