Nashad

Nashad Ali Shoukat was born in Delhi, British India, in 1923.[2] He received his early academic education in a local high school in Delhi. He learned to play the flute. He moved to Bombay in the early 1940s. He composed under several names before finally settling for Nashad. Film director Nakshab Jarchavi changed Shaukat Ali's name to Nashad for his film Naghma (1953).[2] He made his music debut under the name Shaukat Dehalvi in the 1947 action film Dildaar. The director was Shiv Raj, and it had lyrics by C.M. Muneer. The cast consisted of Sagina, Yashonat, Dev Radha and Deepak. He composed as Shaukat Ali for the 1948 film Jeene Do. Made under the banner of J. Hind Chitra, its director was A. F. Keeka and K. A. Majeed, and the cast included Monica Devi, Panalal, Harish, Ratan Piya, Laila Gupta and Shanta Kanwar. He used his real name Shaukat Ali to compose for the 1948 film Payal.

In 1948, he also composed songs for film Toote Taare (1948) as Shaukat Dehalvi. Released under the banner of Sheikh Mukhtar's film production unit called "Omar Khayyam films", the director was Harish, and the cast included Shamim Banu and Motilal. In this film, he composed Mughal Empereor Bahadur Shah Zafar's famous ghazal "Na Kisi Ki Aankh Ka Noor Hoon" which became very popular throughout India. In 1949, he composed music for actor-director Yakub's film, Aiye. The film starred Yaqub and Sulochna Chatterji. In 1949, Nashad using the name Shaukat Ali Haideri composed songs for the film "Dada". The director was Harish, and it was released under the banner of "Omar Khayyam films", the cast included Sheikh Mukhtar, Begum Para, Munawwar Sultana, Shyam, Murad, Mukri, and Gullu. It was released in Jubilee cinema, Karachi. In 1953, film director, Nakshab Jarachavi, changed Shaukat Ali's name to Nashad, which he retained for the rest of his life. The story behind the name change has been written in the book "Naushad: Zarra Jo Aaftaab Bana" (Penguin). The director initially approached Naushad Ali for composing the music for his film. When Naushad Ali refused, the irate director Nakshab Jarchavi then changed Shaukat Ali's name to Nashad, to make it sound like Naushad. Nashad composed for Jarchavi's 1953 film Naghma, starring Nadira and Ashok Kumar.[1]

In August 1955, Nashad talked at length in an interview as to how composing film songs for Indian Film Industry was done back in those days. He said that when he was hired as a film music composer, his 'first job' usually was to sit with the film director and determine the musical situations in the upcoming film. After these discussions and back-and-forth suggestions, he would start composing the melodies to match with the mood of those situations in the film. Once the tune of the film song is agreed upon, then the lyricist writes the words of the approved tune.[3]

In this interview, Nashad described just one method of composing film melodies. As we know, people in the film industry sometimes also use just the opposite method of composing film songs – for example in Pakistan, the eminent poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz had written his famous nazm, Mujh Se Pehli Si Mohabbat Mere Mehboob Na Maang without having the foggiest idea that it would be later used in a 1962 Pakistani film Qaidi and then would go on to become hugely popular among the public. Of course some of the credit should also go to the music director Rasheed Attre and his son Wajahat Attre who worked very hard to come up with the final song composition (per Wajahat Attre's interview years later) and no doubt the singer Noor Jehan.[4]

He married an Indian Muslim woman when he was living there. He had eight sons and seven daughters. His oldest son, Wajid Ali Nashad, was a music composer in Pakistan who died in 2008.[10] His son Shahid Ali Nashad is a composer. Akbar Ali Nashad is also a composer and arranger. His other son, Imran Ali Nashad is a singer. Arshad Ali Nashad moved to the United States. Ahmad Ali Nashad is a cricketer. Ajmal Ali Nashad is a 'supervisor' in some company. Singer Ameer Ali (Choorian 1998 Film Fame) is also a son of Shaukat Ali Nashad. He is a film playback singer.[10] He has performed in many live shows on stage also. Lately, Ameer Ali Nashad has made his own Audio Studio. His super-hit film song is 'Karan Mein Nazara Jadon Ohdi Tasweer Da' in film Choorian (1998 film).

Nashad died on 14 January 1981 at 57 years of age after composing film music for over 60 films.[1]

• Naghma (1953)[1]
• Bara Dari (1955)[7]
• Zindagi Ya Toofan (1958)[7]
• Maikhana (1964)[2]
• Phir Subah Hogi (1966)
• Hum Dono (1966)
• Rishta Hai Pyar Ka (1967)[8]
• Tum Mile Pyar Mila (1969)
• Salgira (1969)[9]
• Chand Suraj (1970)[6]
• Sapera (1970)
• Afshan (1971)
• Rim Jhim (1971)
• Baharo Phool Barsao (1972)
• Ek Raat (1972)[6]
• Azmat (1973)
• Insaan aur Gadha (1973)[6]
• Naya Rasta(1973)
• Deedar (1974)[6]
• Zeenat (1975)[6]
• Palki (1975)[6]
• Milan (1978)[6]

• Nigar Award for Best Music Composer in Maikhana (1964 film)[11]
• Nigar Award for Best Music Composer in Salgira (1969 film)[12]

Nashad died on 14 January 1981 at age 57 after composing film music for over 60 films.[1]

• Filmography of Nashad on Complete Index To World Film (CITWF) website
• Nashad at IMDb