The Legend - Mehdi Hasan

MEHDI HASSAN is not just a legend , he is much more then that he is an icon for the most mesmerizing form of music that has ever evolved in india and is known as gazal .

He is the heart and soul of this art form which to me is more daunting  then the italian opera as an emotive musical entity which in some ways is similar   in the sense they both tell an event usually encompassing love as an emotion  in a highly charged vocal manner

mehdi is very  versatile as he can sing lighthearted songs to rival kishore or rafi , but when it comes to gazal, he is easily more competent then habib wali and ustad amanat ali  , whether its talat , ghulam ali  or jagjit  he easily eclipses them with his magnetically moulded voice which can sing without a gasp endlessly just highlighting a slight note.

ITS FOR THIS VERY VALID REASON THAT LATA  SAID ABOUT THIS PHENOMENONAL ARTIST THAT

UNKE GALE SE BHAGWAN BOLTE HAIN

AND WHAT A THROAT AND WHAT A VOICE , YOU JUST HAVE TO LISTEN TO ONE GAZAL TO RECOGNISE THAT TRUTH.

gulon me rang bare bade nau bahar chale

The gazal by faiz ahmed faiz was sung in 1963 in a pakistani movie sawal and it made  gazal a street song , so even while mehdi is a gazal singer he sang over 900 songs for movies peaking in 1975 and has 45 duets with noor jehan , a record in pakistan,

Despite his success  he was very fussy about what he sang and almost every recording is unique and has the stamp of quality .

The man was born in rajistan in  a family with musical roots and started singing at a young age he was first noticed by the radio and his first recording is from 1953 for radio pakistan , after that his first film song was in 1956, until the superhit  in riaz shahids susraal made him a [1963]public star and despite lacking charisma and style he was worshipped on both sides of the border for his art .

the song was

jis ne mere dil ko dard diya

after this there was no stopping he became the voice for superstar muhammad ali and hits followed hits

from aag in 66

youn zindagi ki raah mai  takra gaya koi

to alia 66

nishan koi na chora ke ghut ke mar jayen

gazal after gazal and in movies hitting the nail right on the head

whether  with ahmed faraz the great urdu poet as in

ranjish hi sahi dil hi dhukane ke liye aa

from the movie mohabbat

to the angaray gazal

ab ke hum bichre to shayad kabi khwabon me mile

the songs from ansoo , anila , aman, behisht , insan aur admi, salaame mohabbat  and bandagi set new standards but the gazals were immortal

zindagi main to sabi pyar kiya karte hain

to the gazal by daag

dekh to dil se jan se uth ta he

ye dhuan sa kahanse uthta he

youn uthe aaj us gali se hum

jaise koi jahan se uthta he

but in a light hearted romantic mood he is inimitable too

like in these  two romantic gazals which are more love poems but sung in a gazal form

gar tum haseen na hote

gur tum haseen na hote

or my favourite of all , beautifully composed by nisar bazmi and written by qateel shifai

mere dil ke tar bajen bar bar

muje kitne khwab dikhlae

mile dil ko chain aaja

almost a symphony in itself yet a love poem sung in the best possible manner incessantly without a break the song just flows with the quiet music overshadowed by the immortal voice but its not the songs or style which is under discussion its the paradoxical voice which is eternally youthful from 1950 to 1980 and yes he lacks face value , he has very little visual style and no star charisma at all .yet its the voice which makes him stand out amongst a crowd of great competitors

in the eighties he sang with runa laila , nayyara noor and mehnaz  but his best duets are with noor jehan as they compliment each other perfectly , but mehdi is best when solo

 hamare dil se mat khelo khilona toot jaye ga

zara si thees ponche gi ye sheesha toot jaye ga

im not going to be deceptive or kind to the rest by saying they are good as well because when you are in mehdi hassans company even the best are reduced to average , its not putting others down but just recognising the truth

well he was lucky again in 70s and 80s his voice matched nadeems persona and the superstar had all his songs dubbed by mehdi hasan to both their advantage and also beneficial for the world of music itself .

the songs of sharafat , aina , bandish and anari are mesmerizing both in style and in content , the composer is robin ghosh the bangladeshi maestro .

but then tragedy struck he fell ill and had to move to washington d.c  in u.s a as his children had all immigrated , this virtually put an end to his singing career as it was impossible to record in usa for either PTV or for movies , although his gazals still are played regularly on tv channels but in todays world its pop groups who rule the waves and roxen and shaan , junaid jamshed and annie rule the roost , he was left to die in anonymity in u..s .a , a man who had sung more then a thousand gazals and songs was not honored or remembered at the time of his death

as sung by him

  hum se badal gaya wo nigahen to kya hua

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With the death of the ICON of Ghazals..Begum Akhtar, Ghazal as an artform was in the throes of death. Mehdi Hasan saved it and made it a popular medium which even common people without any great knowledge of urdu-adab, or classical music, can understand and appreciate.

Jagjit Singh took fromHasan and then the rest is history.

Mehdi Hasan remains the legendary master. His various ghazals, composed melodiously,sung beautifully are evergreen treasure, Pyaar Bhare Do Nain, and Zindgi mein to sabhi pyar kiya karte hain... are my favorites, I must have heard them hundreds of times, I never get tired.

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