The much-awaited movie that tells the Tale of Kashmir in a unique way, Songs of Paradise was released on Amazon Prime Video on August 29, 2025. Directed by Danish Renzu, Songs Of Paradise revolves around a Kashmiri girl who wen onto become the valley's first female radio singer.
Since you have landed on this page, True Scoop assumes that you are digging deep into Songs of Paradise True Story or Songs of Paradise Real Story and moreover, the character of Azaad Maqbool Shah who actually suggested Raj Begum's name to Noor Begum.
Continue reading below to know all about Songs of Paradise True Story or Songs of Paradise Real Story and real life Azaad Maqbool Shah-
Songs Of Paradise is inspired the true story of Kashmir's first female Radio singer. The movie features Saba Azad who plays the younger Noor Begum, Soni Razdan older Noor Begum, Zain Khan Durrani as Azaad Maqbool Shah, and more in the key roles.
The character of Noor Begum is inspired by Raj Begum who was also known as the Nightingale of Kashmir.
Also known as the melody queen of Kashmir, Raj Begum died at the age of 89. She was a Padma Shri awardee and a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
The character of Azaad Maqbool Shah is played by actor Zain Khan Durrani. Azaad Maqbool Shah is the son of retired Kashmiri judge who goes to the UK to study literature. Upon returning, Azaad Maqbool Shah becomes a poet, shayar and a lyricist who is also associated with Radio Kashmir.
In fact, Azaad Maqbool Shah was among the judges when Noor became first female winner of Radio Kashmir's contest.
The makers in their start credits have mentioned that Songs of Paradise is inspired by True Story of Raj Begum but it does not claim to be her biographical movie. It means, some scenes and characters in the story are fictional in nature.
True Scoop tried to dig about the poet of Radio Kashmir, under the name of Azaad Maqbool Shah who worked with Raj Begum or not. However, it could not find any name in the public domain.
Poets/lyricist of Radio Kashmir who worked with Raj Begum during her early days
During her early days, Raj Begum sang ghazals written by Rasa Javidani. For the unversed, 'Mashravthas Janane Che Kar' is directly credited to Javidani as lyricist.
Furthermore, Raj Begum also performed on songs/ghazals written by Maqbool Shah Kralwari and Mirza Arif, as well as compositions associated with writers like Rehman Rahi in projects initiated by Radio Kashmir producers.
