Khalil Ahmed (3 March 1936 – 22 July 1997) was a Pakistani

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

for radio, television, and

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

s. He started his career with film ''Aanchal (1962)'' and remained one of the leading music directors in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in the 1960s. He composed several memorable songs for

Pakistan Television Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore. Background Historical co ...

in the late-1970s and 1980s.

Early life

Khalil Ahmed was born on 3 March 1936, in

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

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 ...

. He migrated to Pakistan in 1952.

Career

Film

Khalil Ahmed made his music debut with director ''Al-Hamid's'' film ''Aanchal (1962)'', which was released on 7 December 1962. Starring:

Shamim Ara Shamim Ara (22 March 1938 – 5 August 2016) was a Pakistani film actress, director and producer. She was known as ''The Tragic Beauty'' because of the tragic heroine roles she often portrayed in films. She was one of the most popular actresse ...

, Darpan, Saba and Talish. The song "kisi chaman mein raho, bahar ban ke raho" (singer

Ahmed Rushdi ), Rushdi Sahab ( ur, ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Hyderabad Deccan, British India , death_date = , death_place = Karachi, Pakistan , origin = Pakistani , instrument = Vocalist , genre = ...

) became a smash hit in Pakistan and established Khalil's name as a film composer. He quickly became one of the stalwarts of

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. ...

. Khalil Ahmed always had his finger on the pulse of what the listeners wanted to hear on

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and in his

films A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

. He composed music for film ''Khamosh Raho (1964)'' and recorded a

Nazm ''Nazm'' () is a major part of Urdu and Sindhi poetry that is normally written in rhymed verse and also in modern prose-style poems. is a significant genre of Urdu and Sindhi poetry; the other one is known as ''ghazal'' (). is significantly ...

's voice ''Mein nahi manta'' (lyrics

Habib Jalib Habib Jalib (24 March 1928 - 12 March 1993; Urdu, Punjabi: ) was a Pakistani revolutionary poet, left-wing activist who opposed martial law, authoritarianism and state oppression. Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz said that he was the poet of ...

) which became famous all over Pakistan. He also gave hit music of film ''Khilona'' (1967). The songs "Chand se chandni" and "Gul kahoon khushboo kahoon" both recorded in Ahmed Rushdi's voice were very popular. An accomplished composer for television and films, Khalil's many contributions to music had made him a popular Pakistani film music composer. For example:"Uss kay gham ko kya kahayye" (singer:

Mehdi Hassan Mehdi Hassan Khan ( ur, مہدی حسن خاں , translit=) 18 July 1927 – 13 June 2012) was a Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer for Lollywood. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential figures in the history of gh ...

, film ''Guriya'', producer-director: ''

Himayat Ali Shair Himayat Ali Shair ( ur, ; July 14, 1926 – July 15, 2019) was an Urdu poet, writer, film songwriter, actor and radio drama artist from Pakistan. He received the 2002 Pride of Performance Award for his literary services in Urdu literature from ...

''. This film could not be released. Khalil Ahmed was a specialist in sad compositions and he became one of the top composers of the 1960s after composing the songs of film

Kaneez (1965 film) ''Kaneez'' is a 1965 Pakistani Urdu black-and-white film directed by Hassan Tariq and produced by Hassan Tariq and Ali Sufiyan Afaqi. Its cast had Waheed Murad, Zeba, Mohammad Ali, Sabiha Khanum, Lehri, Saqi, Adeeb and Talish. The film revo ...

. Song "Jab rat dhali tum yaad aye" (singer Mala and

) became a popular song. His last movie, "''Anokha Piyar''", was released in 1994. Khalil Ahmed was one of Pakistan film industry's prominent musicians in the 1960s and 1970s, composing film music in over 40 films.19th death anniversary of famed musician Khalil Ahmed observed
The Free Library website, Published 22 July 2016, Retrieved 13 January 2022

Television

In 1978, Khalil began hosting a music program for children, which was telecast from the

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. ...

station. It was called "''Hum Kaliyan Hum Taare''" with co- host

Nayyara Noor Nayyara Noor (; 3 November 1950 – 20 August 2022) was a Pakistani playback singer, considered one of Pakistan's most popular singers. She was known for performing in live ghazal singing concerts in Pakistani TV shows and in concert halls arou ...

Tahira Syed Tahira ( ar, طاهرة) is an Arabic name for females. There are several Semitic variations that include connotations given in Africa, Asia, and Europe. It is traditionally a given name in Muslim. It is the female variant of male name Tahir. Tahi ...

and the young Niazi Brothers (known as folk singers Babar and Javed Niazi in 2018). After joining PTV, he composed some memorable songs using voices of most prominent singers of the time;

Nahid Akhtar Naheed Akhtar (also spelled Nahid Akhtar) is a Pakistani playback singer. She is tagged as the "''Nightingale of Pakistan''". She was the top Lollywood playback singer during the second half of 70s and 80s. She won 3 Nigar Awards and a Pride ...

Farida Khanum Farida Khanum (Urdu: ) is a Pakistani classical singer from the city of Kolkata West Bengal. She is also known by her honorific title ''Malika-e-Ghazal'' (The Queen of Ghazal) in both Pakistan and India. Early life She was born in the fall of ...

Amanat Ali Khan Ustad Amanat Ali Khan ( ur, ; ; 1922 – 18 September 1974) was a Pakistani classical vocalist from the Patiala gharana tradition of music and is widely regarded as one of the finest classical and ''ghazal'' singers of all time. Together ...

Masood Rana Masood Rana ( ur, , 6 August 1941 – 4 October 1995) was a Pakistani film playback singer. He began his singing career in 1962 with the film ''Inqalab'', became one of the top male singers in both Urdu and Punjabi films for more than thr ...

Musarrat Nazir Musarrat Nazir Khawaja ( ur, ; born 13 October 1937) is a Pakistani singer and film actress, who acted in many Urdu and Punjabi films. She, many years later, also sang solo, mostly wedding and folk songs. Early life Her parents were a Punjab ...

, to name a few. His melody, "''Insha Jee Uthho Ab Kooch Karo''", penned by

Ibn-e-Insha Sher Muhammad Khan ( ur, ), ( Punjabi, ), better known by his pen name Ibn-e-Insha, ( ur, ), ( Punjabi, ) (15 June 1927 – 11 January 1978)Amanat Ali Khan Ustad Amanat Ali Khan ( ur, ; ; 1922 – 18 September 1974) was a Pakistani classical vocalist from the Patiala gharana tradition of music and is widely regarded as one of the finest classical and ''ghazal'' singers of all time. Together ...

, became an all-time-classic.Niazi brothers keeping folk music alive
Dawn (newspaper), Published 12 December 2010, Retrieved 13 January 2022

Popular television songs

Super-hit film songs

Death

Khalil Ahmed died on 22 July 1997, in

at age 61.

References

External links

Filmography of music director Khalil Ahmed on IMDb website
1936 births 1997 deaths Muhajir people Pakistani film score composers People from Agra Musicians from Lahore 20th-century composers Pakistani musicians Pakistani composers {{Pakistan-film-bio-stub