23 years since 'Melody Queen' Noor Jahan leaves world

Lahore: Acclaimed Pakistani playback singer and actress Noor Jehan is being remembered on her 23rd death anniversary across the country on Saturday.

It's been 23 years since ‘Malika-e-Tarannum’ Noor Jehan passed away but her legacy is proof that she may be gone but never forgotten.

Born as Allah Rakhi Wasai in 1926, Noor Jehan started her musical career at the age of nine as a child singer and moved from Bombay after the partition, starting her film career in Pakistan.  

She had the honor of becoming the first female film director with the release of her movie “Chann Wey” in 1951.

Due to her melodious voice and command on music, she was given the honorific title of “Malika-e-Tarannum”.  

Her last film as an actress was “Ghalib” which was released in 1961. She earned immense fame by singing patriotic songs like “Ay Putar Hatan Tay Nae Wikday” during the Indo-Pak war of 1965.

With a career spanning over 35 years, Noor Jehan is estimated to have made more than 40 films and sung around 20,000 hit songs in various languages, including Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and Sindhi.

Noor Jehan has been ranked in the list of Most Influential Pakistanis after Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Also, the senior musician was the first Asian woman to sing Qawali.

On December 23, 2000, Noor Jehan passed away due to heart failure and was buried in Karachi.

She is the recipient of President’s Award, Special Nigar Award, Pride of Performance, NTM Life Time Achievement Award, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, PTV Life Time Achievement Award, and Millennium Award was also designated as Cultural Ambassador of Pakistan.