Shamshad Begum: The voice behind Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar, Saiyyan Dil Mein left Hindi film music due to rampant politics

Despite singing over 5000 songs in five languages, Shamshad retired in the late 1960s because she found the politics of the Hindi music industry quite dirty. In an interview, she confessed that there came a time when manipulation and politics started becoming more prominent than one’s work, which discouraged her. “A change came about in the industry when a person’s work became less important and manipulation became paramount. I could never indulge in it. I can work for the whole day but I can’t be manipulative. That is why I left,” she said. The singer shared with Filmfare that towards the latter half of her career “the more hits I gave, the less work I got”.

It was said that the rivalry with Lata Mangeshkar and her was one of the reasons why Shamshad Begum chose to exit the music industry but this was apparently not the case. “The Mangeshkar sisters came much later,” her daughter Usha Ratra told The Indian Express in 2009 and Shamshad added, “God has given me all. My award is today’s children singing my songs.”

Shamshad and Lata sang together for many duets. Naushad, in an interview with BBC, talked about the experience of recording with these two great singers. Unlike today, the singers had to be physically present at the same time when they were recording a duet. “When she (Shamshad Begum) would record her duets with Lata, Lata would be a few inches away from the mic but we would make her stand much further away, that was the force of her voice,” he said.

Shamshad Begum was a star in her own right but lived a simple life. In an interview with The Indian Express, composer Khayyam said, “She was an excellent singer with an extremely powerful and versatile voice. She remained the queen of playback singing for long, and did all kinds of songs for a number of music directors. As a person, she was humble and respected others. Success did not affect her.” Radio presenter Ameen Sayani, known for his show Binaca Geetmala, added, “I had once invited her for an award ceremony and she replied, ‘I don’t like any kind of pomp and show. I am comfortable with my family’.”

Shamshad Begum passed away in 2013. (Photo: Express Archives)

She clearly did not like the attention unlike many of her contemporaries. In an interview with BBC, Naushad said, “She would never get her pictures clicked, and that is why it is so difficult to find photos of her.”

Shamshad Begum passed away in 2013 with her laurels intact and her legacy still stands tall. Her name might not be familiar to later generations but her music will be there for eternity.