Sohail Rana: Musings on music |
Written by Anis Shakur | |||
was born in his native city, Agra, Uttar Pardesh, India, in 1938, to a highly literary, academic and respectable family.Rana Akbar Abadi migrated to Karachi, Pakistan. Soon after partition, young Sohail, who was in his ninth year at that time, resumed his education and subsequently passed his intermediate examination. He demonstrated an unusual aptitude for music as a teenager. He learned music from various experts and familiarized himself with numerous musical instruments, which added to his experience. During his primary education days, he was admitted to late A.M. Qureshi’s Mary Colaso School, Karachi, where Sohail Rana and Waheed Murad were class fellows. In 1964, Sohail Rana composed the super hit songs for the golden jubilee film, ‘Heera aur pathar’. At the end of every accomplishment, he raised his levels of aspiration and expectation. One could discern that every piece of music were torn straight from his soul. Sohail Rana earned plaudits from his fans for the superb composition of ‘Mujhay tum say mohabbat hai’ (Film: ‘Heera aur pathar’ singers: Ahmed Rushdi-Najma Niazi) which figuratively added fresh elements to his stew. Pakistan’s first platinum jubilee film, ‘Armaan’ was released in 1966, which may be the finest and most gripping movie to date. It is an epic tale of broken hearts and broken dreams. Further, he won the Nigar and graduate award for the best composer for the film ‘Armaan’. Furthermore, movies like ‘Heera aur pathar’ and ‘Armaan’ also shows that the best of the human soul has not yet died. According to the proponents of music, Sohail Rana’s contribution to the cause of music is immense and that it ranks him among the most acclaimed composers in Pakistani music history. To listen to the musical genius, Sohail Rana, is an experience like no other. Over and above, his compositions seems to echo his sentiments. By the end of 1966, music maestro, Sohail Rana, had reached his zenith with astonishing rapidity. In the words of the film journalists of the 1960s. ‘Sohail Rana is growing by, well leaps and bounds’. Parables of love, vividly caught by Sohail Rana, while composing the songs like ‘Akele na jana’, not only brought fresh laurels to him but also rekindled the old flames which is much easier with Sohail Rana’s music than one may think.
The rhythm of sound is music and Sohail Rana can best be described as maestro of the music. His is a music which can lift people above particular circumstances and inspire them. Sohail Rana, who is widely known as an extremely decent human being, worked diligently and came out with yet more superfluous compositions for the film ‘Ehsaan’ in 1967. The idea which keeps him motivated is the glory of his remarkable achievement. His charm and musical virtuosity had won every heart. The film ‘Ehsaan’ attained silver jubilee with such favorites as ‘Ik naye maur pay’, ‘Aye mere zindigi aye meray hum safar’, ‘Do akhian, ye do sakhian’. Sohail Rana’s musical career is a success story with few parallels. Celebrated composer, Sohail Rana, unleashed all his artistic talents, while composing songs for the film ‘Doraha’: ‘Mujhay tum nazar say gira to rahay ho’, ‘Bhooli huwee hoon dastaan’ ‘tumhain kaisay bata doon tum meri manzil ho’. The songs he composed for ‘Doraha’ also evinces that he is an extraordinary musician and an authority of the highly specialized realm of composition, where his competency and artistic skills are unmatched. His adorers are surrounded by a lifetime of numerous memories of his immortal compositions. Over the years, he worked his magic throughout Pakistan and across the borders. His magnificent compositions for the Nazm ‘Qasm us waqt ki, jab zindigi karwat badalti hai’(film: ‘Qasam us waqt ki’(Director: A.G. Kardar, Lyricist: Josh Malih Abadi, singer: Mujeeb Alam) is a corner stone of Pakistani entertainment, that reflect reality. He produced lilting music for director Pervez Malik’s movie, ‘Meray hum safar’, three of its popular numbers are listed here below: ‘Wada karo milo gey’ (Mujeeb Alam) ‘Hai bay qarar tamanna’ (Mujeeb Alam) ‘Tujh jaisa dagha baaz’ (Runa Laila)
I am pretty sure that if some one were to ask Sohail Rana what he thanks God for most, then presumably his answer would be that he would thank God, for giving him the gift of composing songs and the ability to listen to them. During the early 1970s, he took a job with the Pakistan television corporation and redoubled his efforts to compose national songs. His musical masterpieces, ‘Sohni dharti’ (singer: Shehnaz Begum, lyricist: Masroor Anwar) has become part and parcel of Pakistani culture. Moving beyond songs, Sohail Rana had the common touch and he used it well, perhaps, peerlessly so. He lent background music for the documentary film ’Moenjodaro’. Beloved by audiences as well as a new generation of listeners, Sohail Rana had a knack for finding the best in music. Consequently he received the prestigious Presidential award of excellence, EMI gold disc award for the vinyl album,’Khyber Mail’ and also the United Nations peace messenger award. Along the way, he achieved legendary status by influencing and shaping the Pakistani culture- He participated and represented Pakistan in various international music festivals.Prominent among them were jashn-e-Kabul (1977) Carnival, Australia, (1978), Cultural Troupe, Fiji islands (1981), Cultural Troupe to Romania and Russia (1983) Children festival,Jordan (1987), Pacific traditional music,China (1987). Sohail Rana is a flame.It is a flame that burned its best and brightest for over two decades.During which he served in the ministry of culture as director general (1976-78) and headed the project of national orchestra and choral ensemble of Pakistan. He has done what I do not think anybody else has done: be victorious in both Urdu and English films: His superfluous composition for Javed Jabbar’s bilingual movie, ’Musafir’ , whose English version ’Beyond the last mountain’is the first Pakistani film produced in English language. Moreover, ’Beyond the last mountain’ won the critical acclaim by the renowned Indian actor, Raj Kapoor, at the Bombay film festival. The film ’Hesaab’ which was released in 1986, happened to be the last movie for which Sohail Rana composed songs. Two of those movies, ’Guriya’ and ’Pagal’ could not be released. However, popular numbers from the film ’Guriya’ are available on cassettes and vinyl EPs. Though Sohail Rana has settled in Canada and does not take active participation in music today, the human spark, spirit, compassion, love and understanding which are the basic ingredients of his music and which have been imbibed in the hearts of a myriad of music lovers the world over, will never go away.
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