Shamshad Begum
Indian singer (1919-2013)
Four recordings here, and they are the oldest singing credits on the site: Deedar in 1951 and Aan in 1952.
That is the right place to find her. She was recording from the mid-1930s and was the dominant female voice of the forties - the decade before the one everybody means when they talk about Hindi film playback. Naushad used her constantly, and both of these films are his.
The voice is the thing. It is loud, nasal, metallic and absolutely unmistakable, and it is the opposite of what became the standard afterwards. When Lata Mangeshkar's lighter, higher sound took over in the fifties, Shamshad Begum's did not adapt and did not need to; she simply sang less, and then stopped, and lived another forty years in Mumbai largely unbothered.
She is on Gao Tarane Man Ke in Aan, with Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar, which is the two eras in one recording.
Dates and credits from Wikidata.
Songs
7 recordings in this catalogue.
- Gao Tarane Man Ke — sang · Aan (1952)
- Khelo Raang Hamare Sang (Lata Mangeshkar & Shamshad Begum) — sang · Aan (1952)
- Aag Lagi Tan Man Mein ( Shamshad Begum) — sang · Aan (1952)
- 10 Bachpan Ke Din Bhoolana Dena — Female — sang · Deedar (1951)
- 11 Chaman Mein Rakhe Verana — sang · Deedar (1951)
- 12 Nazar Phero Na Humse — sang · Deedar (1951)
- Mai Jaan Gayi Tujhe Saiya — sang · Howrah Bridge (1958)
Related films
Worked with
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Aan (1952)
She sings Gao Tarane Man Ke with Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar - the voice of the forties and the voice that replaced it, on the same recording.
