Music composer Wajahat Attre passes away at 68

Noted music composer Wajahat Attre passed away on Friday. He was 68.

Attre had been facing medical complications for the last few months, and was suffering from paralysis and heart problems. He was admitted to the Jinnah Hospital where he died. He has left behind three sons and a daughter.

A number of personalities from the world of entertainment attended Attre’s funeral, including singers Shaukat Ali, Anwar Ali, Ustad Ghulam Haider Khan and Qadir Ali Shagan, film director Shehzad Rafique, music composer Wazir Afzal, Radio Pakistan Sargodha Station Director Saleem Bazmi, film writer Pervaiz Kalim and poet Altaf Bajwa.

He was laid to rest at Miani Sahib graveyard. His qul will be held on Sunday at Imambargah Neelam Block, Iqbal Town.

Wajahat Attre was a son of renowned music composer Rasheed Attre. He was born in Puna, India in 1945. After Partition, his family migrated to Pakistan. He has composed music for over 200 films.

Saleem Bazmi told Dawn that although film Zarqa’s music was composed by his father Rasheed, one of the songs on the film’s soundtrack – ‘Raqs zanjeer pehen ker bhi kiya jata hai’ -- was composed by Wajahat as his father died during the making of the film.

Attre has several popular film songs to his credit such as ‘Wagdi nadi da paani’, ‘Vay ik tera pyar menu mileya’, ‘Anda teray layi reshmi rumal’ among other hits. Overall, he has composed for 3,000 film and non-film songs. The films that became popular due to their music composed by Attre were Mukhra, Chan Varyam, Naukar Woti Da and Ishq Khuda. Many a singer has sung songs composed by the eminent music director, including Madam Noor Jehan, Humera Channa, Saira Naseem, Shabnam Majeed, Saima Mumtaz and Azra Jahan.

For the last five years, Attre had been working with Radio Pakistan Lahore on contractual basis. Punjab Arts Council and Lahore Arts Council both planned to hold references in the memory of the late music composer.

Singers, actors and producers have all expressed grief on Attre’s death. Writer Pervaiz Kalim said that Attre had made a huge contribution to the film industry.

Originally published in Dawn, May 27th, 2017