Noorjehan to visit India to relive the past in the company of former friends, colleagues

Noorjehan: on a nostalgic tripShe was the archetypal singing star, the heart-throb of millions in the '40s. Noorjehan, however, left India for Pakistan at the peak of her career, leaving behind a legacy of soulful songs and memorable performances such as her last role inJugnu, opposite tragedianDilip Kumar. Now, however, the melodious lady is returning to India, only on a visit of course, to relive the past in the company of former friends and colleagues. The good news of Noorjehan's return came from another of the playback tribe,Kamal Barot, who was in Pakistan recently to record a series of ghazals.Noorjehan is as famous in Pakistan as she was in this country, and, though Indians have not been able to see her on the Pakistani screen, her voice still commands a large Indian audience, which will now be able to see its idol in the flesh. One of Noorjehan's biggest fans is none other than Lata Mangeshkar, the Indian singing machine, who admitted some time ago that it took her at least six years to rid herself of her Noorjehan fixation and evolve her own style. Film music junkies must be awaiting eagerly the meeting of the two playback queens.Prabhakar : cinematic debutSingerSharon Prabhakarwho, according to husbandBrian Mascarenhas, is going on 27, has finally wandered towards greener pastures - Hindi films. After singing in night-clubs and five-star hotels all over the world, and cutting a disc with Polydor, Prabhakar has signed her first film withM. S. Sathyu, Kahan Khan Se Guzar Gaye, in which she stars opposite Anil Kapoor, another newcomer. Predictably enough, Prabhakar makes her cinematic debut as a singer and, scenting a new singing star, other producers want her to do picturisations of her songs. However, the careful Prabhakar is fighting shy of any premature decisions, and is completing her nightclub commitments, all the while scrutinising new film offers. Now that three-fourths of the film's shooting is completed, and it is scheduled for release in early December, it is just a matter of months before the crooner's acting ability is judged at the box-office.Dewan: championing feminist cinemaMale chauvinist pigs beware. A lady with a camera is coming to do battle for the exploited Indian woman. Meera Dewan, once married to the lateRobin DharmarajofChakrafame, has turned her back on the advertising trade and its lucrative misuse of the female form, and has emerged as a champion of feminism in cinema. Dewan won her spurs as co-organiser of a seminar last year on the 'Image of Women in Indian Cinema' - an event, however, more noted for its amusing sidelights than for any understanding it generated - made a film on migrant women, and has now received a Ford Foundation grant to attend a week-long Cinema of Women conference in Amsterdam, Holland.She will thus be rubbing shoulders and exchanging slogans with an exclusive breed of feminist film makers from all over the world. Enthuses Dewan: "There is an entire network of feminist cinema abroad. There are even special distribution companies. As part of her crusade to fill the gap, Dewan is helping to organise an international festival of feminist films, and plans to pressure film-and policymakers for a "more realistic picture" of women in Indian cinema. Says Dewan with a flourish of conviction: "The Government should ban films which show women in a bad light."Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 15, 2013 09:50 IST--- ENDS ---

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Noorjehan to visit India to relive the past in the company of former friends, colleagues

She was the archetypal singing star, the heart-throb of millions in the '40s. Noorjehan, however, left India for Pakistan at the peak of her career, leaving behind a legacy of soulful songs and memorable performances such as her last role in Jugnu, opposite tragedian Dilip Kumar.

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