Born on September 12, 1926 in Qasoor, she was one of the most luminous artists of her time in South Asia. Noor Jahan began her career with background support music but won the hearts of thousands with her melodious voice.
Her foray into the world of music was started by Ustad Ghulam Ali Khan. She also participated in several films and perhaps one of her best-known films is Jugnu with Dilip Kumar.
Noor Jahan also worked as a film director. Chann Way, Dupata, Pattey Khan, Anarkali, Intizar and Koil are her famous movies, reports The News.
Born Allah Wasai and renamed Noor Jahan, she was from a Punjabi family and was forced by her parents to follow in their musical footsteps and become a singer. But she was more interested in acting in films and graced the earliest Pakistani films with her performances.
She has to her credit 10,000 songs in various languages of India and Pakistan including Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and Sindhi languages. She is also considered to be the first female Pakistani film director.
In 1957, Jahan was awarded the President's Award for her acting and singing capabilities.
Two of her sisters, Eidan Bai and Haider Bandi, were successful actors at the rural Taka Theatre in Lahore.
Fate intervened in her successful life when in 1986, on a tour of North America, Jahan suffered from chest pains and was diagnosed with angina pectoris after which she underwent a surgery to install a pacemaker.
She was hospitalised in 2000 and suffered a heart attack.
On Saturday afternoon, December 23, 2000, Noor Jahan died from heart failure. Her funeral took place at Jamia Masjid Sultan, Karachi and she was buried at the Gizri Graveyard near the Saudi Consulate in Karachi.
