20 July,2016 08:20 AM IST | | The Hitlist Team
Legendary playback singer of Hindi cinema’s glorious era passes away following prolonged illness
Mubarak Begum
Legendary singer Mubarak Begum passed away on Monday night at her residence in Behram Baug, Jogeshwari. She was 80.
Mubarak Begum
Described as the golden voice from the golden era of Hindi film music in the 1950s-60s, she had been battling ill-health and living in penury. In recent times, Mubarak Begum made news for the inability to pay medical bills. She survived on donations from charitable institutions.
The singer's last rites were performed yesterday. There was near-zero Bollywood presence at the funeral. She is survived by a son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter.
Yesterday, Lata Mangeshkar tweeted, "Bahut dukh ki baat hai ki hamare samay ki gaayika Mubarak Begum ji hamare bich nahi rahi. Main unko shraddhanjali arpan karti hun."
Mangeshkar and Mubarak began their careers around the same time. In 1949, music composer Nashad (not to be confused with the legendary music composer Naushad) introduced a teenage Mubarak as playback singer in Aiye along with Mangeshkar. They sang the duet, Aaiye Aao Chalen Chalen Wahan.
Mubarak Begum lent her voice to scores of songs, duets and ghazals in the '50s through to the '70s. She worked with leading music directors like SD Burman, Shankar Jaikishan and Khayyam. She stopped singing over four decades ago and did stage shows occasionally before calling it a day.
