Suraiya: The 50s superstar who demanded higher fee than Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand, was praised by Jawaharlal Nehru – The Indian Express

However like many main women of her time, Suraiya’s entry into the world of cinema occurred by likelihood. Born in Lahore on June 15, 1929, she moved to Mumbai and lived along with her uncle Zahur who was working for Kardar Movies. She began frequenting movie units with him. In 1941, a 12-year-old Suraiya went to Mohan Studios to see the taking pictures of the movie Taj Mahal. There, a baby was wanted to play the younger Mumtaz Mahal and Suraiya obtained an opportunity. She went on to star in a couple of kids’s programmes for All India Radio on the insistence of her shut good friend Raj Kapoor.

Suraiya was a guide lover. (Photograph: Specific Archives)

At 13, Suraiya’s singing expertise was found by music director Nuashad. He recognised her soul-stirring voice and gave her the possibility to playback for Mehtab, the well-known star of these days, for the music “Panchhi Jaa, peechhe raha hai bachpan mera” within the movie Sharda (1942). Funnily, Suraiya was so petite on the time that she needed to stand on a stool to achieve the microphone. Very quickly, she grew to become a “sensational singing star” and since these have been the occasions when playback singing was not launched in movies, movie producers swarmed her with appearing affords.

She obtained recognised as an actor-singer in Bombay Talkies’ Hamari Baat (1943). Then got here DRD Productions’ Ishara and Suraiya had an opportunity to behave reverse previous good friend Raj Kapoor’s father — Prithviraj. Quickly, Suraiya grew to become synonymous with musicals like Phool, Samarat Chandragupta, Aaj Ki Raat, Dard, Dillagi, Natak, Afsar, Kajal, Dastan, Sanam and Char Din. Dharmendra was such an enormous fan of hers that he watched the romantic drama Dillagi 40 occasions. Such was the allure of Suraiya. Individuals usually addressed her because the “chocolate charmer”.

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Talking of her heydays, Suraiya had reminisced in an interview with Stardust in 1972, “I got here underneath good banners with in a position administrators, high actors and I used to be notably fortunate in getting meaty and chosen roles.” She dominated the mid-Forties as a singer-actor together with Noor Jehan, the legendary Pakistani singer who left India after the Partition. Pran Nevile within the guide, KL Saigal: The Particular Biography, wrote about Suraiya, “Nobody might think about that this easy younger lady, with none coaching in classical music, would at some point emerge because the main singing celebrity.”

However Suraiya was not the grasp of her life. It was her maternal grandmother who managed her life and profession. Suraiya had as soon as spoken about her, “She was the dominating determine of our family. She managed all of us. I used to be shy, timid, obedient and really, very frightened (of her).”

Suraiya had given her autographed picture to Hollywood director Frank Capra on the first Worldwide Movie Competition of India in 1952, to provide to Gregory Peck of whom she was an enormous fan.

The excessive level of Suraiya’s profession was working with the legendary KL Saigal, of whom she claimed to be a die-hard fan. It was Saigal who beneficial filmmaker Jayant Desai for his or her then-upcoming movie Tadbir (1945). Desai, who was already in awe of her efficiency within the historic drama Samrat Chandragupta, made no delays and solid her reverse Saigal. Tadbir was KL Saigal and Suraiya’s first of three movies collectively. They went on to star in Omar Khayyam and Parwana.

Whereas she was at her peak professionally, Suraiya’s private life flourished as effectively with the entry of a younger, brooding man, Dev Anand. They fell in love. He used to name her ‘Nosey’ as he appreciated her nostril and she or he used to name him ‘Steve’, a personality from her favorite novel. He wrote love letters to her and obtained them delivered by his co-stars, cameramen or administrators. They did seven movies collectively and managed to cover their romance for the primary three movies. Their love story is nothing in need of the twists and turns of Bollywood romance.

Dev Anand and Suraiya. (Specific archive picture)

In a weird flip of occasions, the younger lovers have been found by her granny quickly after he introduced Suraiya with a diamond ring. She mistakenly wore it in entrance of her strict grandmother who threw it into the ocean. “Dev had borrowed cash to purchase that costly ring for me. I cried and cried that evening,” Suraiya remembered. After the incident, the grandmother made certain the lovebirds don’t get intimate even in the course of the shoot and instructed movie producers and administrators to cast off romantic scenes between them.

Suraiya’s grandmother was towards her relationship with Dev since he was a Hindu and likewise much less standard than her granddaughter on the time. So, Dev insisted that they get married in court docket as he believed, “Love is the one faith, love is every thing.” However he additionally wished Suraiya to surrender her profession after marriage. That went towards what Suraiya, the reigning celebrity, wished. Regardless of persuasion from Guru Dutt for Dev’s marriage proposal, she turned it down.

“After I refused to marry Dev, he referred to as me a coward. Perhaps I used to be one. I admit I didn’t have the braveness to take a step I used to be not completely certain of. Maybe it was a folly, maybe a mistake or maybe future?” Suraiya informed Stardust. Nevertheless, she additionally selected a lonely life after her breakup with Dev Anand. She denied all the wedding proposals and selected to by no means marry. Dev Anand, in the meantime, married Kalpana Kartik in 1954.

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This blow on the non-public entrance someplace took away the zeal Suraiya had for all times and her work. Within the early Fifties, her movies stopped creating magic. In 1954, she briefly tasted success once more with the biographical drama Mirza Ghalib. She obtained praised by Jawahar Lal Nehru for the movie, who informed her, ‘Tumne Mirza Ghalib kii ruuh ko zindaa kar diyaa (You introduced Mirza Ghalib’s soul alive)’. Her final movie, Rustam Sohrab, got here in 1963 with Prithviraj Kapoor, nevertheless it tanked on the field workplace. Nevertheless, she sang her swan music “Ye kaisi ajab dastan ho gayi hai” within the movie which was a superhit among the many followers. She counted Hollywood star Grgory Peck amongst her admirers, who made it some extent to fulfill her at her residence throughout a go to to India.

In 1963, on the age of 34, Suraiya retired. The golden identify which as soon as caught the flamboyant of filmgoers disappeared from the silver display screen. She denied affords for playback singing and obtained misplaced in oblivion till she handed away in 2004 as a consequence of health-related points.

She most well-liked her followers to recollect her as a vibrant younger lady, who dominated the Hindi cinema along with her appearing prowess and her soulful voice.