Zohrabai Ambalewali

Zohrabai Ambalewali (1918- 21 January 1990) was Indian classical singer and playback singer in Hindi cinema in the 1930s and 40s.

She is best known for her contralto voice in the songs, "Ankhiyan Milage Jiyaa Bharmaake" and "Aai Diwali, Aai Diwali" in 1944 hit Rattan (1944), with music by Naushad, and "Uran Khatole Pe Ud Jaoon", duet with Shamshad Begum in Anmol Ghadi (1946), also under Naushad's music direction. She along with Rajkumari, Shamshad Begum and Amirbai Karnataki, were amongst the leading first generation of playback singers in the Hindi film industry, however by the late 1940s, the arrival of new voices like Geeta Dutt and Lata Mangeshkar, meant their career faded away.

Early life and background

Born and brought up in Ambala, Punjab, now in present-day Haryana, to family of professional singers, which lend to her surname, Ambalewali started her musical training under Ghulam Hussain Khan and Ustad Nasir Hussain Khan. Subsequently, she trained her in the Agra gharana of Hindustani music.[1]

Career

Ambalewali started her career at age 13, as a singer with the All India Radio, singing mainly classical and semi-classical numbers. This led to recording a few albums of thumris with HMV music label. Eventually she made her Hindi film debut as a playback singer with Daku Ki Ladki (1933) with music by Pransukh Nayak.[1] After initial years in Lahore-based film industry she shifted to Bombay (now Mumbai).[2] Her musical success came with Rattan (1944) under music director Naushad Ali, and hit songs as "Aai Diwali Aai Diwali" and "Akhiyan Mila Ke, Jiya Bharma Ke".[3] She sang for Naushad, again in films like Anmol Ghadi (1946), Mela (1948), and Jadoo (1951).[4] She also sang a qawwali with Noorjahan and Kalyani "Aahen Na Bhareen Shikave Na Kiye" in Zeenat (1945), which was the first ever Qawwali recorded in female voices in South Asian films.[5]

This was era when heavy thumri-style and often nasal voices were the leading the playback singer in Hindi cinema, with singers like Noorjahan, Shamshad Begum, Khurshid, Amirbai Karnataki. This was right before arrival of Lata Mangeshkar in 1948, which along with Geeta Dutt and Asha Bhosle shifted the popular taste towards finer voices, effectively bringing their careers to a gradual end.[5]

She retired in the 1950s from the film industry, though she continued to sing at the performances of her daughter Roshan Kumari, a noted Kathak dancer, who also performed in Satyajit Rays film Jalsaghar (1958).[1]

Filmography

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Zohrabai, Amirbai and Rajkumari". Women on Record. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  2. ↑ Sundar, Pavitra (2007). Sounding the Nation: The Musical Imagination of Bollywood Cinema. University of Michigan. p. 73.
  3. ↑ Gokulsing, K. Moti; Dissanayake, Wimal (2013). Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas. Routledge. pp. 264–. ISBN 978-1-136-77284-9.
  4. ↑ "Zohra Bai Ambala Wali (1918-90)". Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  5. 1 2 Aziz, Ashraf (2003). Light of the universe: essays on Hindustani film music. Three Essays Collective. pp. 14, 21. ISBN 978-81-88789-07-8.

External links

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