Mehdi Hassan: the name of an era that will never end

LAHORE: The 93rd birth anniversary of the legendary Ghazal singer, Mehdi Hassan, was celebrated here on Saturday. Alhamra paid online tribute to great Ghazal singer Mehdi Hassan on his 93rd birth anniversary. Hassan, known as “King of Ghazal”, is hugely popular in sub-continent and his career spanned 50 years.

Hassan was born into a family of traditional musicians in 1927 at Luna village in the Indian state of Rajasthan and claimed to be the 16th generation of hereditary musicians hailing from the Kalawant clan of musicians; his family migrated to Pakistan in 1947 at the time of partition and salted in Chichawatni.

Hassan began training under his father and mentor, Ustad Azeem Khan, he was initially named Ismail Khan. As a child, he was weak and fell seriously ill, and after many prayers, he recovered on Muharram 8, after which he was renamed Mehdi Hassan.

During his starting career, Hassan solely focused on “Thumri”, the light romantic Indian music. He debuted at the age of 30, on Radio Pakistan in the year 1957 as a classical "Thumri" singer and from then on, the singer never looked back after that Hassan sang hundreds of hit numbers for the movies that were not only popular in Pakistan but d across South Asia as well.

Some of his most famous songs and Ghazal are, "Mujhay Tum Nazar Say" from the film, Doraha in the year 19"7 “Dunya kisi kay pyaar m"in” from 1966 film "Jaag Utha Insaan", this song was also part of Hassan's famous Album Kohinoor (The Timeless Classics), the one of the most famous Ghazal "Gulon May Rang Bharay" written by famous Pakistani poet, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, "Rafta Rafta Woh Meri" from the 1975 film Zeenat, the famous ghazal"Ranjish He Sahi" written by the famous Ahmed Faraz etc.

Singers from all over the world always consider it a great honour to perform with him on stage. In recognition of his services, the government of Pakistan has given him Pride of Performance (1985) and nine Nigar Awards for best playback singe in 1979. He also honours of Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Hilal-e-Imtiaz (2010) Nishan-e-Imtiaz (2012); he won the Saigal Award in Jalandhar, India and was also awarded the Order of Gorkha Dakshina Bahu in Nepal, in 1983.

On the occasion Chairperson BoG Lahore Arts Council Moneeza Hashmi said that Hassan "was an icon who mesmerized music lovers" in Pakistan and sub-continent as well for decades, Pakistani music wills always remembered his great services in the field of music.

Executive Director, Lahore Arts Council, Saman Rai paid tribute to King of Ghazal, saying Mehdi Hassan is not a singer but the name of an era, an era that will never end. She stated that Lahore Arts Council has the honour of hosting many times the Great Mehdi Hassan.

Rai said that we are grateful to Mehdi Hassan for giving Pakistan a unique identity in the world of music. She said that today, on his 93rd birthday, Alhamra is paying homage to Hassan's services online and we will do our utmost to protect and enhance his work and his heritage.