By Hina Kiyani
ISLAMABAD: Renowned music Director M Ashraf was remembered on the occasion of his birth anniversary on Thursday. Born on February 1, 1942, he got music lessons from his maternal grandfather who also happened to be uncle of veteran Pakistani music director Master Inayat Hussain. He started his film career by directing the famous song “Tu jo nahin hay tau kuchh bhi nahin hay” which was sung by playback singer SB John.
He produced music for a number of hit songs of 60s and 70s which won appreciation in the whole subcontinent. M Ashraf collaborated with his mate Manzoor Ashraf till 1967, but from Sajda he started solo work.
Famous singers like Ahmed Rushdi, Shokat Ali, Masood Rana, Alamgir, Muhammad Ali Shehki, Naheed Akhtar and Nayyara Noor, the legendary singers were introduced by him in the music industry. He continued his successful march in the 1980s despite the downfall of Urdu films and a dominance of Punjabi films. M. Ashraf’s musical journey ended with Tere Bin Jiya Na Jaye in 2005. During his career, M Ashraf won the Nigar Award for ‘Best Music’ in 6 different films including Gharana (1973), Mera Naam Hai Mohabbat (1975), Shabana (1976), Qurbani (1981), Punjabi-language films Dhee Rani (1985) and Qismet (1986).
By the end of his 45 years long career, he had composed more than 2,000 film songs for over 400 films. M Ashraf also won 14 Graduate Awards of the Pakistan film industry.
He died of a cardiac arrest on February 4, 2007 in Karachi at the age of 65.
