Written by: Dr. Dushka H. Saiyid
Posted on: March 14, 2022 | 
| 中文
Last appearance by Malika Pukhraj at the Khiraj-e-Tahseen show in 2004, flanked by daughters, Tahira Syed (center) and Tasneem Zafar
Malika Pukhraj hailed from Jammu and was born into a family of small farmers with a tradition for learning music and dancing. By the time she was nine, she had enough training to perform at Mahrajah Hari Singh’s coronation ceremony. She was retained at the court because of her talent and professional skills, and stayed on till the age of eighteen. She had been trained by the father of Bade Ghulam Ali, Allah Bukhsh, in the art of singing, and had separate teachers for Persian and Urdu. She describes the close rapport that she developed with Maharajah Hari Singh in her autobiography, Song Sung True, and how he held her in high esteem and rewarded her for her services. However, as communal tensions increased, Pukhraj decided to move to Lahore with her mother and maternal grandfather.
Malika Pukhraj with Tahira Sayed
Malika Pukhraj has dedicated her autobiography to her husband Syed Shabbir Hussain Shah and to Maharaja Hari Singh, otherwise a reviled figure in Pakistan because of his decision to accede to India, despite a majority of the population of Kashmir being Muslim. Her dedication of the autobiography to the Maharajah is not only a testament of her affection for the Maharaja, but an assertive indifference to the popular opinion. It didn’t take her long to establish her pre-eminence as a singer in the musical soirees of Lahore, and with her forceful personality, she set the rules by which she would perform.
When the All India Radio (AIR) opened its transmission in 1936, Malika Pukhraj was already a big name. Dadra, thumri and khayal were in big demand and she sang those and ghazals for AIR. Her literary skills were well recognized because she had command over Urdu, Persian, Dogri and Punjabi. Her diction and pronunciation were exemplary, and people would approach her for guidance in that field. When she gave her script of Song Sung True to Ashfaque Ahmed to read, he was struck by her beautiful handwriting and mentioned it to Khawaja sahib.
Tahira Sayed with Khawaja Najamul Hassan
Khawaja Najmul Hassan sahib became friends with her and her beautiful singer daughter Tahira Syed, when he started out as a young producer of music programs at the Lahore television station in the early 1970s. He did a series of 13 programs with Malika Pukhraj and Tahira Syed called Sur ka Safar (the voyage of melody). Khawaja sahib recalls that in 1986, when there was a golden jubilee of the All India Radio, Roshan Ara Begum and Malika Pukhraj were invited for the event, and were given of very warm reception, showered with flowers and rose petals when they entered the radio station.
Roshan Ara Begum and Malika Pukhraj during their visit to India in 1977
Khawaja sahib recalls that Syed Shabbir Hussain Shah sahib wrote a novel, Jhok Siyaal, which was the inspiration for a popular rural drama by the same name directed by Yawar Hyat in 1973, whose script was written by Munnoo bhai. Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi recalled that both he and Syed Shabbir sahib were writing short stories for the magazine Romaan, which was edited by Akhtar Sheerani. She met Shabbir Hussain Shah in Lahore at a dinner at Khawaja Khursheed Anwar’s house that Shah sahib often frequented. It was the beginning of their romance, and a happy marriage followed. Malika Pukhraj ensured that the youngest of her six children, Tahira Syed, was trained as a singer. Khawaja sahib says that people from the Patiala gharana did not train others, but Akhter Hussain, the father of Salamat Ali, agreed to be Tahira Syed’s ustad (teacher).
Extreme Left, Khawaja Khursheed Anwar; Malika Pukhraj in the center, Sayed Shabbir Hussain Shah behind her
Malika Pukhraj had produced two films Kajal in India, and Shammi in Pakistan. She was invited to play a lead role by the Nadiawala Company in the film, Manzil Door Nahi, in 1940. But after ten days of shooting in Bombay, she returned home to Lahore as she felt it was taking too much time and she was missing her children. Khawaja sahib remembers her culinary skills and how she had trained her cook with her favourite specialties, biryani and saag.
An Old Photograph of Malika Pukhraj
Khawaja sahib recalls that Malika Pukhraj would often show up at the office he shared with Farrukh about 9 am. One day she asked Khawaja sahib to accompany her, and took him to visit Meena Shorey, who had been a famous actor but had fallen on hard times. She had become famous as the Lara Lappa girl after starring in her husband, Roop K Shorey’s film, Ek Thi Larki (Once there was a girl). But now she was living in very poor conditions with a nephew of hers. Malika Pukhraj gave her money so discreetly, that even Khawaja sahib did not see it happen. According to Khawaja sahib, Malika Pukhraj used to quietly help artists who were having financial difficulties.
Tahira Syed recalls Reshma’s association with Malika Pukhraj
The last show that Malika Pukhraj appeared in was in a wheelchair at the Lahore station of the PTV. Khawaja sahib had started a program series called, Khiraj-e-Tahseen (paying tribute) with Anwer Maqsood as the compere. The first one of the series was on Malika Pukhraj. Naeem Tahir and Ashfaque Ahmed made perceptive comments. While the former mentioned her skills at presentation and selection of the ghazals that she would sing, Ashfaque sahib mentioned how meaningful and pregnant were the pauses in her delivery.
(L to R) Farida Khanum, Malika Pukhraj, and Noor Jehan
The Malika Pukhraj who emerges from Khawaja Najmul Hassan’s interview and anecdotes, her own autobiography and the observations of her peer group and children, is a complex but a strong lady, who was restrained in communicating her emotions. Rising from a relatively humble background to reach the apogee in the genre of thumris, dadras and ghazals at an all-India level, but who found happiness and fulfillment in her family life. And yet, as Khawaja Najam testifies, was concerned about the less fortunate artists, and discreetly helped them out.
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