Although Burman started composing Bengali music in 1937, he achieved national fame with tracks sung by Begum in Hindi films. Burman was not well established as a music director in Hindi films until 1946; he then asked Begum to sing in his debut Hindi film as music director, "Shikari" (1946), with the song, "Kuch Rang Badal Rahi". In 1949, came "Shabnam", in which Burman asked her to sing duets named "Pyar Main Tumne" and "Kismat Bhi Bhichadna" with Mukesh, which became popular. "Shabnam" was Burman's biggest hit to that date with Filmistan, and was especially noticeable for its multilingual song "Yeh Duniya Roop ki Chor", sung by Begum and acted by Kamini Kaushal, which became another hit. Burman subsequently asked her to sing tracks in "Bazar", "Mashaal", "Bahar", "Shahenshah", "Miss India", and other films. The song "Jaam Tham Le" from "Shahenshah" was a trendsetter for Burman compositions.