Shamshad Begum - The Golden Collection

Today I was listening to the “The Golden Collection – Shamshad Begum” 2 CD set and that prompted me to write this post. If you are an avid collector of old records or just a careful listener.. have you ever noticed how many times reputed recording companies like EMI, HMV etc goofed up the credits of either singers, music directors or lyricists on their cassette or CD jackets?

Shamshad Begum - The Golden Collection - Credits

Song 4 on first CD “Dekh chand ki Or” from Aag (1948) is one good example of such goof ups. It is erroneously attributed to Shamshad Begum and Sailesh, when in fact this song is sung by Meena Kapoor and Sailesh. Just a casual hearing of this song is enough to tell you that this song is NOT sung by Shamshad Begum. But still on Youtube and many other places this song is attributed to her.

All other songs of this film involving female voice were sung by Shamshad Begum which may partially be responsible for attributing this song to Shamshad Begum. Also, Shamshad DID sing this song but only for 78 rpm record. The film version was sung by Meena Kapoor. Without doing the proper research, HMV attributed the film version to Shamshad Begum and released it in Shamshad Begum’s collection, which I think is an insult to both artistes. I will post more errors like these in the future, but for now you can enjoy both versions below :-

Version 1 (The famous film version sung by Meena Kapoor and Sailesh and erroneously attributed to Shamshad Begum) :-

Dekh Chand ki Or – Version 1

Version 2 (The rare 78 rpm record version actually sung by Shamshad Begum and Sailesh) :-

Dekh Chand ki Or – Version 2

- Ummer Siddique

Meena Kapoor

Meena Kapoor was a notable playback singer in Hindi Films and sang mainly during the 1940s and 1950s. Born to actor Bikram Kapoor, a known name of the 30’s, and related to P. C. Barua (director of K. L. Saigal’s Devdas) , Meena was no stranger to films.

Meena Kapoor was discovered by composer Ninu Mujumdar in the 40s who thought she was an outstanding singer. Therefore, Meena blossomed into a singing prodigy and gave playback at the age of 11. According to Meena “They (music directors) used to say I picked up songs very fast and could navigate difficult murkiyan with ease. However, I was not ambitious.”

She has already sung 62 songs and was still in school when she first sang for her future husband Anil Biswas in Anokha Pyar (1948). The age difference between her and Anil Biswas was staggering, but according to Meena, “I always reduce the number of years when people ask me. We got married in 1959. We were like lovebirds. By that stage, Anilji was very unhappy with the film industry and the type of music. When the I & B Ministry asked him to join AIR, he agreed. People questioned my decision to give up my career, but I wanted to be with him.”

In 1963, the Biswas’ shifted to Delhi to the non-conformist strains of Kuch aur zamana kehta hai, kuch aur hai zid mere dil ki — the last film song Biswas composed and Meena sang for Chhoti Chhoti Baatein (1965).

“Anilji was bitter about the latter years of his film career but he once told me, ‘Looking at you so much younger to me yet so contented, I too have learnt to accept.’ We were called the lovebirds. He passed away six months ago, but I am unable to accept it till date.”

Meena Kapoor sang more than 100 songs in her short career. Some of her popular songs include Ae dil meri wafa mein (Anokha Pyar, 1948), Kuch aur zamana kehta hai (Chhoti Chhoti Baatein, 1965), and Bheegi bheegi raat aayi (Mehmaan, 1953) – (Source: ExpressIndia)

Note :- Article has been edited for accuracy.

Listen!

Mere dil kai geet chup they , Singer – Meena Kapoor, Music – Anil Biswas, Film – Aakash, Year –1953