Ghulam Ahmed Chishti
| Ghulam Ahmed Chishti | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Baba Ji (father figure) |
| Born |
17 August 1905 Jalandhar, British India |
| Died | 25 December 1994 (aged 89) Lahore, Pakistan |
| Genres | film music composer |
| Occupation(s) |
Film music director composer lyricist of film songs |
| Years active | 1935–1994 |
Ghulam Ahmed Chishti (Urdu: جی اے چشتی) (often abbreviated to G.A. Chishti) (17 August 1905 – 25 December 1994) was an Indian/Pakistani music composer, attributed as being one of the founders of Pakistani film music. He is also sometimes referred to as Baba Chishti.
Working with filmi music, Chishti excelled at Punjabi compositions and was 'apt at weaving the design of influences around Punjabi music'. With almost 5,000 tunes to his credit, he composed scores for 140–150 films and was the first musician to reach the '100 films' threshold in newly independent Pakistan after 1947. Being a poet, he had written lyrics for 12 of the most popular Pakistani film songs besides writing hundreds of other film songs during his career.
Ghulam Ahmed Chishti was born in 1905 in a small village in Jalandhar. Early in his childhood, Chishti became fond of music and would sing na`ats at his school. He was later noticed by Agha Hashar Kashmiri when Chishti came to Lahore. Kashmiri was a well-renowned writer and his works were praised throughout the Indian subcontinent and would occasionally compose songs for theatres.
Kashmiri hired Chishti to assist him with his work and offered him a salary of 50-rupees- per month. Under Kashmiri's influence, Chishti began learning the intricacies of the music industry and trained with him. Upon Kashmiri's death, Chishti joined a recording company and began composing on his own. Amongst his first records were those for Jaddanbai and Amirbai Karnataki in British India before 1947.
Chishti is responsible for bringing Noor Jehan to the Lahore stage when she was 9-years-old in 1935. Noor Jehan since then had continued working with Chishti after his later migration to Lahore, Pakistan. He started his career composing music for the films with Deen-o-Dunya in 1936. Once he got recognised, he was offered to compose music for L. R. Shori's film Sohni Mahival in 1938. It should be noted here that there was an earlier movie 'Sohni Mahiwal (1933) also. Later the Censor Board banned his composition for the song Aik Shehr Ki Londiya from the film Shukriya in 1944 bestowing much needed attention upon the composer. He became known for his compositions both in Urdu and Punjabi languages. Baba Chishti also had given some music lessons to the now well-known Indian film musician Khayyam, when Khayyam was still young and briefly had come over to Lahore.
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