Firdaus, Heer-Personified, Departs
By Dr Asif Javed
Williamsport, PA
Life creates strange bedfellows. But what Hasan Abbas Raza saw in a hospital room, where he had gone to visit ailing Madam Noor Jahan, really surprised him:
There was another visitor too in the room, in shabby dress, and wearing worn-out shoes. She looked familiar. As I struggled to recognize her, Madam introduced us, “This is Firdaus…the one of Heer Ranjha fame.” This was a rude shock to me for the woman sitting next to me had hardly any resemblance to beautiful Firdaus who had immortalized Heer. Madam then clarified, “She used to be my rival but I did not hate her. It was Ijaz who was unfaithful to both of us. Believe me I loved him from the core of my heart. But he was such (a vulgar remark).”
Firdaus did not find it easy to be noticed in Bollywood. She had minor roles in a few movies, mostly as a dancer, including one in Nakshab Charjawi’s Fanoos. Nakshab, had arrived in Pakistan from India after directing Zindagi ya Toofan - a huge success. Great things were expected of him. But Fanoos, and later, Maikhana, were both flops. It was Shabab Keranwi’s Insaniyat that got Firdaus noticed. Shabab’s assistant Agha Jamsheri was the one who escorted that unknown dancer from Lahore’s Red-light area to Shabab’s office. This is his narrative:
Shabab was looking for a new heroine for Malang; he said to me that he had seen the songs of Ashfaq Malik’s movie and had really liked that dancer; she is beautiful and a good dancer; her name is Firdaus; trace her down and bring her here. I knew Firdaus’ family quite well since her brother had been my school mate…It was the month of Moharram that I visited her. Firdaus was sitting on a mat…I said, “Get ready quickly. Shabab wants to see you”…She was hesitant but eventually agreed…As I introduced her to Shabab, I could tell that he was smitten. She was signed up for four movies right there.
Agha reports that Shabab, already married with children, became romantically involved with Firdaus. Down the road as Firdaus’ career took off, and she started to ignore him, Shabab suffered much emotionally and had a heart attack. Down the road, Agha witnessed another episode that sheds light on Firdaus’ character. He saw her sitting with a young man, a big landowner who wanted to marry her. Agha suggested to Firdaus that she should agree. Her response: “This guy is not fit to sit in my feet.” The significance of this remark will be clear to readers later.
Listing all her movies is unnecessary and beyond the scope of this article. Suffice to say that most were usual formula stuff and have become the part of history’s garbage can. But a cursory glance reveals an unusual pattern. Firdaus acted in at least four movies based on tragic Punjabi romances: Heer Seyal, Mirza Jut, Murad Baloch and Heer Ranjha. And her hero in three of the four was Ijaz. Jamsheri, who had known her for years, notes that Firdaus was of a romantic disposition. Early in her career, there were rumors that she had secretly married Akmal, then the leading hero of Punjabi movies. A drug addict, Akmal passed on the menace of addiction to Firdaus who struggled with addiction for years. The producer of Mirza Jut was Sheikh Nazir. He was enamored of Firdaus. There were rumors that he had started that movie just to get close to Firdaus. A good dancer, and a decent actress, Firdaus used to captivate the audience with her tall, graceful figure and a face adorned with bewitching eyes.
Mirza Jut was a success. This was Firdaus and Ijaz’s first movie together and they fell in love. Ijaz then announced Heer Ranjha that he was to produce. For his movie, Ijaz assembled a dream team: Masood Pervaiz, the director; Ahmad Rahi, the lyricist; Khurshid Anwar, the composer; and Masaud ur Rehman (brother of Indian actor Rehman) as the cameraman. While Ijaz chose himself to be the hero, for Heer, there was only one obvious choice: Firdaus. And what a wonderful movie it was! Those who have seen Heer Ranjha from India, directed by Chetan Anand, are mostly in agreement that the Pak version was superior. While Heer Ranjha was a good movie on the whole, what really made it stand out was Firdaus’ portrayal of Heer. It seems that she had been tailor made for that role. There have been several movies about this popular love story. But Firdaus played Heer like never seen before. It became a career defining role for her, her magnum opus, like Mother India had been to Nargis, Mughal e Azam for Madhubala and Pakeeza for Meena Kumari. Sadly, this was also her high-water mark. Though she was around for several more years, it was downhill after Heer Ranjha.
An unexpected problem developed while Heer Ranjha was in production. Khurshid Anwar needed Noor Jahan’s voice for Heer. Noor Jahan’s marriage with Ijaz, the producer and hero, was in turmoil because of Firdaus’ ongoing affair with Ijaz. Naturally, Noor Jahan refused to sing. K. Anwar, a perfectionist, wasn’t willing to compromise. The crisis was averted at the last moment when Noor Jahan unexpectedly showed up for recording. This was a last desperate, but failed, attempt by Noor Jahan to please Ijaz and to woo him away from Firdaus. The songs were recorded, and with K. Anwar’s superb tunes, made HeerRanjha’s music a memorable one.
A career spanning more than two decades, Firdaus’ first major hit was Malangi in 1965. Mahee waysanoon phul naan janween, composed by Master Abdullah (younger brother of Master Inayat Hussain), a popular song, was filmed on Firdaus. While Punjabi movies were her forte, Firdaus did act in a small number of Urdu movies, too. One of those was Ansoo (1972) in which she played the role of Shahid’s mother. Ansoo has been forgotten but an incident involving Firdaus, Shahid and a graveyard merits some detail.
Shahid Hamid was then new in movies. He later developed a reputation for being a flirt. He went through marriages and affairs with several actresses. Miani Sahib is the oldest and largest graveyard of Lahore. There are parts of it so desolate that one is reluctant to go there alone even in daytime. Late at night, strange and loud sounds were heard coming from Miani Sahib. People from the vicinity were scared but eventually went in to investigate. What they saw startled them: Firdaus, the leading heroine of the day, was there along with Shahid; there was suspicion that both were intoxicated. A story was later cocked up that Shahid was crying while visiting his mother’s grave. Some wanted to call the police but the matter was hushed up. Several newspapers carried this story the next day. People were aghast. Miani Sahib, the final abode of luminaries like K. Anwar, Manto and Agha Hashar, has witnessed a lot over the centuries. But this bizarre episode easily ranks among its strangest. One wonders what would Manto, who wrote several colorful sketches in Ganjay Farishte, have written about Firdaus.
No account of Firdaus’ life is complete without Ijaz and Noor Jahan. While the traditional love triangle involves one woman and two men, in this case, it was the opposite. Firdaus, the leading lady of Punjabi screen, and Noor Jahan, powerful and highly respected diva, were both wooing Ijaz. Ijaz, a handsome but mediocre actor, had married Noor Jahan back in the 50s. Ijaz was several years younger than Noor Jahan who was divorced and mother of three. Afaqi speculates that by mid-60s, Ijaz had started to regret his decision to marry her although by then he had fathered three daughters. Noor Jahan was deeply in love with Ijaz who was madly in love with Firdaus. And so it was until a strange news came from London.
Ijaz was found in possession of heroin at London’s Heathrow Airport. It was concealed in the prints of Heer Ranjha. Convicted, he was jailed. As a gesture of support, Noor Jahan rushed to London and was often seen at the Brixton Jail entrance getting her name in the day’s visitor book. Firdaus, to Noor Jahan’s chagrin, did also visit Ijaz there. It is unknown if the two rivals ever came face to face in the British capital.
It was at that point that Firdaus, lonely and depressed, relapsed into drug addiction. This began to affect her career. She gained weight, would often be late, missed her dates or turned up in no fit state to perform. She was still in demand. The directors were willing to accommodate her. But for how long? Gradually, her film career came to an end and she faded from public memory.
While Ijaz was in jail abroad, his affairs in Lahore were looked after by Taj, an employee who had also been a go-between Ijaz and Firdaus. And he was the one that Firdaus suddenly got married to one day. This news shocked the film industry. Firdaus, darling of thousands, who had once told Jamsheri that a young, landlord was not worth sitting in her feet, ended up marrying a lowly office worker of her former lover. Released from prison, Ijaz returned to Pakistan. His film career almost over, he too quietly got married to director Sharif Nayyar’s daughter. In his 80s, and reportedly in poor health, his reaction to Firdaus’ recent death was unknown until his own death a few days ago.
Despite several failed marriages and liaisons, Firdaus did not squander her wealth. Owner of a shopping plaza, she lived comfortably in Gulberg with her children until her recent death after a stroke. Insiders report that she had been generous to her extended family and the poor. Firdaus came from a place of ill repute--that was not her choice. She had several character flaws--who doesn’t? She struggled to survive in a man’s world before we heard of the MeToo movement. Her legacy is a tour de force performance in HeerRanjha that made Waras Shah’s Heer come alive and dazzle a generation. And that is how she deserves to be remembered.
References :
Filmi Alaf Laila by Ali Sufyan Afaqi; Lakshmi Chowk by Yasin Gorija; Chand Chehre by Ashna; Mere Meherban Mere Charagar by Hasan Abbas Raza; Ahde Shabab by Agha Jamsheri
(The writer is a physician in Williamsport, PA and may be reached at asifjaved@comcast.net )
