‘Ghazal by the Bay’ Pays Tribute to Ustad Mehdi Hassan
By Dilip Acharya
On 13th June 2012, the world lost a great musician, an exponent of classical music, a magician of musical notes who could mesmerize his audience with his mellifluous voice and renditions, the legendary, one and only Shehenshah-e-Ghazal Ustad Mehdi Hassan.
Millions of his fans all over the world mourned and prayed for the departed soul. Eight years have passed since, but he still lives and rules the hearts and minds of millions of his fans and lovers of ghazals through his music, his renditions of classical ghazals, geet, thumris, movie songs and folk songs.
To commemorate the eighth anniversary of the legend some of his diehard fans and ghazal enthusiasts organized an online Tribute Ghazal Mehfil on Saturday, 13th of June 2020 under the banner of “Ghazal by the Bay”- a Facebook group created by Dilip Acharya, who is a current resident of the Bay Area, California. Dilip is a student of Hindustani Classical Music and Ghazals, an ardent fan and devotee of Ustad Mehdi Hassan. His initiative “Ghazal By the Bay” is created to serve “ghazals” by building an online community of passionate ghazal lovers and fans of this semi-classical genre of music.
Ten local vocalists from the Bay Area and a guest vocalist from Boston joined together to offer their tribute to the legend by singing his ghazals. The participating vocalists were Dhananjay Kulkarni, Puja Purandare, Nishant Bordia, Shubha Chaki, Geetesh Iyer, Susmita Roy, Rohan Upamaka, UV Ravindra, Dr Pradeep Shukla, Meesha Acharya and Dilip Acharya. Madhusudan Dhoot offered support on Acoustic Guitar while Rohan Upamaka also provided accompaniment on tabla. The performers selected 18 classical ghazals and performed for more than three hours, using the Zoom platform.
Arz-e-niyaz-e-ishq by Mirza Ghalib was presented by Dhananjay Kulkarni, Roshan Jamal-e-Yaar of Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Ghazab Kiya tere waade pe of Daagh Dehlavi were presented by Puja Purandare, Ghuncha-e-shauq of Wajeeh Irfani and Gulon me rang Bhare of Faiz Ahmed Faiz were presented by Nishant Bordia, Mugham baat paheli jaisi byArzoo Lucknawi and Muhabbat Karne Wale by Hafeez Hoshiarpuri were presented by Shubha Chaki, Dil me Ab yun tere by Faiz Ahmed Faiz was presented by Rohan Upamaka, Garche Sau baar of Saifuddin Saifwas presented by UV Ravindra, Ab ke Hum Bichhde by Ahmed Faraz and Charagh-e-toor jalao by Saghar Siddiqui were presented by Susmita Roy, Baat Karni Mujhe Mushkil of Bahadur Shah Zafar was presented by Meesha Acharya, Zindegi me to sabhi Pyaar of Qateel Shifai and Mujhe Tum Nazar Se by Masroor Anwarwere presented by Geetesh Iyer, Ek Bas Tu Hi nahi by Farhat Shahzadwas presented by Dr Pradeep Shukla, ‘anjish Hi Sahi and Shola tha Jal bujha hoon of Ahmed Faraz were presented by Dilip Acharya. The only duet Aap ko bhool jayein Hum penned by Tasleem Fazil and performed by Ustad Mehdi Hassan and Madam Noor Jehan for the film Tum Milay Pyaar Mila (1969) was performed by Meesha Acharya and Dilip Acharya.
The Ghazal Mehfil was hosted by Syed Ali Rizvi, a resident of Boston who is a native Urdu speaker and has a passion for reading and writing Urdu poetry and pursues his hobby of presenting Ghazal Mehfils and participating in local musical programs.
The highlight of the show was when the famous shayar Farhat Shazad along with Kamran Mehdi Hasan, the son of the legend who carries his legacy forward, participated in the event to offer their tribute to the legend. Farhat Sahib has penned the highest number of ghazals sung by Ustad Mehdi Hassan and had a long association with the legend. He offered his tribute by reading a few ashar from one of his popular ghazals Konplein phir phoot ayeen shaakh par, kehna ussey. Kamran Mehdi Hasan, being the son of the legend, had learnt the art of ghazal gayaki from his father from a tender age and had accompanied the legend on keyboard in numerous concerts all over the world. He spoke a few words dedicating to his beloved father and Ustaad and also presented a couple of ashaar from a popular ghazal Kaise Chhupaoon Raaz-e-Gham penned by Maulana Hasrat Mohani.
Hundreds of fans of Ustad Mehdi Hassan across the US registered for this free event and thoroughly enjoyed it. The audience encouraged the performers with their kind words and comments in the chat room and provided wholehearted support to all the performers. During this pandemic period, following the shelter-in-place protocol, the lovers, the fans of Ustad Mehdi Hassan along with the local performers in the online Mehfil, offered their tribute to the legend by singing his ghazals, remembering him and praying for his soul. The online concert was successfully managed by Sunil Barot, Navi Viswanathan, Achal Anjaria and Abhijeet Purandare who used their technical expertise to ensure that the program ran smoothly. The broadcast was glitch-free and the music was delivered uninterrupted.
A legend like Ustad Mehdi Hassan is born once in thousands of years or more. His rendition of a ghazal Mumkin ho aap se to bhula dijiye mujhe penned by Shazaad Ahmed Shahzaad confirms the fact that the world can never forget his immense contributions to the world of ghazals and his name will always be taken with utmost respect and love whenever ‘ghazal’ is mentioned.
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