Ahmed Rushdi (; 24 April 1934 – 11 April 1983) was a versatile Pakistani playback singer and "an important contributor to the golden age of Pakistani film music". Known as the Magician of voice, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in South Asia who could sing high tenor notes with ease. He is best known for his versatility and distinctive voice, with complex and dark emotional expressions. His ability to modulate his voice to match the specific screen persona and style of an actor was a hallmark of his career. Rushdi could sing romantic ballads, pop, ghazal, disco, rock and roll, hip-hop, classical, qawwali-style, patriotic and comedic numbers with equal skill. Considered the first pop singer of South Asia, he sang South Asia's first pop song, "Ko Ko Korina", in the 1966 film Armaan.
Born in Hyderabad Deccan, he migrated to Pakistan following partition. In 1954, he recorded the official National Anthem of Pakistan with several other singers. Rushdi has recorded the highest number of film songs in the history of Pakistani cinema in Urdu, English, Punjabi, Bengali, Sindhi, and Gujarati and found unprecedented success as a playback artist from the mid-1950s to the early 1980s. He was also known for his stage performances. He suffered from poor health during the latter part of his life and died of a heart attack at the relatively young age of 48, after recording approximately 5,000 film songs for 583 released films. Besides popular music, Rushdi also helped popularize the ghazals of Naseer Turabi. He was awarded five Nigar Awards, the "Best Singer of the Millennium" title, "Life Time Achievement Award", "Legend Award" and Lux Style Award.
In 2003, 20 years after his death, Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf awarded him the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, the "star of excellence", for distinguished merit in the field of arts. In a 2016 survey by Asian Woman magazine, Rushdi was declared a darling singer of all time. In 2022, his song "Ko Ko Korina" featured in the opening scene of the American television miniseries Ms. Marvel and won top ratings.
Early life Ahmed Rushdi was born to a religious, conservative family of Hyderabad Deccan in 1934. His father, Syed Manzoor Mohammad, taught Arabic, Islamic history and Persian at Aurangabad College, Hyderabad, Deccan. He died when Rushdi was only six years old. From a young age, Rushdi was fond of listening to the musical programs, including songs, which were broadcast from the radio. He neither inherited music from anyone, nor was anybody in his family ever affiliated with music. Ahmed Rushdi's singing talents impressed a very close friend of his father, whom he called uncle and who loved him dearly. He enrolled in a local music academy in Hyderabad, Deccan. Moreover, two popular composers of the time, M. A. Rauf and Iqbal Qureshi, also taught music in the same school. Thus, Ahmed Rushdi learnt the basics of music from the afore-mentioned teachers. Later, he got some training in classical music from Ustad Nathu Khan.
Ahmed Rushdi did not get any sort of formal training of classical music either before or after becoming a successful playback singer, but he had effective command over high and low notes. He sang his first song in the Indian film Ibrat in 1951 and got recognition. His family moved to Pakistan and settled in Karachi in 1954, where he began participating in variety shows, music programs, and children's programs on radio. In 1954, he recorded his first non-film song, "Bunder Road se Keemari," written by Mehdi Zaheer for the popular Radio Pakistan show Bachchon Ki Duniya; the song was a hit and became the stepping stone for Rushdi's future.
Singing career 1950s and 1960s After the success of "Bunder Road se Keemari," Rushdi was offered songs as a playback singer for films and quickly gained popularity. He lent his voice to many hit films like Bara Admi (1956), Wah Rey Zamaney (1957), Raat Ke Rahi (1957), Yeh Dunya (1958), and many more. Rushdi got good recognition for singing "Mari lela ne aisi" in Anokhi (1956), "Chalak Rahi Hain Mastiyan", and "Chal Na Sakey Gi 420" in Raaz (1959). In 1961, he sang the popular song "Chand Sa Mukhra Gora Badan" in the film Saperan, for which he received his first Nigar Award as Best Male Playback Singer. He further strengthened his status as one of the top male playback singers in Mehtaab (1962), in which he sang "Gol Gappay Wala Aaya" for actor Alauddin; they would again be teamed in Susral. In 1966, he sang "Ko Ko Korina,"considered the first modern Pakistani pop song.Munzir Elahi and Anjum Zia, "Pakistan," in p. 389.
The film Anchal (1960) was an important film in Rushdi's career. Music director Khalil Ahmed recorded an extremely sad number, "Kisi chaman mei raho tum", in singer Saleem Raza's voice but wanted Rushdi to re-record the song as he was not satisfied with Saleem Raza's singing. Rushdi did so, and the song recorded in his voice satisfied composer Khalil. Raza's career, as a singer was affected and doomed later on. After that, whenever Khalil composed music for any film, Rushdi remained his first choice. The mid-1960s saw the rise of brilliant singers like Mehdi Hassan and Masood Rana, but it did not affect Rushdi's career and he kept on leading the film music.
Music experts including Nisar Bazmi, Sohail Rana, and M. Ashraf are unanimous that Rushdi's voice was best suited for every hero, comedian, and even character actor. He lent his voice to Waheed Murad, Nadeem, Mohammad Ali, Santosh Kumar, Darpan, Habib, Rehman, Shahid, Qavi Khan, Ghulam Mohiuddin, and Rahat Kazmi and was tailor-made for every actor of the film industry. Rushdi's voice was even ideally suited to comedians such as Munawar Zarif, Lehri, Nirala, Nanha, and Rangeela.
Rushdi recorded the ghazal "Shok-e-awargi", written by poet Habib Jalib for actor Syed Kamal, in the 1963 film Joker. This ghazal sung by Rushdi, gained popularity amongst music listeners. Rushdi and Jalib again teamed up for Mohammad Ali in the films Khamosh Raho (1964). Rushdi sang the ghazal "Mei Nahi Manta" for the same film and gained Habib Jalib countrywide fame. He recorded a qawwali, "Madiney waley ko mera salam kehdena", along with Munir Husain the same year.
Actor Nadeem's first film as a leading actor was Chakori (1967). Rushdi recorded four songs for this film in the composition of music director Robin Ghosh. "Kabhi toe tum ko yaad ayen gi," "Pyare pyare yar humare", and "Tujhe chahein meri bahein". The same year, the film Doraha and Shehnai were released. He recorded all the songs for these films, including "Bhooli hue hoon dastan", "tumhein kaise bta doon", "Han issi mor per" (film Doraha) and "Tujhey apney dil se mei kaise", "Nazaron se haseen hai", and "Dunya mei tumko jeena hai agar" (film Shehnai).
In 1968, Rushdi recorded his first ever Bengali song in the film Notun Name Dako of Dhaka, titled "Ke Tumi Ele Go", which became a smashing hit in then–East Pakistan. He sang playback hits in the same year like "Ae mere diwaney dil" (film Jahan tum wahan hum), "Socha tha pyar na karein ge" (film Ladla), "Usey dekha usey chaha usey bhool gaye" (film Jahan tum wahan hum), "Teri aankhon ke bheegey sitarey" (film Ma Beta), and many more. The same year, Rushdi recorded a song "Salam-e-mohabbat" for Mohammad Ali in Khawaja Khurshid Anwar's composition.
Rushdi sang for Waheed Murad in the 1969 film Naseeb Apna Apna.Bing . videosurf (2015-12-23). Retrieved on 2016-11-19. The song "Ae abr-e-kaaram aaj itna baras" brought another Nigar Award for him. The song was composed by Lal Mohammad Iqbal. He also won different awards for songs like "Dil tumko de diya hai" and "Hum se na bigar aye larki". Around the same year, he sang a duet with Mala in the film Baharei phir bhi ayen gi, "Khush naseebi hai meri", under the music direction of Shamim Nazli.
In 1969, the film Andaleeb was released. Ahmed Rushdi recorded all the songs for Waheed Murad in this film. The song "Kuch log rooth ker bhi" was a hit. Its sad version was sung by Noor Jahan. Although he sang for every film hero in Pakistan, his pairing with Waheed Murad, proved to be the most popular, in such movies as Armaan (1966); the song "Akele Na Jaana" from that movie in Sohail Rana's composition gained Rushdi another Nigar Award. Well-known hits of Rushdi picturised on Waheed Murad, such as "Lag rahi hai mujhey aaj sari faza ajnabi" or "Kuchh loag rooth kar bi" were composed by Nisar Bazmi, the legendary composer for Pakistani movies. Ahmed Rushdi-Nisar Bazmi pair and Ahmed Rushdi-Sohail Rana combination were two of the most successful singer-music director pairs of Pakistan film music.
1970s and 1980s The 1970s brought new faces such as Alamgir, Akhlaq Ahmed, Ghulam Abbas, A Nayyar, etc. But Rushdi remained a leading singer of the film industry. Films Bandagi, Naag Muni, and Baazi were released in 1971. Ahmed Rushdi had a playback in all three films. He also won several awards for songs such as "Aik albeli si naar" (Naag Muni), "Tum bhi ho ajnabi" (Baazi), and "Poocho na hum ne kis liye" (Intezar). Perhaps, the song below never rang as true as it did after Ahmed Rushdi's demise: "Chore chalay hum chore chalay lo sheher tumhara chore chalay", film, Phir Chand Nikley Ga (1970), music, Sohail Rana.
Rushdi sang four solo songs and one duet for Waheed in the film Khalish (1972). "Honto pe tera naam" (with Mala), "Kal achanak jo sar-e-rah mili thi", "Ghussey mei gulabi gaal", and "Pyar hota hai". M. Ashraf was the music director. Around the same year, he sang for Mohammad Ali in the film Mohabbat. Rushdi recorded three songs in the film, including the sad song "Khudara mohabbat na karna". The music director was Nisar Bazmi.
In 1973, he recorded a qawwali "Dil torney waley" for the film Mehboob mera mastana. Ahmed Rushdi also recorded a romantic number "Teri jabeen se chodhwin ka chand jhankta rahey" (film Nadan) for actor Rehman. He recorded a sad song, "Angara mera mann", for the film Jaal, which was released the same year. He was also fond of acting and appeared in thirteen films as an actor, including Anokhi (1956), Kaneez (1965), Saat Lakh (1967), and Dekha Jaye Ga (1976). He also composed a music album in singer Mujeeb Aalam's voice.
In 1974, the film Anhoni was released. Waheed Murad and Aliya were in leading roles. Music director Lal Mohammad Iqbal recorded two songs in Rushdi's voice: "Hai kahan who kali" and a sad number, "Mei tujhey Nazar kia doon". In the same year, he sang for actor Shahid in the film Dharkan. He recorded a romantic number "Rangat gulabi chehra kitabi" for Shahid.
In 1975, Ahmed Rushdi recorded "Dil ko jalana hum ne chor diya" for Mohabbat Zindagi Hai. This song was picturised on Waheed Murad and gained countrywide popularity. He sang another song, "Mashriqi rang ko chor ke", for the same film. He recorded many songs for Pakistani television, including "Dil mei tu hai", "Han issi mor pe", and "Bheegey hue mousam mei".
Sharmeeli (1978) was his last film with actor Nadeem as a playback singer. It was a successful musical film whose songs gained popularity among the masses. Rushdi recorded two songs for Nadeem, "Tu samney hai mere" and "Bheegey hue mousam mei". The same year he recorded the popular song for Mohammad Ali "Aagey aagey mohtarma peechey peechey mohtram" (for the film Apka Khadim). He sang a classical number "Tere naina barey chit chor" for the film Jab Jab Phool Khiley the following year. He also sang in films like Accident, Achey Mian, Bohut Khoob, Baarat and Aag Aur Zindagi.