Feroz Nizami (born Ferozuddin Ahmad; 10 November 1910 – 15 November 1975), was a Pakistani

film score composer A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

, music director and classical singer. He composed music for

bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

films in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

and after

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

, he remained actively involved in

Pakistan film industry Cinema of Pakistan, popularly known as Lollywood ( ur, ), refers to the filmmaking industry in Pakistan. Pakistan is home to several film studios centres, primarily located in its three largest cities – Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad. ...

. He is primarily recognized as a music composer for a music

blockbuster Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to: *Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived. Corporations * Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain ** Bl ...

Indian film '' Jugnu'' (1947), which helped him to appear among the prominent composers in both India and Pakistan cinemas. His last composition in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

films was released in 1947, leading him to retain his position for more than twenty years in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

's music industry during the 1940s. Before he returned to Pakistan while working in

Indian film The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

s, he was referred to as "

Ustad Ustād or ostād (abbreviated as Ust., Ut. or Ud.; from Persian language, Persian ) is an honorific title used in West Asia, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is used in various languages such as Persian language, Persian, , Azerbai ...

of Bombay" by the Indian artists such as

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer and musician. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and ...

, and

Dilip Kumar Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from lat ...

. During his last days, he extensively researched music and wrote books on the musical subject such as ''Ramooz e Moseeqi'' and ''Israr e Moseeqi'', and an autobiographical book titled ''Sarchashma e Hayat'', comprising a detailed account of his life. He is also credited for introducing the greatest Indian singer Mohammed Rafi to the

Indian film industry The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

Early life and education

He was born on 10 November 1910 in British India (in modern-day

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, Pakistan). Feroz Nizami received his education from the

Government Islamia College Government Islamia College Civil Lines ( ur, اسلامیہ کالج ), formerly called Dayanand Anglo Vedic College, is a government college in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded by Arya Samaj as the school of Dayanand Anglo Vedic on June 1, ...

, and later graduated from a government college. He also studied

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

and

Metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

. He was the brother of a Pakistani cricketer

Nazar Mohammad Nazar Mohammad (5 March 1921 – 12 July 1996) was a Pakistani cricketer who played in five Test matches in 1952. He was educated at Islamia College, Lahore. Family His brother Feroz Nizami was a famous music composer while his other brot ...

and writer Siraj Nizami. His was married to an Indian-born woman Ghulam Fatima. In 2016, his wife argued that she submitted multiple requests to the

government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...

, including provincial government of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

for financial assistance, she according to ''

The Express Tribune ''The Express Tribune'' is a daily English-language newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the flagship publication of the '' Daily Express'' media group. It is Pakistan's only internationally affiliated newspaper in a partnership with the ''Interna ...

'' is living in one rental room in Jogi Mohalla area of Bhatti Chowk, Lahore, and was not assisted by the authorities. Following the claimed difficult circumstances, she is believed to return her hometown

Bhendi Bazaar Bhendi Bazaar is a market (bazaar) in South Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Bhendi Bazaar occupies an area between Mohammed Ali Road and Khetwadi. The closest Central and Harbour lines station for the Mumbai Suburban Railway is Sandhurst Road, an ...

, India. Feroz Nizami was originally working as a singer at a state-owned

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

at Lahore and was later transferred to the

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

and eventually at

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

and later in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

until he went to Bombay (now

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

) in search of career opportunities in

. While working at the radio station, he had the opportunity to work with such people as

Saadat Hasan Manto Saadat Hasan Manto (; Punjabi, ur, , ; 11 May 1912 – 18 January 1955) was a Pakistani writer, playwright and author born in Ludhiana, who was active in British India and later, after the 1947 partition of India, in Pakistan. Writing ma ...

Krishan Chander Krishan Chander (23 November 1914 – 8 March 1977) was an Indian Urdu and Hindi writer of short stories and novels. Some of his works have also been translated in English. He was a prolific writer, penning over 20 novels, 30 collections o ...

and another music director

Khwaja Khurshid Anwar Khwaja Khurshid Anwar (21 March 1912 − 30 October 1984) was a Pakistani filmmaker, writer, director and music composer who earned recognition in both India and Pakistan. He is credited as being one of the most original and inventive music di ...

Career

Prior to his debut in Urdu and Hindi films, Feroz received his training in

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

from the classical music teacher

Abdul Wahid Khan Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan (1871–1949) was an Indian subcontinental singer from the Kirana gharana. He died in 1949 in Saharanpur, India.

of the

Kirana gharana Kirana gharana is one of the Indian classical khyal gharanas, and is concerned foremost with perfect intonation of notes (swara). Singing style The central concern of the Kirana style is swara, or individual notes, in particular precise tunin ...

. After completing his training, he left midway working for the

and went to Mumbai in bollywood film industry. He composed different types of music throughout his career, and used classical, semi-classical,

thumris Thumri () is a vocal genre or style of Indian music. The term "thumri" is derived from the Hindi verb ''thumuknaa'', which means "to walk with a dancing gait in such a way that the ankle-bells tinkle." The form is, thus, connected with dance, dra ...

and western music in India (before partition) and in Pakistan (after partition). He originally started his career in 1943 with ''Vishwas'' film, in which he worked with Chhelalal, Indian music director. He then composed music in 1946 for ''Neik Parveen'' film, a flop film of that time, but some of its compositions were good. Later in 1947,

Noor Jehan Noor Jehan ( Punjabi: ) (born () Allah Rakhi Wasai ; 23 September 1926 – 23 December 2000; sometimes spelled Noorjehan),Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen, ''Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema,'' British Film Institute, Oxford University Pres ...

and her husband

Shaukat Hussain Rizvi Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi (1914 – 1999) was a Pakistani actor, film producer and director. He is widely considered as a pioneer of the Pakistani film industry. Early life and career Shaukat Hussain Rizvi was born in the city of Azamgarh, U ...

's production company Shaukat Art Productions (SAP) in Mumbai recruited him to score the music for SAP's first film '' Jugnu'', a music blockbuster film of 1940s. After the partition, he migrated to Lahore and started working as a music director in

Pakistani film industry Cinema of Pakistan, popularly known as Lollywood ( ur, ), refers to the filmmaking industry in Pakistan. Pakistan is home to several film studios centres, primarily located in its three largest cities – Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad. ...

with his first film ''Hamri Basti (1949)'', a flopped film. However, four years later,

produced the Pakistani film, ''Chann Vey'', his compositions for the film were praised in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. In 1952, he scored music for ''Dopatta'' film, the only high-grossed Pakistani film of the 1950s.

Later work

During the late 1950s, he used to teach

at the

Alhamra Arts Council Alhamra Arts Council (also known as the Alhamra Hall, Alhamra Cultural Complex, Alhamra Art Gallery and Lahore Arts Council

Filmography

Literary work

In addition to composing music, he also wrote books on art and music, including English-language books entitled ''ABC of Music'' and ''History and Development of Music'', the only writings on the subject that were first written after the country became a

sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a polity, political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defin ...

. In the later years, he wrote more books on the subject such as ''Ramooz e Moseeqi'' and ''Israr e Moseeqi''. A book he wrote on

spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

was ''Sarchashma e Hayat'', comprising his autobiography.

Death

Feroze Nizami died on 15 November 1975 in

, Pakistan. His

death anniversary A death anniversary (or deathday) is the anniversary of the death of a person. It is the opposite of birthday. It is a custom in several Asian cultures, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Myanma ...

is observed by the

Pakistanis Pakistanis ( ur, , translit=Pākistānī Qaum, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. According to the 2017 Pakistani national census, the population of Pakistan stood at over 213 million people, making it the w ...

every year, particularly in Lahore.

Bibliography

* * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nizami, Feroz 1910 births 1975 deaths Hindi film score composers Pakistani film score composers Pakistani classical singers Musicians from Lahore