Playback singer Jagjit Kaur, widow of Khayyam passes away

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In a sad state of affairs, well-known playback singer Jagjit Kaur the widow of the late music composer Mohammed Zahur Khayyam passed away on Sunday morning, an aide said. She was 93 years old.

Kaur sang several songs, including the ones composed by Khayyam like "Dekh lo aaj humko" from "Bazaar", the 1982 film featuring Supriya Pathak Kapur and Farooq Shaikh; "Pehle to aankh milana" from 1961''s "Shola Aur Shabnam", starring Dharmendra; and "Tum apna ranj–o-gham apni pareshani mujhe de do" from the 1964 Waheeda Rehman-starrer "Shagoon".

According to Pritam Sharma, spokesperson of the Khayyam Jagjit Kaur KPG Charitable Trust, the singer breathed her last around 6 am at her residence in Juhu.

"The last rites will be performed with limited attendance today at Pawan Hans Crematorium, Vile Parle, here," Sharma said.

Kaur started her career in the early ''50s, singing songs in films like "Posti" (Punjabi language) and "Dil-e-Nadan", starring Talat Mehmood and Shyama. She got married to Khayyam in 1954.

She also sang a song in the Khayyam-composed memorable soundtrack, "Umrao Jaan" in 1981.

In 2016, Kaur, along with her husband-composer, started the Khayyam Jagjit Kaur KPG Charitable Trust to support budding artists and technicians in India.  Khayyam, the National Award Winner music director, had suffered a heart attack and died on August 19, 2019 at 92.

The couple had a son Pradeep Khayyam, who died in 2012 after a cardiac arrest, stunning his aged parents.