Qateel Shifaaii And Iqbal Bano -- Sad End Of A Romance

[Afzal A. Khan]

{ I feel this post is relevant to both Newsgroups, RMIM and ALUP,
hence cross-posting to both Newsgroups. }

Qateel Shifaaii : Brief Bio

Real Name : Aurangzeb Khan. Born 24th December 1919. Died 11th
July 2001. Born in Haripur (Hazara Division, some 40 miles north
of Islamabad in present-day Pakistan). Began writing poetry in
the late thirties. Published quite a few books of poetry. Wrote
lyrics for many films. Received numerous awards in Pakistan from
the Government and other organizations. A sector of Haripur has
been named after him ---> Mohalla Qateel Shifaaii. A street in
Lahore, where he used to live, has been named Qateel Shifaaii
Street.

Iqbal Bano : Brief Bio

Born in Delhi in 1935. Died in Lahore on 21st April 2009. Best
known for semi-classical ghazals and classical thumris. Sang for
several Pakistani films in the 1950's.


Qateel Shifaaii had written a rather detailed and fairly candid
account of his life. This autobiography (in Urdu) also contains
material relating to his romance with Iqbal Bano. Mind you, Qateel
was already married, an arranged marriage that continued despite
his propensity for numerous romantic liaisons.

What follows is an English rendition of this part of his autobio-
graphy. The "I" in this rendition of course refers to Qateel
himself.
------------------------------------------------------------------

In 1956, the Pakistani film-maker Anwar Kamal Pasha was at the
height of his cinematic glory. Several writers were always
associated with his films, with special emphasis on (Urdu) poetry.
All his films were studded with some super-hit songs. At that
time, there were just three writers who could be classed as genuine
poets, and not merely film lyricists. Apart from myself, the other
two who made up this trio were Tanvir Naqvi and Saifuddin Saif.
We were closely associated with Pasha Saheb and often collaborated
in many of his films. This also involved a bit of one-upmanship.
If any of my songs became s hit, Tanveer Saheb would try to go one
better. And if Saif Saheb wrote a super song, I would feel a bit
jealous.

The film "Gumnaam" had a song :

Paayal men geet haiN chham chham ke

It was written by Saif Saheb and rendered by Iqbal Bano. It turned
out to be an all-time hit. The fame and popularity of this song
used to haunt me and make me wonder as to whether I would ever be
able to write a famous song like it and be classed as an equal of
Saif Saheb.

Some time later, a film with the title "Qaatil" was being made. I
had been asked to write its songs. For a special situation in the
film, I wrote a song that was a little different from the trends of
the day :

Ulfat ki nayee manzil ko chala
Tu Daal ke baaNheN baaNhoN men
Dil toRne waale dekh ke chal
Hum bhi to paRe haiN raahoN men

When Pasha Saheb heard this song, he didn't say anything. All his
hangers-on used to pan or rave about a new song, by looking at his
facial reactions. If he remained silent, they would interpret his
silence as rejection, and they too would start criticizing the
song. When Pasha Saheb read out the song to his well-known father
(renowned Hakeem Ahmed Shuja Pasha), the latter criticized it very
vehemently; that broke my heart. I requested Pasha Saheb to
return the song to me and have a new song written by someone else.
Accordingly, he had many different lyricists try their hand at
writing a song for this situation. Ultimately, a mukhRa (opening
line) by Saifuddin Saif was chosen. But, the very next day, Saif
Saheb took back his mukhRa by saying that Qateel Saheb's lyrics
are much more suitable than his own geet. His mukhRa was :

Na ja ab chhoR ke bismil Thehar ja
MaiN zinda hooN mire qaatil Thehar ja

Saif Saheb was not only an eminent poet, but was also a very
fair-minded person. Like many other lyricists of the day, he
never thought about the remuneration that he would lose and his
attitude in such matters ought to have been an object lesson to
many film writers.

Attempts to write a song for that situation were made by some 10-12
lyricists/poets of that period, but none of these bore any fruit.
The tune for my song, that had already been composed by Master
Inaayat Husain, had made it very attractive. One day, Pasha Saheb
met me and said : "Where is that song that you wrote for my film ?"
I immediately understood why he was asking me about the song, so I
said :"I have already sold that song to some other film-maker". He
remonstrated : "How could you do that ? That song was for me." I
reminded him that he and his father had criticized and rejected that
song, so I have sold that song for Rs. 1000/=". He said, "Please do
not try to blackmail me. Here is my cheque for a thousand rupees."
In those days, good poets used to be paid Rs. 500/= for a song.
But Pasha Saheb was an admirer of my skills and paid me Rs. 600/=.
He would say : "The fee for the song is Rs. 500/=, and the addi-
tional hundred rupees are by way of my tribute to him as a poet".
After the deal was completed, Pasha Saheb asked me as to which
singer should be asked to sing this song.

The (earlier) song ("Paayal men geet haiN chham chham ke") was
still fresh in my mind. The music too had been composed by the
same Music Director. The poetry in the song too was of a high
calibre. So I replied, unhesitatingly, that Iqbal Bano alone
should lend her voice to this song. Pasha Saheb was happy to
hear her name. "OK, so it is decided. I too had been thinking
of her for singing this song. Now that you too are of this
opinion, I leave the job of contacting her and finalizing the
deal to you. She lives in Multan and, being busy, may not be
able to come over here. So you will have to contact her."

At that time, Iqbal Bano was not a regular playback singer.
In pre-partition days, she had sung just one song, which was
similar in style to Akhtari Bai Faizabadi, but her voice
quality was different and unique, giving her a distinctive
identity. She was originally from Rohtak, near Delhi and she began
her singing career from there. After Partition, when she moved to
Pakistan, she established her "aDDa" in Multan, near Haram Gate.
Her singing style was quite respectable, as she would merely sit
and sing for her audience, while other singers of the day were
wont to use their hips and indulge in "Thumkas". That was one
reason why she wasn't becoming as popular as her singing calibre
warranted. But when she recorded the above song for the film
"Qaatil", she again became the centre of attention. After the
film's release, this song became extremely popular throughout
Pakistan. Actually, when I went to India soon afterwards, I found
everybody in the Indian film industry possessing and raving over
this record. In those days, such (Pakistani origin) records had
to be smuggled into India. While a record would cost only around
Rs. 5/= to Rs. 7/= in Pakistan, it would fetch as much as Rs. 70/=
in India.

After recording this song. Iqbal Bano returned to Multan where she
had settled down. After some time, a film titled "Ishq--e-Laila"
was being made. I had written a ghazal for that film :

PareeshaaN raat saari hai, sitaaro tum to so jaao

The late Munshi Dil was the film's Director while its music was
composed by Safdar Husain. All of us used to work as a team.
I thought her voice would be ideal for this song and also undertook
to contact her for its recording. I took Shahzaad Ahmed with me to
Multan and persuaded her to sing this song. Accordingly, she came
to Lahore and recorded it. We took just 28 days to complete
the film's shooting, recording 14 songs in the process. As soon as
the film was released, this song became all the rage, thereby
enhancing her reputation as a singer.

After a few meetings, we were drawn to each other. It seemed that
she was not only interested in good poetry per se, but didn't like
her career as a professional "aDDa" singer. I guessed from our
contacts that she was looking to my assistance in adopting a new
career. Shortly, she moved to Lahore from Multan. Though she had
a large kothi in Multan, she had already rented a house on Ganpat
Road in Lahore. Whenever she visited Lahore, she used to stay in
this rented house. Now she began living in Lahore permanently,
while her mother and grandmother were left behind in Multan.

Now our contacts grew further. Every film (where I wrote the
lyrics) had a couple of songs suited to her style of singing, and
all such songs became very popular. From a merely professional
relationship, our friendship acquired a deep emotional bond. And,
from there, it was just a short step to a sexual relationship.

Although I had always been a responsible husband and father, taking
a deep interest in my household affairs, it was always difficult
to restrain my emotional link-ups. My friends used to taunt me in
this regard and my close friend, late director Sibtain Fazli felt
constrained to remonstrate with me about our live-in relationship.
I referred him to her : "You should seek an answer from her". When
he asked her, she referred him back to me : "Why don't you talk to
him about it ?". Soon a date was chosen for our marriage. On the
appointed date, she came to the house of Parwez Saheb, duly clad in
bridal attire. A Maulvi Saheb was in attendance. Fazli Saheb had
invited some close friends and had also arranged for the marriage
feast.

Both myself and Iqbal Bano were quite nervous about this formal
ceremony and wanted it to be delayed. It was she who came up with
a suitable excuse for postponing the marriage. She asked Fazli
Saheb to request me to permit her to sing for at least two more
years. This gave me my chance. I told Fazli Saheb that this
(formal marriage) would let people make acid comments : "Look,
Qateel Shifaaii's wife is singing and dancing". As it is, we were
already in a live-in relationship, so there was no need to go
through a formal ceremony. Fazli Saheb felt that she was not
sincere with me, but he commended me for my self-respect : "If
you had accepted this marriage in these circumstances, I would
have said that you had no self-respect."

Accordingly, the marriage was postponed and both of us were given
two months to think it over. But it was no use. Primarily, she
didn't want to go through with the marriage and her excuses or
manipulations made it doubly sure that it won't take place ever. The
gulf between the two of us only widened further and culminated in
total alienation.

About thirty years have since elapsed. Even the film industry has
suffered, because it has been deprived of Iqbal Bano's mellifluous
voice. Though I am still connected with the industry, I feel sorry
that it could not use her voice for any extended period.

Though unconnected with the industry, she is financially very well
off. She had been allotted vast estates in Pakistan, in recompense
for whatever she had had to leave behind in India. The sale of
these estates has made her a very rich woman.

---------------------------------------------------------------------




Afzal

[Afzal A. Khan]

Following up :

Here are the YouTube links to these three Iqbal Bano
classics :

1. Paayal men geet haiN chham chham ke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3stPaxGW9U

(Gumnaam)


2. Ulfat ki nayee manzil ko chala

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKojltdrkKY

(Qaatil)


3. PareeshaaN raat saari hai, sitaaro tum to so jaao

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj6cvOVw4cs

('Ishq-e-Laila)






Afzal

[premc...@gmail.com]

--------------------------------------------------
Afzal Bhai,

Bohut bohut shukria. Ye teeno ghazalain mujhe achchi lagtee hain
aaur aksar gaata bhee hoon. Inke peeche ek afsaana bhee hai, ye nahi
maloom tha. ab ye aur bhee khoobsurat lagtee hain.

PJ


tha.

[Naseer]

muHtaram Afzal SaaHib, aadaab.

Thank you for providing details of the romance between the poet Qateel
Shifai and the singer Iqbal Bano, through your excellent translation
from the Urdu original. Normally one would have expected Qateel to be
thinking on the same lines as this poet who said..

daavar-i-Hashr miraa naamah-i-a3maal nah dekh
is meN kuchh pardah-nashiinoN ke bhii naam aate haiN

..but, as he himself has lifted the veil, so to speak, what can anyone
else say?

Naseer

[Afzal A. Khan]

Naseer Saheb,

Thank you for your kind words. You are generous to a fault.

There are certain people who are adept at the "art" of
"Kiss & Tell". Qateel was obviously one of them. What
I had quoted (through a translation) was merely an excerpt
from a long autobiographical article. It had numerous
other instances of his romances and link-ups, told with a
certain amount of relish. All these liaisons had been
carried on while being married. Also, he had tried to
offer justifications for indulging in these activities.
It takes all kinds of people to make up this world.

Afzal

[barr...@gmail.com]

behtreen afsana

[Naseer]

On Saturday, 28 December 2019 12:11:28 UTC, barr...@gmail.com wrote:
> behtreen afsana

kyaa jo kuchh Qateel Shifai ne apnii savaaniH-i-3umrii meN likhaa hai, aap ke nazdiik ek afsaanah hai?

Naseer