Did You Know - 'Dama Dum Mast Qalandar' Traces Its Roots Back To Bangaldesh
Did you know this fact about 'Dama Dum Mast Qalandar'?
The Bangladesh singer Runa Laila of the ‘Dama Dum Mast Qalandar’ hit Sufi number sang several songs for Bollywood. It was music director Jaidev who gave her a break in Bollywood. She made waves and none other than melody queen Lata Mangeshkar who was down with fever wrapped a shawl around her to attend her concert in which also rendered the by now famous “Dama Dum”. Runa Laila sang for several years in Bollywood and her name in those days was recorded in the Guinness World of Records for recording 30 songs within 3 days. In 1982, she won the Golden Disk Award for her album ‘Superuna’ composed by Bappi Lahiri, which sold over 1 lakh copies on the first day of its release. Her popular songs include the duet, “Do Diwane Shehar mein, with Bhupinder in Gharonda.
“Dama Dum Mast Qalandar”, a qawwali that is rooted in Sufi spiritualism and in folk music traditions that have no boundaries, has many popular Bollywood versions. The most popular Bollywood version is by music director Viju Shah. He produced the hit song "Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast '' in the film Mohra (1994), sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy & Udit Narayan. Raveena Tandon and Paresh Raval performed it. Its soundtrack album sold more than 8 million units.
Runa’s maternal uncle was playback singer Subir Sen, popular in Kolkata and in Bollywood in the 1960s-70 but Runa began her career with Pakistan TV (PTV) as a teen artist. She moved to Bangladesh in 1974 and revived her Indian connections. A regular on Bangladesh TV she has sung in 17 languages. It was Runa who brought “Dama Dum Mast Qalandar '' to India and made herself a household name in the country. It remains her most sought-after number across generations and boundaries. The origin of the song goes back to the 12th century. It was modified by Punjab's Bulleh Shah in the 18th century. The origins of the poem are unknown since no recordings or written documents exist mentioning it prior to the 1950s. It is said to have been written by Amir KHUSRO in honour of the revered Sufi saint of Sindh, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (1177–1274) of Sehwan Sharif, now in Pakistan. Over the years, the song, still sung at Sufi shrines, has moved on to become a foot-thumping pop number.
The change came in the last century when it was adopted by Bollywood and Lollywood (Lahore).
The most popular modern rendition of the song in Pakistan is Ashiq
Hussain's "Dama Dum Mast Qalandar '' from the 1969 Pakistani film
Dillan Dey Soudey, where it was modified by Nazir Ali and sung by Noor
Jehan. That was also the year that saw the rise of Runa Laila.
