The singer of the iconic film song Kokokorina, Ahmed Rushdi, was a great playback artist of the Pakistan film industry. His was the most sought-after voice from 1961 to 1976. His arrival on the film scene replaced the then established singers Saleem Raza and Munir Hussain. He could make you dance to Ek Urran Khatola Aayega or make you feel sad with the melancholic Jab Raat Dhali. He lent his voice to many actors, such as Santosh Kumar, Sudhir and Alauddin, while also singing for very young entrants to the industry at the time such as Ghulam Mohiuddin, Rahat Kazmi and Usman Peerzada. He also had the unique honour of singing for all brothers of the ‘first family’ of Lollywood who acted in films: Santosh, Darpan and Mansoor.

Rushdi was born on April 24, 1934 and, while still in his teens, migrated to Karachi with his family from Hyderabad Deccan, India. He was part of the first recording of Pakistan’s National Anthem, but rose to fame after his rendering of the hugely popular and evergreen song Bandar Road Se Kemari. This was recorded for a children’s programme on Radio Pakistan in 1954. The Mehdi Zaheer written and composed song soon became Rushdi’s ticket to fame and films.

Rushdi had the gift to alter his voice according to the requirement of the song. While singing for Waheed Murad, one could feel Veedu (as Waheed Murad was affectionately known) in it. Legendary film producer/director Pervez Malik heaped praises on Rushdi thus: “Ahmed Rushdi was the king of expressions. I won’t say he was fond of acting, but he had this natural talent of expressing himself in voice as well as expression — as you could see from his later appearances on TV.” Malik’s collaboration with Rushdi began with Heera Aur Pathar (1964) and lasted till Mehman (1978).

Icon remembers Ahmed Rushdi, the renowned playback singer of Pakistan, on his 35th death anniversary

In a career spanning just two short decades, Rushdi sang nearly 1,000 songs, a bulk of them for Waheed Murad (140). From Heera Aur Pathar to his last production Hero in 1985, they were inseparable. A few of Rushdi’s unforgettable ditties include Dil tumko de diya hai, Aisay bhi hain meherbaan, Kabhi tau tumko, Akele na jaana, Kuch loag rooth kar bhi, Chehray pe banawat ka ghussa, Dil ko jalana and Barray sangdil ho.

Nadeem, the evergreen hero, has over 80 songs of Rushdi filmed on him. As a singer, Nadeem even joined the maestro for a couple of duets in Do Badan and Mr Bhuddoo. “His voice quality was excellent for the screen,” recalls Nadeem. “For an actor, Rushdi’s voice was an added advantage whenever a song was being picturised.”

The song Burrhaape me dil na lagana from Jub Jub Phool Khile (1975) is a perfect example of what the talent that was solely Rushdi’s. There was a situation in a song in which both Waheed Murad and Nadeem were involved. Nadeem was in costume as an old man while Waheed, a brat, was pulling at his leg. Rushdi did complete justice to both.

Shahid, the leading man of the ’70s, credited Rushdi for his successes as a hero. Talking to Icon from Lahore, Shahid said, “He was an excellent singer, they don’t make people like him anymore. His voice had the perfect expressions required for films.” The English version of Damadam Mast Qalandar, This is the song of Wonder was picturised on him for Dekha Jayega in 1976, and Rushdi’s pronunciation was as flawless as his singing.

Rushdi sang duets with Madam Noor Jehan, Mehnaz, Naheed Akhtar, Naheed Niazi and Nayyara Noor, but he recorded the largest number of songs with Mala. Rushdi’s second-most prolific collaborator was Runa Laila, who complemented his style really well. With the rise of PTV in the ’70s, Rushdi switched to the mini-screen, becoming an instant hit with the youth.

Rushdi sang duets with Madam Noor Jehan, Mehnaz, Naheed Akhtar, Naheed Niazi and Nayyara Noor, but he recorded the largest number of songs with Mala. Rushdi’s second-most prolific collaborator was Runa Laila, who complemented his style really well. With the rise of PTV in the ’70s, Rushdi switched to the mini-screen, becoming an instant hit with the youth. He had a TV show Bazm-i-Rushdi where he performed to his songs, dancing in a manner which later became associated with Alamgir and others.

Rushdi shifted to Karachi in the late ’70s when the music in films changed direction. With the death of musicians of the ’50s and those who made the ’60s memorable migrating from Lahore (Nisar Bazmi shifted to Karachi, Sohail Rana ceased composing film music and Robin Ghosh became very selective), film music was not what it used to be. The production of Urdu films had been reduced to a trickle and whatever was coming out, he felt, had no quality.

Published in Dawn, ICON, April 15th, 2018