Master Ghulam Haider remembered : PNCA pays musical tribute to renowned composer

He initiated Punjabi school of thought in film industry when the Bengali music was ruling

ISLAMABAD: Some well-known singers paid musical tribute to the renowned composer Master Ghulam Haider on its birth anniversary music show, organised by the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) and Musikaar-e-Azam Memorial Society Wednesday.

The featured singers included Trannum Naz, Babar Niazi, Javed Niazi, Waheed Hassan, Lubna Shahnaz, Mussarat Abbas, and Bushra Sadiq who sang Urdu and Punjab popular numbers, composed by the legend music compose.

The PNCA Director General Syed Jamal Shah said the work of master composers, singers and instrumentalists is the heritage asset of the country. The PNCA is putting all its efforts to popularise and preserve it for the future generations. About 500 films and its music is being archived while 35 music CDs have already been prepared with the support of the UNESCO. Starved for funds, the PNCA needs donors support for its archiving project.



He said Master Ghulam Haider is the one who initiated the Punjabi school of thought in the film industry while the Bengali school of music was ruling the Lahore, the second biggest hub of the film industry in the subcontinent.

Pervaiz Haider, the son of Master Ghulam Haider, said it is very kind of the PNCA that always encouraged the Musikaar-e-Azam Memorial Society to organise the anniversary musical.

He said he has been organising the annual event for the last three decades to keep his father’s musical work alive.

Master Ghulam Haider (1908 – 9 November 1953) was a well-known music composer who worked both in the Indian and later in Pakistan film industry after independence. He changed the face of film songs by combining the popular Raagas with the verve and rhythm of Punjabi music, and also helped raise the status of film music directors.



Master Ghulam Haider is also known for giving a break to the well-known playback singer, Lata Mangeshkar. In an interview, Lata Mangeshkar herself disclosed on her 84th birthday in 2013, saying “Ghulam Haider is truly my Godfather. It was his confidence in me that he fought for me to tuck me into the Hindi Film Industry which otherwise had rejected me.”

He was the one who introduced and played key-role in giving breakthrough to the Queen of Music Noorjahan when she was only 10 years in the film Kundan in 1942. He also introduced Pushpa Hansraj, a very well-known singer in the Indian film industry, and Sudha Malhotra and Surinder Kaur to the Indian Film Industry.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2018.