Remembering our Legends: Emotionally satisfying songs of Muneer Husain

Since the introduction of the art of playback singing in the films about the late 1930s a large number of vocalists recorded numerous songs, which were synchronised with the lip movements of those on whom these were juxtaposed in the films.
Most prominent among female singers who lent their voices for the recording of film songs were Amirbai Karnataki, Shamshad Begum, Zohrabai Ambalewali, Geeta (Roy) Dutt, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle in India and Zubaida Khanum and Noor Jehan till the end of the decade of 1960s. Included among male playback singers, whose popularity touched the highest point on the chart were G. M. Durrani, Khan Mastana, Muhammad Rafi, Talat Mahmood and Kishore Kumar in India and Saleem Raza, Masud Rana and Muneer Husain.
The decade of the 1960s is considered the golden era of Pakistan film industry reckoning both its qualitative and quantitative inputs. That period witnessed the production of a large number of successful films from the bustling Lahore movie studios, which then worked round the clock. Also, during that period a large number of widely popular original tunes for film songs were composed by inveterate musicians of the calibre of Khurshid Anwar, Master Inayat Hussain, Rashid Attrey, Master Abdullah, G. A. Chishti, Nisar Bazmi and Sohail Ra'ana.
Popular compositions recorded in the mellifluous voices of playback singers have always contributed much to the success of a film at the box office. An ineluctable component of film formulae, original compositions rendered by talented vocalists helped producers/exhibitors in recovering the costs of films many times over in the industry. Understandably, the name of a successful composer in the credit lines of a film was taken as a guarantee for the success of the movie.
Two male playback singers ruled the roost in filmdom in Lahore in those days. They were Saleem Raza and Muneer Hussain. Both possessed extremely malleable voices, which suited the composers and film directors to convey different kinds of moods and emotions in their movies. Playback singer Saleem Raza made his debut a little ahead of singer Muneer Hussain but both ascended to the crescendo of popularity within a short period of their joining the entertainment industry.
Playback singer Muneer Hussain, who died twelve years ago in September 1995, hailed from the well-known Rubabi clan of musicians, which has contributed so much to the flowering and refinement of film music in the sub-continent.
The Rubabis also groomed a large number of brilliant composers of the like of Master Ghulam Haider, Ameer Ali, Rashid Attrey, A. Hameed and Safdar Hussain. This clan of musicians also boasted of a number of seasoned practitioners of classical arts of vocalisation and instrument playing of the calibre of Ustad Bhai Lal Muhammad Amritsari, Ustad Booray Khan, Ustad Rooray Khan, Laal Muhammad Sabri and rhythm-keeper Bhai Naseer and Sitar player Ustad Fateh Ali Khan of Kapurthala.
In contradistinction to the input of the Meerathi clan of musicians, the Rubabis also contributed wholesomely to the promotion of both classical as well as popular modes of melodic expression. A son-in-law of legendary composer Master Ghulam Haider and also closely related to composers Rashid Attrey and Safdar Husain, playback singer Muneer Husain entered the world of entertainment in the late 1950s but stole limelight when he recorded Saif-ud-Din Saif's Ghazal 'Qarar lootney waley' in the film 'Saat Lakh'.
Composed in the strand of raga Baagshari by Rashid Attrey, the song hit bull's eye soon after the release of the film taking the name of Muneer Husain to every nook and cranny of Pakistan.
Later, his velvety voice was used by almost every frontline composer of Pakistan, which helped in conveying their melodic ideas in consonance with the demand of the film scripts. The song 'Dila thehr ja yaar da nazzara' lain day from the Punjabi film 'Mukhra' was yet another song he recorded in duet with Zubaida Khanum, which remained on the lips of millions in the Sub-continent. Composer A. Hameed used Munir's voice for the popular Qawwali number 'Meri tauba' in the film 'Tauba', which also impressed many a lay film fan and seasoned connoisseurs alike. His songs - 'Teri khair howay' and Wanjlee Waleray aa (composed by Khurshid Anwar in the film 'Heer Ranjha') and 'Panchhi tay pardesi' (in the film 'Nooran') also became instant hits.
Late Muneer Hussain, who came from the well-known Katri Bawa of Lahore like many other jewels of film dome, regularly participated in radio, stage and film programmes. His Taranas and songs recorded during the 1965 war also energised the patriotic emotions of millions in the country.
Muneer Husain remained in much demand in the film industry when the going was good for the filmmakers. He contributed significantly to the blossoming of a genre, which is popularly known as film music. Besides lending his voice for the recording of simple tunes invented by plebian composers of the likes of G.A Chishti and Safdar Hussain, he was capable of rendering difficult and esoteric compositions of inveterate music directors. To both these categories of film songs Muneer Hussain did full justice. He also sang in duet with Pakistan's topmost female singers, including the late melody queen Noor Jehan in a number of films.
The evergreen songs of Muneer Hussain recorded in his sweet voice continue to tickle the sensibilities of cultivated listeners and lay music buffs. These haunting melodies take the listeners to the memory lane when originality of compositions was the yardstick to measure the competence of a music director. The word piracy did not exist in the melodic diction of those good old days.