Naseem Begum was a well known Pakistani playback singer who was born in Amritsar, British India, in 1936. She took her musical lessons from the classical singer Mukhtar Begum – elder sister of ghazal singer Farida Khanum and wife of noted poet and playwright, Agha Hashr Kashmiri.
Naseem Begum started her career in late 50s when she sang Nainoun mein jal bar aayey for music composer Sheriyar in film Begunah (1958).
As was the case with Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar and her clone Suman Kulyanpur (who was also known as poor man’s Lata), Naseem Begum’s singing style was very similar to that of Noor Jehan. She was commonly known as Noor Jehan’s substitute. However, unlike Suman Kulyanpur who was mostly reduced to singing duets with Mohd Rafi, Naseem Begum posed serious threat to Noor Jehan. She won four Nigar Awards for Best Female Playback Singer in a short span of five years from 1960-1964! Their singing rivalry is clearly evident in film Baji (1963), where Noor Jehan sang such beautiful solos and duets Dil kai afsaney, Ab yahan koi nahin aayey ga, Sajan lagi tori agan but the playback Award was fetched by Naseem Begum for her lone solo in the film – Chanda tori chandni mein jiya jala jayey re.
Although Naseem Begum worked with most music directors of her time, her pairing with music composers Rashid Attre and A. Hameed was most fruitful and gave us some unforgettable songs.
A. Hameed probably gave her the most famous song of her career Hum Bhool gayey har baat from Saheli (1960). Other hit songs from Saheli included Humnai jo phool chuney (Naseem Begum with chorus) and the sad eternal duet of Naseem Kahin do dil jo mil jatey with Saleem Raza.
After composing the songs of Saheli, A. Hameed himself became a fan of Naseem Begum, and preferred her over any other female singer. He again gave her exemplary hits in Aulad (1962), with songs like Tum milay pyar mila (with Munir Hussain), Naam le le ke tera hum to jiyay jaeinge and that beautiful song for women, Tum quom kee maa ho socha zara/ Aurat se hamein yeh kehna hai!
Similarly her songs for Rashid Attre were in a class of their own. Who can forget superhit songs of Gulfaam, Shaheed, Shaam Dhaley, Al-Hilal, Salma and Zerqa. Doley meray paoun, chuley meray jhumke, Sanwariya man bhaiyou re and Wah ji wah from Salma (1960) remained on popularity charts for weeks. Sou baar chaman mehka, sou baar bahaar aayi and Us bewafa ka shehr hai from Shaam Dhaley (1960) and Shaheed (1962) respectively fetched her Nigar Awards for Best Playback singer.
It was not as if Naseem’s pairing with other music directors was any less fruitful. For Master Inayat Hussain, she sang the sad solo Ghanghor ghata lehrai hai and the romantic heart stopping duet with Salim Raza – Badaloun mein chhup raha hai chand kiyoun – both from Ek Tera Shara (1963). Badaloun mein chhup raha hai chand kiyoun was later copied by Indian composer Anu Malik for his 1993 Pooja Bhatt, Rahul Roy starrer Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee.
Similarly, Khurshid Anwar used her voice efficiently in Chhun Chhun chhun, meray payal ki dhun from Ghoonghat (1962). In this unusual song, Khurshid Anwar experimented with nature’s music and blended chirping of birds effectively in his tune. Mera bicchra balam ghar aa gaya (Haveli, 1964) was yet another hit song Naseem sang for Khurshid Anwar.
Naseem Begum continued playback singing throughout the 60s before she died prematurely on September 29, 1971 – Ummer Siddique