M. Ashraf

M. Ashraf or Muhammad Ashraf (1 February 1942 – 4 February 2007) was a Pakistani film composer. In the early 1960s, he first started as one member of the music directors duo of Manzoor - Ashraf in the Pakistan film industry.
By the end of his 45 years long career, he had composed more than 2,000 film songs for over 400 films compared to many other music directors in Pakistan.
Early life and career.
M. Ashraf got music lessons from his 'Nana' ( maternal grandfather who also happened to be a 'Mamu' (uncle) of veteran Pakistani music director Master Inayat Hussain (1916 – 26 March 1993). M. Ashraf first assisted his uncle (Mamu in Urdu language) music director Akhtar Hussain Akhian for five years. He started his film career with a teammate Master Manzoor with (1959 film Savera hit song "Tu jo nahin hay tau kuchh bhi nahin hay") sung by playback singer S. B. John. Film Saperan (1961) was another hit film and the song Chand Sa Mukhra Gora Badan was another super-hit film song which gained singer Ahmed Rushdi his first Nigar Award. Thus this two-music-directors-team was created that went by the name Manzoor - Ashraf. Both musicians worked with each other from 1956 to 1967 and then "M. Ashraf" decided to go solo in 1967 with film "Sajda (1967)".
"Manzoor Ashraf" duo or team had musicians Master Manzoor and Muhammad Ashraf in it. Together, they composed music in 26 films in the 1960s. After separation from music director Master Manzoor, his first film as M Ashraf alone was Sajda in 1967. In the 1970s, he reached the peak of his film career and composed music for many big hit films. 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" (2005).
Playback singers introduced by him.
Famous folk singer Shaukat Ali was introduced in film director Haidar Chodhary's inaugural super- hit musical film Tees Mar Khan in 1963. Naheed Akhtar was introduced by him in film Nanha Farisha in 1974 with the song:
"Janey kyun dil tarapta rehta hay, Aao jee addi tappa gaen". Nayyara Noor actually had her first appearance in Punjabi film Ziddi (1973 film) but her first super- hit song was composed by M Ashraf. "Rajab Ali" appeared in his film Yaden in 1971 with a super hit duet song with Noor Jehan. Asad Amanat Ali Khan was introduced by M Ashraf in film Saheli (1978).
M Ashraf set new records in Pakistan (recorded thousands of film songs) working mainly with 5 major film playback singers of his time, namely with Noor Jehan, Mehdi Hassan, Naheed Akhtar, Masood Rana, and Ahmed Rushdi while also introducing new talent such as Ghulam Abbas, A. Nayyar, Alamgir, Mohammed Ali Shehki, Rajab Ali, Anwar Rafi and many other upcoming new artists of that era to the broader audience of movies and pop radio airplays.
Awards and recognition.
During his career, M. Ashraf won the Nigar Award for 'Best Music' in 6 different films- film Gharana (1973), film Mera Naam Hai Mohabbat (1975), film Shabana (1976), film Qurbani (1981), Punjabi-language films "Dhee Rani" (1985) and Qismet (1986).
Death and legacy.
M Ashraf died of a cardiac arrest on 4 February 2007 in Karachi, Pakistan at the age of 65.
"He had the distinction of working with film directors such as S. Suleman, Nazrul Islam, M. Javed Fazil, Pervez Malik, Shamim Ara, Iqbal Akhtar, Jan Mohammad and Hasan Askari. And banking on his music, they all tasted success."
Even during M. Ashraf's lifetime and after his death, his son, M. Arshad has "emerged as a formidable musician" with hit films to his credit such as Bulandi (1990 film), Jeeva (1995 film), Dopatta Jal Raha Hai (1998 film), Jungle Queen (2000 film), Salakhain (2004 film). His two other sons are Nadeem Ashraf and Salman Ashraf.