A. Hameed

A. Hameed (or real name Sheikh Abdul Hameed) began his career from film Anjam (1957) and got breakthrough from film Saheli in 1960. His composition Na Milta Gar Yeh Touba Ka Sahara.. was the most popular film Qawwali from film Touba in 1964.

A. Hameed composed music in around about 70 movies, some of his big musical movies were Raat Kay Rahi (1960), Aulad (1962), Touba, Aashiana (1964), Eid Mubarak (1965), Behan Bhai (1968), Sharik-e-Hayyat (1968), Dosti (1971), Gharnata, Yeh Amn (1971), Angaray (1972), Khawb Aur Zindagi (1973), Samaj, Bahisht (1974), Surayya Bhoopali, Sohni Mehinwal (1976), Awaz (1978) etc.

A. Hameed was born in Amritsar, India and died on May 20, 1991 in Lahore.

Read the detailed article on A. Hameed by Inaam Nadeem, Karachi

(This article was first published on the old site on 20.5.2004)

Well known composer of Pakistan, Shaikh Abdul Hameed, who is widely known as A Hameed, was born in Amritsar. His father, Shaikh Muhammad Munir was a professor of music at DAV College in Amritsar and was known for his rare collection of books on music. Munir had composed music for two well-known films: Akhri Ghalti and Inder Raj. Following in the footsteps of his father, the young A. Hameed also studied music. He acted in school plays and composed music. His father died, while A. Hameed was still a freshman in college.

His uncle, M. Aslam was a famous movie star in Bombay's film world, invited his young nephew there. Enrolling at Poona Film Institute, A Hameed was taught by famous musicians: Ramchandra and Ustad Muhammed Ali. Pretty soon, he had carved a name for himself. From Bombay, he moved to Lahore, where his name became famous as a leading music composer for Pakistani movies. Producer Jafar Shah Bukhari introduced A Hameed as music director first time in his debut film Anjaam released 1957. His superfluous compositions in Anjaam won the hearts of music lovers. Jafar Shah Bukhari again selected A Hameed for his next two films Bharosa (1958) and Faisla (1959). His music in these films was appreciated but popularity was still far away from A Hameed. His next film was Raat kay Rahi released in 1960. In this film he composed music for many popular songs like:

Teri ulfat mein Sanam dil ne buhat dard sahe.. (Zubaida Khanum)
Ae Badlon ke rahi.. (Zubaida Khanum)
Kissi se nazar takra geyi.. (Ahmad Rushdi)

In the same year S M Yousuf's Saheli was released. Saheli was a huge success, essentially due to A Hameed's effective music. He became instance famous as a leading music composer of Pakistan. Naseem Begum's hit song:

Ham bhool geye har baat magar tera pyar nahin bhoole..

became popular in the whole subcontinent. (After many years, this song was copied in an Indian film and sung by Lata Mangeshkar), Other hit songs of "Saheli" include:

Kahin do dil jo mil jatey bigarta kya zamane ka.. (Naseem Begum & Salim Raza)
Ham ne jo phool chune dil mein chubhe jaate hain.. (Naseem Begum)
Mukhrey pey sehra daale aaja o aane waale.. (Naseem Begum).

Aulaad (1962) was another successful achievement of A Hameed, having all hit songs like:

Naam le le ke tera hum to jiye jaen ge.. (Naseem Begum),
Tum mile pyar mila ab koi armaan nahin.. (Naseem Begum - Munir Hussain)

His next film Tauba was released in 1964. Munir Hussain and Salim Raza's Qawali song:

Na milta gar ye tauba ka sahaara hum kahaan jaate..

was the high light of the film and Noor Jehan's evergreen song

O re sanam dil yeh kiase bataye..

is still rememberd. In the same year A Hameed composed music for Nateeja, Aashyana and Peghaam, some memorable songs from Aashyana include:

Ja re be dardi tone hamein kahein ka na chhora.. (Mala)
Bare sangdil ho bare na samajh ho.. (Mala - Ahmad Rushdi)
Jo dil ko torte hayn, un ka bhi jawab nahin.. (Munir Hussain)

Film Peghaam had also some melodious compositions like:

Teri khaatir jal rahe hain kab se parwane.. (Noor Jehan)
Mohbbat dard mein dooba huwa peghaam.. (Noor Jehan).

Thereafter music for S A Hafiz's film Shabnam (1965) was composed by him with some marvelous songs:

Chun liya mein ne tumhein saara jahan rehne diya.. (Noor Jehan)
Jo kisi ke qareeb hotey hay, woh khushnaseeb hotey hayn.. (Saleem Raza)

Mein who nahein (1967) was another instance, where A Hameed again waved a spell through his music:

Mere mehboob tujhe yaad karoon ya na karoon.. (Noor Jehan)
Nawazish karam sukriya mehrbaani.. (Mehdi Hassan).

In 1968, his two films Behan Bhai and Sharik-e-Hayat were released. Shareek-e-Hayaat had the popular songs:

Tere liye o jaan-e-jaan laakhon sitam uthaeinge.. (Noor Jehan)
Kisse aawaz doon tere siwa.. (Mala)
Baat karni mujhe mushkil kabhi aisi to na thi.. (Mehdi Hassan)
Mere dil de Sanam Kahney mein, ik tasveer aisi hay.. (Masood Rana)

while in film Behan Bhai:

Kash koi mujh ko samjhata, meri samjh mein kuchh nahin aata... (Ahamd Rushdi)
Chhun chhum naache, jhanan jhanan gaye..
sung by Mala & Masood Rana was a beautiful composition.

In 1969, he composed music for Bahu Rani:

Taqdeer ki gardish peh na ro ae mere Mehboob..

sung by Noor Jehan was a memorable song of the film. In 1971, Ejaz Durrani's film Dosti's mega hit songs extols the virtues of A Hameed's top rated compositions. Dosti was the second Diamond Jubilee film of Pakistan, shoot in England, Noor Jehan sung mega hit songs in this film include:

Chithi zara sayyan ji ke naam likh de..
Ye waadyaan ye parbatoon ki shah zaadiyan..
Bas gaya tu sotanya ke duwar sajna..
Sajna bhool na jaana mera pyaar..

A lot of A Hameed songs are heard and enjoyed even today for their freshness and melody. He had spent most of his life pursuing the ragas of classical music and fine tuning them for Pakistani movies.

Temperamentally, he was a quiet, good-natured humble artist who shied away from publicity. He also played the piano. In 1983, he was working for Pakistan National Arts Council in Rawalpindi.

He was a singer too but sang privately. But his role as a composer has been acknowledged and revered by singers and listeners alike.

On May 20, 1991, A. Hameed died in Rawalpindi. But his music composition lives on.