She had just stepped
down from the stage after giving a tribute to the queen of melody, Noor Jehan.
The crowd wanted more but her health confined her to shorter performances.
Behind the stage, her
feet trembling from weakness, she placed herself on the first available chair.
Seeing her alone with no entourage, I made my way towards her with a paper and
pen. Before I could speak, she held my hand and said bashfully: “I hope you
don’t have a camera … I’m not as beautiful as singers usually are, so I prefer
it when people listen to my voice.”
And that voice was
still as soothing as it was in Shabnam, and her charm still that of a teenage
girl.
Mehnaz Begum passed
away last night at the age of 55 but her soulful voice will continue to ring
for another life-time in the memories of her admirers.
The late singer had
been suffering from diabetes and was on her way to the US for treatment when
she passed away.
Mehnaz grew up under
the auspices of her mother and mentor, Kajjan Begum, who herself was one of the
most celebrated singers of pre-partition India.
As soon as Mehnaz
entered the music industry, her unique tonal quality and magnificent expression
brought her at par with contemporaries like Naheed Akhtar. She went on to
become an essential cultural representative of Pakistan along with talented
friends and contemporaries such as Tina Sani, Nayyara Noor and Abida Parveen.
“She was the sweetest
in our gang and wherever we went her presence decorated the occasion,” Sani
said while talking to The Express Tribune.
“I remember there was a
day when Abida started singing in our room and slowly Mehnaz joined in and as
soon as that happened Abida started crying and I couldn’t do anything but
filming that divine experience with my handicam,” Tina recalled.
From the music of
classic films like “Aina” and “Qurbani” to countless solo performances to some
beautiful renditions of Ahmad Faraz’s poetry, Mehnaz brought a new flavour to
ghazal singing.
With the decline of the
film industry, Mehnaz hardly got to perform, apart from the occasional tribute
performances. Her latest tribute to Noor Jehan reflected the amount of singing
that was left in her.
“It won’t be an
understatement to call her the Lata Mangeshkar of Pakistan,” said pop singer
Mohammad Ali Shehki.
Published in The
Express Tribune, January 20th, 2013.
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