Zahida Parveen (1925 15 May 1975) was a Pakistani classical singer and film playback singer.
She was known as The Nightingale and The Queen of Kafi.
Early life Zahida Parveen was born in 1925 at Amritsar, Punjab in British India. She came from a family of classical musicians. Her parents died when she was very young so she was raised by one of her sisters, Peeran Ditti. She joined Patiala gharana school of classical music to learn singing from sarangi player Baba Taj from Kapurthala. Zahida Parveen initially began her career as a tawaif and was well known for singing Multani kafi. Then she studied with Hussain Bakhsh Khan, a sarangi player from Amritsar. Modern critics argue that Zahida Parveen belonged to the 'Peerni' (saintly figure) caste.
Career After the partition of India, she moved to Pakistan and learned singing from Ashiq Hussain of Patiala Gharana in Lahore. Then she started singing at Radio Pakistan, Lahore. In 1949, she worked as a film playback singer and recorded a qawwali with Iqbal Bano and Munawar Sultana in the film Mundri. The qawwali was composed by G.A. Chishti.
At Radio Pakistan, she performed the songs "Kya Haal Sunawan Dil Da" and "Maindi Ajj Kal Akh Phurkaandi Aei", a composition of Khwaja Ghulam Farid with kafi style; the songs were recorded for His Master's Voice on gramophone and became popular hits. Then she recorded many more Kafis in Urdu, Saraiki, Hindi, Punjabi and Sindhi languages for His Master's Voice recordings, as well as for radio and on-stage.
In the 1940s, she began to sing songs for films in Kheyal style and in classical vocalization and she did playback singing by singing light classical music in different forms like in geets and ghazals. In 1957, she along with Ustad Fateh Ali Khan recorded a song Nain Se Nain Milae Rakhoni Ko for film Waadah (1957 film), the song was composed by Rashid Attre.
In 1958, she worked in film Begunah and sanged a classical song Kaisi Raat Rageeli Aai in duet with Naseem Begum. The same year she was hired again by music composer Rashid Attre for film Jan-e-Bahar and was paired with Naseem Begum. The duo sang the song Ab Tou Ji Bhar Ke Khanjar Chalaenge Hum in raag darbari style.
In 1964, she was honoured by All Pakistan Music Conference with a Gold Medal Award for her contribution to the music industry.
Personal life Zahida was married and had a daughter named Shahida Parveen. She also wanted her daughter to be a singer. So she trained her daughter in a similar style and Shahida became a student of Ustad Akhtar Hussain Khan at the insistence of her mother.
Death Zahida Parveen died at the age of 50 on 15 May 1975, in Lahore, Pakistan. She was laid to rest in Miani Sahib Graveyard.
Filmography Year Film Language 1949 Mundri Punjabi 1950 Anokhi Dastan Urdu 1951 Billo Punjabi 1953 Barkha Urdu 1953 Shehri Babu Punjabi 1955 Pattan Punjabi 1956 Morni Punjabi 1956 Dulla Bhatti Punjabi 1957 Waadah Urdu 1957 Yakke Wali Punjabi 1958 Begunah Urdu 1958 Jan-e-Bahar Urdu 1958 Darbar Urdu 1959 Bacha Jamoora Punjabi 1964 Baap Ka Baap Urdu 1965 Dil Ke Tukre Urdu
Awards and recognition Year Award Category Result Title Ref. 1964 All Pakistan Music Conference Gold Medal Award Radio & Music
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