Tamancha Jan

Gulzar Begum, also known as Tamancha Jan (Urdu: تمانچا جان; born 1918) was a Pakistani folk singer. She was known as The Singing Siren and The Nightingale of Lahore. She was a popular playback singer of the 1930s and 1940s in the Indian cinema.

Gulzar's older brother Umar Hayat was a Chaudhary of Bazaar Heera Mandi during the 1940s. In the 1930s Ghulam Haider was looking for new singers and he was fascinated by Punjabi folk songs then he heard about Tamancha Jan and he was impressed by her fame so he invited her for an audition at Radio Lahore Station which she accepted. After she auditioned he liked her deep voice so she recorded her first microphone song and was credited as Miss Tamancha Jan.

Career In 1929, she made her debut as a child actress in Abdur Rashid Kardar's silent film Husn Ka Daku (1929) as Gulzar also called Mysterious Eagle which was the first production of United Players Corporation and later in 1931 she acted again in A. R. Kardar's film Khooni Katar also called Golden Dagger.

In 1935 she did her first playback singing in the Punjabi film Shela Alias Pind Di Kurri and she sang the song Jagga Jamimiya Tay Milan which was a hit song played frequently in Punjab. She also sang the song Lung a Jaa Patan Chanahn which was originally sung by Noor Jehan in the film Shela Alias Pind Di Kurri but it was not released on gramophone record.

Then the following year she worked for Dalsukh M. Pancholi and the studios released its first Punjabi film it was written by Wali Sahib which was directed by Barkat Mehra and produced by Dalsukh M. Pancholi. The film's music was composed by Ghulam Haider and she sang the song Ghook Meri Qismat So Geyi Zaroor Oye. The film was shown at Lahore's Upper Mall. He later wrote about her in his books Nautch Girls of India and Lahore: A Sentimental Journey.

Personal life Gulzar was married and she had four children.

Filmography Film Year Film Language 1929 Husn Ka Daku Hindi 1931 Khooni Katar Hindi 1935 Sheila Alias Pind Di Kudi Punjabi 1939 Gul Bakavli Punjabi 1942 Khandan Urdu 1981 Billu Sher Punjabi 1986 Qasai Puttar Punjabi