Mehnaz Begum (1958 – 19 January 2013) was a Pakistani TV, radio, and film singer. She was well known as a
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 ...
playback singer
A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...
in the 1970s and 1980s. She was the recipient of
Nigar Awards
The Nigar Awards ( ur, , translit=Inʿām Negār, lit=Picture Awards) were presented in an annual award show to recognize outstanding achievement in Pakistani cinema. The honors are awarded by Nigar Magazine founded in 1948. The Nigar Awards a ...
Mehnaz Begum was born at Mahmudabad, Uttar Pradesh, India in 1958. Her family migrated to Pakistan in the late 1950s. She received her initial training in music from her mother Kajjan Begum who was also a singer.
She started her career as a playback singer in the early 1970s. Saleem Gilani, the director general of
Radio Pakistan
Radio Pakistan serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate Radio Pakistan's founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in Pakistan. The network was established on 14 August ...
, Karachi first spotted her doing a concert at her college and helped her.
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 ...
and his elder brother Pandit Ghulam Qadir trained her at this radio station for about a month. Her melodious voice, musical training and control over her voice made her popular among the Pakistani film music directors.
She sang a variety of genres but specialized in
ghazal
The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...
,
thumri
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 ...
,
dadra
Dadra is associated with the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent.
Dadra tala
This is a Hindustani classical '' tala'' (rhythmic cycle), consisting of six beats in two equal divisions of three. The most commonly accepted theka ...
drupad
Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music, Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampraday and also related to the South Ind ...
and reciting salam,
noha
A noha ( fa, نوحه, ur, نوحہ; translit. ''nūḥa/nawḥa''; az, Növhə/Нөвһә/نؤوحه), when interpreted in light of Shia views, is an elegy about the tragedy of Husayn ibn Ali in the Battle of Karbala.
Marsiya and Noha have ...
and
marsiya
A marsiya ( fa, مرثیه) is an elegiac poem written to commemorate the martyrdom and valour of Hussain ibn Ali and his comrades of the Karbala. Marsiyas are essentially religious.
Background
The word ''Marsiya'' is derived from the Arabic word ...
. She was the daughter of celebrated sub-continental singer Kajjan Begum. and the famous government officer Abdullah Abdullah Tasnim, but when she realized fame, she changed her name to simply Mehnaz or Mehnaz Begum. She also sang ghazals and light classical music for
Pakistani television
Television in Pakistan started in 1964 and the first live transmission of Pakistan Television began on 26 November 1964, in Lahore.Profile: The songbird (Mehnaz Begum) Dawn (newspaper), Published 11 March 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2020
Mehnaz Begum never married but some of her favorite hobbies included bird-watching and admiring nature. Her favorite television show and movie was
Franklin (TV series)
''Franklin'' is an animated preschool educational children's television series, based on the Franklin the Turtle books by Brenda Clark and Paulette Bourgeois, and produced by Nelvana. It was followed up by a CGI adaptation, '' Franklin and Fr ...
(life of a turtle by the name Franklin) and
Bambi
''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten. ...
(1942 animated movie by Disney Studios). Mehnaz Begum loved to paint in her college days and wanted to choose painting as her career. She also delighted in drawing various flowers and birds.
Popular songs
Death
She died on 19 January 2013 at a
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
hospital while transiting from
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
to Miami, Florida for medical treatment of a respiratory ailment. Her condition worsened during the flight and during a stopover at the Bahrain airport, she was taken to a hospital where she died. Mehnaz was laid to rest at ''Wadi-e-Hussain'' graveyard in Sohrab Goth Karachi.
Awards and recognition
* She had won the
Nigar Award
The Nigar Awards ( ur, , translit=Inʿām Negār, lit=Picture Awards) were presented in an annual award show to recognize outstanding achievement in Pakistani cinema. The honors are awarded by Nigar Magazine founded in 1948. The Nigar Awards a ...
for Best Female Playback Singer 13 times
* ''Lifetime Achievement Award'' by
Lux Style Awards
The Lux Style Awards is an award ceremony held annually in Pakistan since 2002. The awards celebrate "style" in the Pakistani entertainment industry, and it is the oldest event dedicated to cinema, television, fashion, music and film industry ...
(2011)
Television
* Wafa (Serial) 1999
*
Mahnoor
''Mahnoor'' ( ur, ) is a Pakistani musical film directed by Adnan Wai Qureshi, written by Zafar Mairaj and produced by Kamran Qureshi and Nadeem J.
It's a story of a young girl, who was brought up in prostitution business area of town and ...