Musarrat Nazir
Musarrat Nazir Khawaja (; born 13 October 1937) is a Pakistani singer and film actress, who acted in many Urdu and Punjabi films. She, many years later, also sang solo, mostly wedding and folk songs. Early life. Her parents were middle-class, Punjabi Pashtuns of Kashmiri origin from Lahore. Her father Khwaja Nazir Ahmed, worked as a registered contractor in Lahore Municipal corporation. Early in her life, her parents wanted her to be a doctor, and provided her with the best possible education they could afford. Musarrat passed the matriculation examination (10th grade) with distinction and passed the intermediate  examination (12th grade) from Kinnaird College in Lahore. Career. She had keen interest in music and began singing for Radio Pakistan in the early 1950s. However, insufficient money from the radio took her to the film director, Anwar Kamal Pasha in 1955. She explained to Pasha about her strong desire to sing for the movies. Instead, Pasha suggested to her to become an actress. Musarrat needed her parents' approval. Pasha himself met Musarrat's father and convinced him to allow his daughter to work in the movie industry as a singer and actress. Anwar Kamal Pasha changed Musarrat's name  to "Chandani" and signed her up for a side role in his movie. Hence, Chandani made her debut with Sabiha Khanum and Nayyar Sultana in Pasha's film "Qatil" in 1955. Her role was secondary but effective. Sheikh Lateef of "Capital Films", Lahore planned to make a Punjabi film, 'Pattan (1955)'. Lateef's friend, poet and script writer, Baba Aalam Siah Posh, advised him to cast Chandani (Musarrat Nazir) in the film. Sheikh Lateef agreed. This was the debut of Musarrat Nazir in Punjabi films, with a nickname Chandani. Then Chandani appeared in the hit Punjabi film, "Pattan" (1955), with  her real name, Musarrat Nazir. She played the lead role opposite Santosh Kumar in "Pattan" (1955). The producer was Sheikh Lateef and the film was directed by Luqman. The film "Pattan" opened the doors for Musarrat in the Punjabi film industry, which led her to the hit film "Patay Khan" (1955). She was the supporting actress. The film was produced by film actress Shammi and Musarrat Nazir acted in a supporting role along with Noor Jehan and Aslam Pervaiz. Her main competitor actresses, in those days, were Sabiha Khanum, Yasmin and Noor Jehan. Personal life. She was born on 13  October 1937. She is married to a physician Arshad Majeed and has lived in Canada since 1965. They have three grown-up children in 2005. Musarrat Nazir gave up her film career that was then at its peak for her would-be husband and agreed to move to Canada with him. Musarrat Nazir and Arshad Majeed wanted to return to Pakistan and settle in Lahore in the late 1970s. Arshad Majeed wanted to set up a hospital in Lahore and they had gone ahead and bought a home there for this purpose which they still own and maintain in 2005 . After spending a lot of money, months of struggle and running around, Arshad Majeed gave up. Filmography. Musarrat also gave performances in Pakistan cinema's greatest melodramas like the films "Mahi Munda" (1956) and "Yakke Wali" (1957). Following is the list of Musarrat's films: The film song "Us bay wafa ka sheher hai" in the mega-hit film "Shaheed" (1962), is considered to be one of the popular songs in 2022. Even after she retired from her film career in 1963, she had continued to sing for Pakistan Television until recently. Discography. Musarrat Nazir made an appearance on Pakistani  television's Tariq Aziz Show in 1983. Songs from that show became highly popular in Pakistan. Her popular songs are listed below: