Wednesday, September 4, 2013
MEHDI HASSAN KHAN (July 18,
1927 – June 13, 2012) was a Pakistani ghazal singer and a
former playback singer for Lollywood. He is famously known as the
"King of Ghazal". In 1979, he was awarded K. L. Saigal Sangeet
Shehenshah Award by the Government of India. Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar,
who has been awarded Bharat Ratna, once compared his songs to the
"voice of god". He was honored with Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Pride
of Performance and Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the Government
of Pakistan. In 1983, in the court of King Birendra he was
awarded Gorkha Dakshina Bahu by the Government of Nepal. He
remained a leading singer of film industry along with Ahmed Rushdi. Mehdi
Hassan died on 13 June 2012 after a protracted illness, in a private hospital
in Karachi. The highest civilian honor of Pakistan is conferred on himNishan-e-Imtiaz.
Mehdi
Hassan was born on 18 July 1927 in a village called Luna, Rajasthan in jhunjhunu
district in India into a family of traditional musicians. He
claims to be the 16th generation of hereditary musicians hailing from the
Kalawant clan of musicians. Mehdi Hassan had his musical grooming from his
father Ustad Azeem Khan and uncle Ustad Ismail Khan who were both traditional
Dhrupad singers. Hassan started to perform at a young age and the first concert
of dhrupad and kheyal with his elder brother is reported to have been held in Fazilka Bungla, near
present DC House (1935) of Undivided Punjab. After the Partition of India,
20-year-old Hassan and his family migrated to Pakistan and suffered severe
financial hardships.
Mehdi initially started working in Chichawatni, in a bicycle
shop. He later became a car and diesel tractor mechanic. Despite the financial
hardships, he kept up the routine of practice on a daily basis.
In 1957, Mehdi Hassan was given the opportunity to sing on Radio
Pakistan, primarily as a thumri singer, which earned him recognition
within the musical fraternity. He had a passion for Urdu poetry, and
therefore, he began to experiment by singing ghazals on a
part-time basis. He cites radio officers Z.A. Bukhari and Rafiq
Anwar as additional influences in his progression as a ghazal singer.
His first song was "Jis ne mere dil ko dard diya" film Susral in
1962. Later Lata Mangeshkar said compliments for him that "Bhagwan talks
in his throat".
Following a severe illness in the late 1980s, Mehdi Hassan stepped
down from playback singing. Later due to severity of his illness he completely
departed from music.
In October 2010, HMV released "Sarhadein" in which
probably the first and last duet song Tera Milana featuring
Mehdi Hassan and Lata Mangeshkar was released. This song was composed
by Hassan himself written by Farhat Shahzad. Hassan recorded it in Pakistan in
2009, and Lata Mangeshkar later heard the track and recorded her part in India
in 2010, and later mixed together for a duet. The duet song "Tera
Milna" also sang by Madam Noor Jahan with Khan Sahib.
He had been suffering from a serious lungs condition for the few
years before his death in 2012. There were rumors of his death on January 13,
2012. However, his son Asif Mehdi confirmed that the death rumors were
incorrect, and that he was responding to treatments and recovering.
Mehdi Hasan died at around noon on 13 June 2012 at Aga Khan
University Hospital, Karachi after suffering a 12-year long tenure of
lung, chest and urinary tract diseases.
Populus Global in association with Musicolor organised the first
tribute to shahensha-e-ghazal Mehdi Hassan on 14 July 2012. Ustad Mohan Khan,
ganda bandh shishya of the ghazal king paid tribute to his guru.
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