ISLAMABAD: The 81st birth anniversary of popular Urdu and Punjabi playback singer of 1960s and ’70s, Naseem Nazli Begum, popularly known as Mala Begum was observed across the country on Monday.

Mala was born in Faisalabad, her real name is Naseem Begum. She was the younger sister of Pakistan’s first female music director Shamim Nazli.

During the 60s and the 70s, the film industry in Pakistan had a rich pool of female singers, Mala Begum was of the top female voices in the country and along with, Madam Noor Jehan and Runa Laila, she ruled the hearts till the mid 70s.

Mala Begum still rule million hearts Mala Begum she was the top female voices in the country and along with Noor Jehan and Runa Laila, she ruled the hearts till the mid 70s, Private news channels reported.

Prominent musician GA Chishti introduced her in a Punjabi film ‘Aabroo’ in 1961. Her first Urdu film was Suraj Mukhi in which she changed her name to Mala and sang a simple Urdu composition, Aaya re dekho for the film Sooraj Mukhi (1962). But she got breakthrough from film Mehboob in 1962 with this super hit song: Sapno mein urri urri jaun.

She sang the most number of duets with Ahmed Rushdi. She was born in Faisalabad on November 9, 1939.

In the 1960s, Mala was a ‘hit pair for singing duet film songs’ with singer Ahmed Rushdi and they had numerous hits.

She sang many super hit songs in her two-decade career in the 1960s and 1970s. Mala’s career suffered with the arrival of Runa Laila in the Pakistani film industry.

She sang more than 300 songs in almost two decades singing career. Mala equally popular in the East wing of Pakistan and play-backed for Shabnam in this classic films.

The last days of Mala were fraught with loneliness and misery. She could not come to grips with the harsh realities of life. Above all, she found herself in the midst of deep financial crisis. Mala Begum died on March 6, 1990.