SONGS have always been an integral part of movies in the subcontinent. A point to remember is that film music has been borrowed from different sources — folk, Sufi and classical, and songs have been penned by some of the finest Urdu and Hindi poets.

Sadly, no Pakistani book on the subject, except the one by Raza Ali Abidi, is authenticated and properly documented. A recent one on Pakistani and Indian singers — Dur Koi Gaye by Zakhmi Kanpuri — is strewn with errors.

For instance, when eulogising Iqbal Bano the writer gives credit to poet Abdul Hameed Adam for writing Dagh-i-dil ham ko yaad aane lage, though it was penned by Baqi Siddiqi. A few pages later he messes up the second line of her song. Instead of Piya ne aisi aankh milai, he writes Sainyan ne kaisi aankh milai. Another misquoting is in the Indian song Hai ye wohi aasman aur hai wohi zameen. The author also fails to mention that the song was a tandem recorded in the voices of Talat Mahmood and Asha Bhosle.

In the chapter on Nayyara Noor, Kanpuri states that the movie, Gharana's popular song Tera saya jahan bhi ho sajna was her first film song but according to the singer herself this number was recorded well after her first film song Iss parcham ke saye taley hum eik hain had become a chartbuster.

The writer fails to mention that Nayyara's main contribution lies in the realm of television music, just as he doesn't point out that Mehdi Hasan achieved greater success as a ghazal singer.

Also, the Indian composer Jamal Sen, scored music for the movie Humein Bhi Jeene Do under the pseudonym C. Faiz and not C. Qais, as mentioned by Kanpuri.

For the future if the author prints a second edition of the book, it should be vetted by someone whose memory is more reliable.

Dur Koi Gaye
(MUSIC)
By Zakhmi Kanpuri
City Book Point, Karachi
288pp. Rs350