What made Noor Jehan leave Bangladesh in anger
by Aijaz Gul
Equally loved by Delhi and Lahore Mallika-e-Tarannum Noorjehan was also adored in the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Her songs from Urdu films were hummed by young and old alike. This was when a major chunk of East Pakistan spoke Bengali.
When Noorjehan was invited to visit East Pakistan, she received a great reception at the Dhaka airport. Eijaz Durrani (her second husband) accompanied her on this visit and they stayed at Shahbagh Hotel. Actress Neelo and actor Rattan Kumar were part of the delegation. Noorjehan was so impressed by the culinary skills of the hotel chef that she gave him a special tip, with a request that only he should prepare the meals during her stay in the hotel. The chef hesitantly requested Noorjehan to perform for them as he would not be able to afford the ticket to the concert which was scheduled the next day.
Noorjehan kept her promise and refused to attend the Governor’s banquet and instead sang for the chef, his family and the hotel staff. All the furniture was removed from the dining room. Special chairs were arranged and a make-shift stage erected with carpets. After dinner, to her surprise, Noorjehan found the guests in formal suits and expensive silk saris occupying the chairs in front rows. Noorjehan lost her temper and enquired from the hotel manager who those guests were. She was told that they were the elite of Dhaka including high government officials and bureaucrats. She yelled at the manager and asked him to get the hall vacated. The guests were finally requested to leave.
Noorjehan then called in all the staff members, including guards and cooks of the hotel, and their families who had been waiting patiently in the lobby and outside the hotel. The hall was chock a block with people. All the windows were opened to let fresh air in. The staff that could not get the chairs stood by the doors. She opened her programme with a request from the chef whom she addressed as Babaji. This was Anmol Ghadi’s ‘Awaz dey kahan hai’. She sang till the wee hours of the morning. The last programme included her jokes and comments in between the songs. She was in one of her best moods.
Noorjehan’s favourite musicians and harmonium players of Lahore might not have been there in Dhaka, but she managed to work with local instrumentalists, particularly harmonium player Subhal Das, who also composed music for several Bengali and Urdu films. Subhal Das praised her by saying that she was the best and there was not going to be another Noorjehan ever. Noorjehan also sang songs requested by the audience. The chef on whose behest the programme happened made many requests.
During a tea break, Noorjehan again lost her temper when Babaji took liberty and made yet another request, asking upcoming actress and dancer Neelo, who was accompanying Noorjehan in the delegation, to dance the next day. Noorjehan perhaps could not think of another artist when she was there. This was an insult and Noorjehan left the dining hall. The chef cried over his blunder. Noorjehan politely refused to extend her stay in Dhaka for another day. She did not even call the chef and his staff for more tips.
Excerpted with permission from Vitasta Publishing’s Mallika-e-Tarannum Noorjehan: The Melody Queen. Buy the book from here.