Alamgir: Albela Rahi...!

[sheem]

Alamgir
Albela Rahi...!



�QUANTANA MERA, wahila quantana mera�..� the lines of the Spanish number echoed on the radio, when we were good ol� souls in the mid-�70s. And then, these wordings were followed by Urdu lines, �Albela Rahi, ho main hoon albela rahi.� These wordings were lyrically expressed by the one and only pop singer of this country, Alamgir, who is a legend in Pakistan, and wherever Pakistanis reside throughout the world. Alamgir is a legend not just because, one day, he came down to Karachi from Bangladesh and made his name with his vibrating vocals of great intensity, but because he made life plausible and pleasant in the Zia era, when dullness had seeped to the very core of human life in Pakistan.

Last week, while reading a letter in Nigar Weekly regarding Alamgir, I was struck by the callousness of the media today that how quickly the screen forgets men and women of yesteryears, no matter how famous they might have had been in their times. I still remember the days just after the �hanging� of Bhutto, when young people used to stand or sit outside their houses, or drive aimlessly in the streets to while away their time, and tried not to think of days gone by. In those days, Alamgir perked them up with songs like Albela rahi, picturised on Alamgir himself, on a motorbike, or Iss ko naam junoon ka de do, or Dekh tera kya rang kar diya hai etc. But, of course, this wasn�t the first they had heard of this stunning voice. He had already made his mark in Nazrul Islam�s record-carver, Aaina, where he was selected by Robin Ghosh to croon the hit numbers, Mujhe dil se na bhulana and Tum meri zindagi ho. These songs were reverberating in every street, and every corner, in car decks, and the transistors hung from cycle handles. And then, who could forget Nisar Bazmi�s brilliant number from film, Jagir, titled Hum chaley to hamarey sung sung nazarey chaley. Alamgir became such a toast for the country that a new producer made a film just to carry the geetmala of Alamgir in it, called Bobby & Julie, which was a flop, except for the songs, each one of which was a hit. Similarly, his private numbers were doing as well as before. Who can forget his great hit with an Iranian girl, titled Dekha na tha kabhi hum ne yeh sama. It literally took over the lives of young people, and everybody was singing it. There are many such songs from Alamgir, who was once stopped from performing on TV, by the Zia government, if he did not promise to stand still while singing!

Today, this same great artiste, Alamgir is suffering from liver infection, and he needs our attention, and our help. It is also important that the government extend monetary help to this fine singer, who is, undoubtedly, a symbol of Pakistani pop, and the eternal gumption of the people of this country.

[Hijaab]

thnanks...........

[naz]

yaar kina budha hogaya na

[sheem]

bemar hai

[naz]

han pata hai meko