JOIN USAn unsung journey
The first of these meetings was at a Filmfare function in 1977 where I had tagged along Dev Anand. I followed Dev as he customarily swam through the glitterati. A hush suddenly overpowered the already charged atmosphere as B K Karanjia waded his way towards Dev, escorting what I first thought was a walking jewellery store. No, it was a blushing plump Suraiya in, if one remembers correctly, a green brocade saree.
A big bindi adorned her rather small round forehead. This memory has refused to fade away.
Born Suraiya Jamal Sheikh in Lahore in 1929, at the age of four, she moved into the ground floor apartment of Krishna Mahal on Mumbai’s famous sea face, Marine Drive, and continued to live there until a fortnight before her death on January 31, 2004 after a brief illness. And buried unsung the same evening.
Turned into a recluse
She was often found staring at her own and framed family pictures, undusted with bookshelves, chest of drawers, a huge chandelier, out of fashion discoloured pieces of furniture, and much else. None from the industry had really stepped into that apartment for decades. Only Dharmendra, of all the important film folk, attended her burial.
She was spotted by Nanubhai Vakil and cast as young Mumtaz Mahal in his under production Taj Mahal. The skinny girl was barely 10. Things hadn’t altered much two years later. She was then cast as a heroine opposite the imposing and aging Prithviraj Kapoor in Ishara. It is said that she had to stand on a stool to reach the microphone when Naushad got her to sing for Mehtab in A R Kardar’s Sharda.
And although the mentor advised the untrained prodigy to forget acting and concentrate on her singing alone because she had a “mellifluous voice,” she did exactly the opposite in an era of singing stars. Sureeli, as Naushad always fondly called her, almost immediately carved a niche for herself and never sang for any other heroine.
Her ride to unprecedented success that began with the role of a supporting actress to Noorjehan in Anmol Ghadi, soon made her the highest paid actress of her times.
She reached the pinnacle of her acting career with films like Pyaar Ki Jeet and Badi Bahen. There was no looking back till the age of 29, when she chose to retire before fading away in the wake of successive flops in the late 50s.
And even though she briefly returned to sing and dance her way through Rustum Sohrab in 1963, it somehow became her swansong. The film is still remembered for the melodious number Yeh kaisi ajab dastan ho gayi hai, chhupate chhupate bayan ho gayi hai.
Golden voice
The famous melody queen will be eternally remembered for two distinct reasons. Her unfulfilled romance with Dev Anand and her outstanding renditions in the 1959 film Ghalib. Although there is no authentic record of her starrers, she is believed to have acted in 40-odd films in a career spanning about two decades.
Seven of these were with Dev Anand. And while emerging male stars like Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor were in no position to demand a price, Suraiya commanded the highest. She reportedly commanded a price of a hundred thousand, almost double of what her contemporaries like Nargis and Madhubala got, in the early 50s.
Despite the fact that Suraiya’s maternal grandmother, Badshah Begum, threw away the diamond ring that Dev Anand had given to his ladylove as a proposal, and restricted her from stepping out of the house, the singing star hadn’t lost all hope. The news of Dev’s marriage seemed to have served as a shattering blow. This resulted in a sickness which made her opt out of prestigious assignments like Devdas, Baiju Bawara and Nagin.
So strong had been her love and fascination for Dev that she vowed not to marry anyone else. And in defiance of social and religious sanctions, she sported a bindi prominently on her forehead.
If Tadbir (1945) was the first milestone and Anmol Ghadi (1946) the first take-off point of Suraiya’s career, Mirza Ghalib (1954) can be described as her signing-off post. Although, technically, it ought to be Rustom Sohrab (1963).
Both Anmol Ghadi and Mirza Ghalib were made memorable by some melodious numbers. Her rendition of at least three Ghalib ghazals moved Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru so much that he complimented the singing star by saying, “Tumne to Mirza Ghalib ki rooh ko zinda kar diya,” (You have resurrected Ghalib’s soul).
But, in the later stages of her career, she had successive flops and it was time for her to quit quietly while still reigning supreme in viewers’ minds. Through Rustom Sohrab, she did tried to find solace in the spotlight, but clearly, her heart wasn’t in it.