Sayed M.

Irfan
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Master Tassadduq Hussain — Beyond the ‘Charba’ Myth
Few music directors have had to endure the stigma of plagiarism as did Master Tassadduq
Hussain. While only those having great insights into the world of film music qualify to make a
conclusive comment, Tassadduq Hussain remains at the forefront when it comes to the sheer
quantity of songs composed. His distinguishing features were melody, rhythm, and, often, fast
tempo and he used these quite impeccably to create some truly soulful songs. He composed
songs for all the prominent singers of his time but it seems that Mala, Noor Jahan, and Masood
Rana featured more prominently than the others. He along with Roshan Ara Begum won the
only state award in 1961 for best singer and best music director for the film "Roopmati Baaz
Bahadur".

In a historical context, it was the film Humrahi that reinforced much of the criticism he attracted
as a ‘charba’ music director. No doubt Humrahi was a mirror image of the Indian film Dosti,
those perceptions will never pass off entirely unchallenged. First of all, both the producer and
director were not prominent names in the industry but by ingeniously integrating a sentiment
of patriotism and nationalism into the main theme they considerably extended its cinematic
appeal in the aftermath of the 1965 war. Then, its music posed serious challenges despite being
conceived in the same bandwidth as that of Dosti. Tassadduq had to rely on Masood Rana to
generate the high notes comparable to Mohammad Rafi. Moreover, the Masood Rana’s seven
solos included a milli tarana, a naat, and both tarbia and almia numbers. Eventually, both came
out good and Masood Rana established himself as a truly great singer.

Humrahi’s success notwithstanding, Tassadduq’s criticism may well have been fair; however,
both dissenting and consenting opinions exist. One critic has observed: “strange and paradoxical
but it is a fact that Tassadduq hussain being the permnent employee of the plagiarist duo Ata ulla
Hashmi+ k Kumar was known as Chor Mosiqar but whenever he composed independently he created
miracles. Ghalib da music sun lawo tey mere daway di tasdeeq ho jandi a .Rani Roopmati di mosiqi tey
tey enna nun Sadar Ayyub kolon Best Music da sadarti award v milya c.” Another, a more known
individual, Dr. Amjad Pervez of Lahore says: “Tasaduq Hussain used to play on Piano with me when
I used to sing at King Edward Medical College Concerts in early fifties as a child singer. On his own I agree
he was a superb composer. Agreed, example: Mirza Ghalib 's Mudat Hui Hei Yaar Ko.”

Amongst Tassadduq’s earlier successes was Choti Begum, a musical, in 1956/57. Though one of
its songs “kab tak raho ge aakhir yun dur dur hum se” seems to be inspired by Geeta Dutt’s
famous “ae dil zara bata de tu kis pe aa gaya hai,” the film had several songs that brought out
the best in Kausar Parveen, a great talent that, perhaps, got eclipsed by Madam Noor Jahan
initially and later by Mala. The same film, I remember, was later released in 1972 in Naz Cinema
and it attracted record crowds.

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Mirza Ghalib was another musical released in 1961 and this could be justifiably called a great
hit. This film was eventful in another way as well since it marked the beginning of Noor Jahan’s
career as a playback singer and, simultaneously, the end of her acting career. I have no qualms
in claiming that the Pakistani Mirza Ghalib compared better to the one produced in India as far
as the music is concerned and that Noor Jahan, in particular, outclassed Suraya by some
distance.

Then in 1969 came Nayi Laila Naya Majnun, a light romantic comedy with fast moving music.
One of its songs ‘o meri mehbooba batla do kya huwa’ left the cine goers dazed with its great
beats and free flowing melody, that echoed all across Karachi and it seemed that Radio Pakistan
would never cease playing it. It reminded one of the Talat Siddiqui-Rushdi duet ‘mujhe ek ladki
se pyar ho gaya’ from the 1964 super hit Heera Aur Patthar. Another Kamal-Nasima Khan
romantic comedy Road to Swat followed a year later with a set of pacey duets. Its song ‘yeh
ada yeh naaz yeh andaz’ has such a strong and measured tempo that it practically draws the
listener into a swinging spirit.

Tassadduq Hussain’s career must have spanned across a good two decades and his films should
number around 60 to 70 though most were low budget ones and never really clicked. But quite
a few songs from such films could be remembered as fairly popular during their times. “jiya
gaye tara ra ra rum,’ “aaja pyari neendya,” “ae zindagi ae zindagi, main ne tere har mod par,” dukhaye
dil jo kisi ka,”etc., may serve as relevant examples. Surely, it takes more than an appetite for
plagiarism to continue to engage scores of serious film producers to lend them his craft for such
a long period of time. Tassadduq Hussain should survive the odds!

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