Bollywood Retrospect: The unforgettable voice of Suraiya in 5 songs

Although playback singing was introduced in 1936 by director Nitin Bose and composer RC Boral in “Dhoop Chhaon”, it had still not caught on in the 1940s. Separate recordings continued to be made live, when the film was being shot, and in the studio for the audio release. This practice spawned a generation of actor-singers, including greats like KL Saigal and Noor Jehan. As playback singing caught on, actor-singers were replaced by specialists. Suraiya Jamal Sheikh was among the last of the actor-singers who transitioned gracefully from the live singing to playback singing era.

Sharda (1942)

As was common in those days, Suraiya started acting at a very young age. She was first noticed for her singing under the baton of the music director who would go on to become her mentor – Naushad. Suraiya was only thirteen at the time and had to stand on a stool to reach the microphone. It’s another matter that her voice in ‘Panchhi Ja Peechhe Raha Hai Mera Bachpan Mera” belies her age.

Anomol Ghadi (1946)

The actor Suraiya had arrived in 1945 with films like Tadbir and Phool. Her screen presence helped her bag roles alongside the biggest names in the industry at the times. In Tadbir she was paired with KL Saigal and in Phool she worked with Sitara Devi and Prithviraj Kapoor. However, it was in 1946 that she furthered her career as a singer. In Anmol Ghadi, a film that featured several hits by the legendary Noor Jehan, Suraiya managed to hold her own and floored everyone with her rendition of ‘Socha Tha Kya Kya Ho Gaya’. Here collaboration with Naushad had struck gold again.

Dillagi (1949)

1949 probably represented the peak in Suraiya’s career with hits like Bari Behen and Dillagi. Considering that she was just twenty at the time, this was as sad as it was credit-worthy. It is noteworthy that while Suraiya continues to be remembered despite her short-lived career, her co-star in Dillagi, Shyam, remained a footnote in the history of Hindi films. My pick from the film is her extremely popular duet with Shyam, ‘Tu Mera Chand Main Teri Chandni’.

Sanam (1951)

Between 1948 and 1951, Suraiya featured in as many as seven films with Dev Anand. The period saw the young Dev’s crush for the successful Suraiya turn into a roaring love affair. While Dev Anand’s career trajectory rose in this period, Suraiya’s career began to falter. When they decided to go their separate ways in 1951, Dev Anand moved on but Suraiya remained alone for the rest of her life. A combination of her breakup with Dev Anand, a string of failed films and the rise of Lata Mangeshkar prematurely ended a promising career. Most of Suraiya’s songs from her films with Dev Anand are rather unremarkable but giving the significance of their relationship, I thought it was worthwhile including the title song of Sanam (1951) in this list.

Mirza Ghalib (1954)

After 1951, Suraiya’s output became patchy. Films were fewer and far between and film audiences moved on to a new crop of actors and singers. She gave her fans something to remember her by with Sohrab Modi’s Mirza Ghalib before taking a long break from work. Her songs for the film, composed by Ghulam Mohammed, were a triumph and revealed a singer who had matured. Experience and, perhaps a broken heart, gave her voice a depth and pathos that were missing earlier. Her songs for the film even earned her a compliment from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who told her “Tumne Ghalib ki rooh ko zinda kar diya.” (You have brought alive Ghalib’s soul.) My pick from the film is ‘Nuktacheen Hai Gham-E-Dil’.

Suraiya acted in a couple more films after Mirza Ghalib—Shama (1961) and Rustom Sohrab (1964)—before retiring from films. I had listed her only song in Rustom Sohrab in my post on Sajjad Hussain but I am listing it here again because it would be a travesty to not include a song as stunning as ‘Yeh Kaisi Ajab Daastan Ho Gayi Hai’ in a post on Suraiya.