Masood Rana (), (6 August 1941 – 4 October 1995) was a Pakistani

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

playback singer A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync the ...

. He began his singing career in 1962 with the film ''Inqalab'', became one of the top male singers in

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and Punjabi films for more than three decades and remained a busy singer until his death in 1995. Rana still holds the record for singing over 300 film songs each in Urdu and Punjabi, a record he shared with

Ahmed Rushdi Ahmed Rushdi (; 24 April 1934 – 11 April 1983) was a versatile Pakistani playback singer and was "an important contributor to the Cinema of Pakistan#The Golden Era (1959–1977), golden age of Pakistani film music". Regarded as one of the gr ...

and

Noor Jehan Noor Jehan (21 September 192623 December 2000) was a Pakistani playback singer and actress who worked in both British India and later in Pakistan's cinema of Pakistan, cinema. Her career lasted over six decades, during which she recorded 10,00 ...

Early life

Masood Rana was born in Mirpur Khas, Sindh, then

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 ...

, on 6 August 1941. He was born in a

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

land-owning family which had migrated from the East Punjab city of

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

. He started his singing career on

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 ...

Hyderabad, Sindh Hyderabad, also known as Neroonkot, is the capital and largest city of the Hyderabad Division in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Sindh by population, second-largest city in Sindh, after Karachi, and the List of citie ...

in 1955 and later helped establish a singing group in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

in the early 1960s with the Pakistani film actor Nadeem Baig and a fellow singer

Akhlaq Ahmed Akhlaq Ahmed (; 10 January 1946 – 4 August 1999) was a Pakistani film playback singer and still considered one of the leading voices of the film industry. Early life and career He was born in Delhi in 1946 and started as a stage singer ...

Film career

Masood Rana got his first breakthrough when the noted Pakistani film actor ''Saqi'' introduced him to producer and director ''Iqbal Shehzad'' and the film composer Deebo Bhattacharya. His first film song was in the film ''Inqalab'' (1962) and the song was ''Mashriq ki tareek faza mein naya savera phoota hay'' composed by music director ''N. K. Rathore''. But he gained more popularity from his second film ''Banjaran'' (1962) which was composed by music director ''Deebo Bhattacharya''. He was initially introduced as "Pakistani Rafi" in the Pakistani film circles due to his vocal singing being similar to that of famous Indian singer Mohammed Rafi. Masood Rana initially tried to live up to this reputation and used to copy the famous Indian singer. Later he changed his mind and developed his own style of singing. He specialized in singing difficult songs in very high-pitched voice and was the first choice for music directors for film title and theme songs. In 1964, the Punjabi song ''Tange Wala Khair Mangda'' in the film ''Daachi'' (1964) was a popular street song composed by veteran music director Ghulam Ahmed Chishti. He then became the most dominating male singer in both Urdu and Punjabi films when his six songs in film ''Hamarahi'' (1966) became mega- hits. Along with

, Masood Rana is still one of the two male singers in Pakistani films who sang more than 300 songs in each of the two languages - Urdu and Punjabi. He sang in more than 550 films and he worked continuously from his first film in 1962 until his death in 1995. Rana was considered to be the most successful singer after Ahmed Rushdi. Masood Rana also appeared as an actor in a few films but he was not successful in this field. He was a lead actor in film ''Shahi Faqeer'' (1970) and a side-hero in films ''Do Mutiaran'' (1968) and ''Yaar Badshah'' (1971). As a guest actor he was seen in films ''Sangdil (1968)'', ''Do Rangeeley (1972)'', ''Noukar Wohti Da (1974)'', ''Ajj Di Gall (1975)'', ''Khushia (1973)'' and ''Dostana (1982)''.

Awards and recognition

* Nigar Award for Best Singer in 1965 * Nigar Award for Best Singer in 1971

Death

Masood Rana died on 4 October 1995 due to a heart attack during his journey on a train. He was laid to rest at Karim Block graveyard, Iqbal town,

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 ...

.Playback singer Masood Rana remembered
Associated Press Of Pakistan website, Published 9 June 2016, Retrieved 3 July 2020Legendary playback singer Masood Rana remembered
The News International (newspaper), Published 4 October 2018, Retrieved 4 July 2020

Works

Patriotic songs

In addition to the film assignments, he also sang patriotic songs which became popular and are still played on the national days of Pakistan such as

Pakistan Day Pakistan Day (, lit. ''Yaum-e-Pakistan'') is a national holiday in Pakistan primarily commemorating the adoption of the first Constitution of Pakistan during the transition of the Dominion of Pakistan to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on 23 ...

. For film ''Aag Ka Darya (1966)'', he sang ''Ae watan hum hain teri shama kay parwanon main, Zindgi hosh main hay josh hay eemanon main'', song lyrics written by the noted poet

Josh Malihabadi Josh Malihabadi (born Shabbir Hasan Khan; 5 December 1898 – 22 February 1982) popularly known as Shayar-e-Inqalab (poet of revolution) was Indian born Pakistani Urdu poet. Known for his liberal values and challenging the established o ...

. The other song is ''Sathio, mujahido, jaag utha hay sara watan, sathio, mujahido'' Masood Rana with Shaukat Ali for film ''Mujahid'' (1965). To pay tribute to the courage and sacrifice of Pakistani soldiers in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965, he sang "Yaad Karta Hai Zamana Unhi Insaano Ko" in film Hamrahi (1966) composed by music director '' Tassaduq Hussain'', film song lyrics by Muzaffar Warsi.

Top Urdu film songs

# ''Tum he ho mehboob meray, main kyun nah tumhen pyar karun'' - film ''Aina'' Lyricist Khwaja Pervez (1966) # ''Karam ki ik nazar hum par Khuda ra, Ya Rasoo Lallah'' (saw) - film ''Hamrahi'' Lyricist Muzaffar Warsi (1966) # ''Koi saath day keh nah saath de, yeh safar akailay hi kaat lay'' - film ''Badnaam'' (1966) # ''Teri yaad aa gaee, gham khushi mein dhal gaey'' - film ''Chand aur Chandni'' Lyricist Saroor Barabankwi (1968) # ''Jhoom ae dil woh mera jan-e-bahar aaey ga'' - film '' Dil Mera Dharkan Teri'' (1968) # ''Mera khyayal ho tum meri aarzoo tum ho'' - film ''Nazneen'' Lyricist Kaleem Usmani (1969) # ''Mera mehboob aa gaya, mann mera lehra gaya'' - film '' Neend Hamari Khawab Tumharay'' Lyricist Kaleem Usmani(1971) # ''Tere bina yun gharian beetin, jaisay sadian beet gaeyin'' - film ''Aansoo'' Lyricist Khwaja Pervez 1971), Music: Nazir Ali # ''Mere dil ke hay awaz keh bichra yaar mile ga'' - film '' Baharo Phool Barsao'' Lyricist Shewan Rizvi 1972) # ''Aag laga kar chhupney walay sun mera afsanah'' - film ''Dillagi'' Lyricist Mushir Kazmi 1974) # ''Ae dil tujhay ab unsay kaisi yeh shikayat hai, woh samnay baithay hain kaafi yeh inayat hai'' (''Shararat Lyricist Masroor Anwar (1963)'')

Top Punjabi film songs

# ''Tange wala khair mangda, tanga Lahore da howe tay phanwen Jhangh da'' - film ''Daachi'' (1964), music by Baba G.A. Chishti # ''Sajna ne buhey aggay chik tann layi'' - film ''Bharia Mela'' (1966) # ''Yaaran naal baharan sajna'' - film ''Yaaran Naal Baharan'' (1967) # ''Soch ke yaar banawin bandia'' - film ''Jigri Yaar'' (1967) # ''Dil dian lagian janay na, mera pyar pachanay na'' - film ''Baooji'' (1968) # ''Tere hath ki bedardey aaya phullan jeya dil tor ke'' - film ''Sheran Di Jori'' (1969) # ''Ya apna kise nu kar lay, ya aap kise da ho belia'' - film ''Dil Dian Laggian'' (1970) # ''Tere madh bharey nain mil pain, te chandra sharab chhad de'' - film ''Jeera Blade'' (1973) # ''Sajno ae nagri daata di aithey aanda kul zamana'' - film ''Nagri Daata Di'' (1974) # ''Yaar mangia si Rabba teithun ro ke, kehri main khudai mang leyi'' - film ''Ishq Nachawy Gali Gali'' (1984)

Top Urdu duets

# ''Sathio, mujahido, jaag utha hay sara watan'' (with Shaukat Ali) - film ''Mujahid'' (1965) # ''Door veeraney mein ik shama hay roshan kab se'' (with Mala) - film (''Naila'' 1965) # ''De ga na koi sahara, in bedard fazaon mein'' (with Naseem Begum) - film (''Kon Kisi Ka'' (1966) # ''Madeenay waley sey mera salaam keh dena'' (with

) - film ''Bhayya'' (1966) # ''Ik aur baat mani, ik aur zakham khaya'' (with Irene Parveen) - film ''Badnaam'' (1966) # ''Tujhe pyar ki qasm hay, mera pyar ban ke aaja'' (with Mala) - film ''Chand aur Chandni'' (1968) # ''O mere shoukh sanam, hua deevana tera jab se tumhe'' (with Mala) (''Sangdil'' 1968) # ''Haar dena na himmat kahin, ek sa waqt rehta nahin'' (with Mala) - film ''Pak Daman'' (1969) # ''Bheegi bheegi thandi hawa'' (with

Runa Laila Runa Laila (born 17 November 1952) is a Bangladeshi playback singer and composer. She started her career in the Pakistani film industry in the late 1960s. Her style of singing is inspired by Pakistani playback singer Ahmed Rushdi and also f ...

) _ film '' Ehsaas'' (1972) # ''Yeh waada karo ke mohabbat karen ge'' (with

) - film '' Daman Aur Chingari'' (1973)

Top Punjabi duets

# ''Sadi ajab kahani ae, bhul ke puraney dukhray'' (with Mala) - film ''Mera Mahi'' (1964) # ''Nikke hundian da pyar, wekhin devin na wisar'' (with Irene Parveen) - film ''Mirza Jatt'' (1967) # ''We lakh tarley pawen mundia, teinu pyar nein karna'' (with

) - film ''Dhee Rani'' (1969) # ''Teri akh da nein jawab, tey bhulian khiria surkh gulab'' (with Naseem Begum) -''Mukhra Chann Warga'' (1969) # ''Dil de ke te nasiye na, je ro ke wikha dena'' (with

) - film ''Nikkay Hundian Da Pyar'' (1969) # ''Lal meri patt rakhio bala Jhooley Lalan Dey'' (with Sain Akhtar and Munir Hussain) - film ''Varyam'' (1969) # ''Lang aa ja pattan Chanaan da yaar'' (with Tasawur Khanum) - film ''Ajj da Mehinwal'' (1973) # ''Chup ker ke gaddi day wich beh ja, jai bolain gee chapair khaain gee'' (with

Mehnaz Mehnaz Begum (, 1958 – 19 January 2013) was a Pakistani TV, radio, and film singer. She was well known as a film playback singer in the 1970s and 1980s. She was the recipient of several Nigar Awards.Naheed Akhtar Naheed Akhtar (also spelled Nahid Akhtar; born 26 September 1956) 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 the 1970s and 80s. She i ...

) - film ''Baadal'' (1987) # ''Yaad sataey, chain na aay, kalian nein jee sakna'' (with

) - film ''Aan Milo Sajna'' (1994)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rana, Masood 1938 births 1995 deaths Nigar Award winners Pakistani playback singers People from Mirpur Khas District People of Punjabi descent 20th-century Pakistani male singers 20th-century Pakistani singers Punjabi-language singers