The Velvet Voice on Her 94Th Birth Anniversary, Veejay Sai Remembers the Undisputed Queen of Ghazals – Begum Akhtar
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TRIBUTE Akhtaribai acted Shanti Hiranand (right) and in a spurt of films, Anjali Banerjee were Akhtar’s but decided to two oldest disciples give them up to concentrate on classical music Akhtar’s mother groomed her from a young age in music Begum Akhtar in concert The Velvet Voice On her 94th birth anniversary, Veejay Sai remembers the undisputed queen of ghazals – Begum Akhtar here is no dearth of biographical THROUGH THE PAGES OF TIME and many legendary artistes found information about Begum It is still important to run through the generous patronage including Badi Akhtar. She has inspired scores significant events in her life’s journey, Motibai, Vidyadhari Bai, Rasoolan Bai KALIDAS . S of books, research papers and for they shaped her thought process and several others. Many gharana BY articles written by her students, and were reflected in her soulful music. ustads launched successful careers as VOICE Tmusic lovers and fans. Her childhood Born to Mushtaribai (who belonged to a teachers to the baijis. A young Akhtari OWN traumas, social exclusion, troubled growing long lineage of courtesans), Akhtaribai was sent to train under a series of gurus S years, tutorship under various stalwarts Faizabadi (as she was named) took to including sarangi legend, Imdad Khan ’ LOVE of music, her brief, but significant stint on music and dance at an early age. At of Patna, who was, by then, famous for : the silver screen, and her ultimate solace the turn of the 20th century, the city teaching thumri exponents Malka Jaan AKHTAR in music, in fact, are witness to the pathos of Lucknow was a cultural epicentre. and Gauhar Jaan. The ustad’s highbrow etched in every line she sang. Under the nawabs, the arts flourished, teaching style, however, forced her BEGUM 32 • October 2013 NCPA objected to her singing in public, and While Jaddanbai was a source of inspiration to the young Akhtari in the ‘30s, her she decided to retire for good. Her daughter Nargis and son-in-law Sunil Dutt quest for stability, to be appropriately became fans of Begum Akhtar’s in later life domesticated and loved like all housewives, was at the cost of her musical career. For five years, the world forgot Akhtar’s voice. The side effects of this long silence drove her to severe depression, punctuated by regular bouts of illness. It was on the advice of doctors that her husband relented and allowed her to resume her career. L. K. Malhotra, an officer at a radio station in Lucknow, further pushed Akhtar to record for the All India Radio. THE GLORIOUS COMEBACK Starved of her magic, the world of music was more than willing to throw its doors open and embrace her again. The genres of ghazals and thumris were neither new, nor unheard by that time. So, what was it about Akhtar’s voice that added flavour to every word she sang? For connoisseurs of ghazals, the divergence was clear. There was a pre-Akhtar era, where mother to change tutors – from Ata ghazals grew out of the Mohammed Khan to eminent vocalists “What Begum courtesan culture that such as Abdul Wahid Khan and Jhande tried to find acceptance Khan Saheb. Although, in spite of her Akhtar did was in the ivory towers of training under several classical ustads, classical music echelons. Akhtari found herself drawn to the light place the ghazal And the post-Akhtar genres of thumri, ghazal and dadra. era, where they not A severe financial crunch forced the gently on the only found their due family to migrate to Calcutta, and consign, but could for Akhtari to record her music for raga till it opened be presented on commercial purposes, much against the wishes of her mother and her teacher. itself to that The famous stage diva Jaddanbai found her music worth exhibiting and got her whispered love, several radio shows. Soon, recording companies lined up and Akhtari became and gave itself the final word in certain genres. Her first disc from the Megaphone Record willingly” Company shot her to fame and scores of invitations from the new kid on the block – the talkies – piled up. In many theatre and film worlds of Calcutta and films such as Ek Din Ki Badshahat, Bombay. The last movie she appeared Mumtaz Begum, Naseeb Ka Chakkar in was Satyajit Ray’s famous Jalsaghar. and Roti, Akhtari played significant Akhtari became the court musician at roles. While in others, she did playback Raza Ali Khan’s palace, the nawab of singing. A fund-raising concert for the Rampur, when she returned to Lucknow victims of the 1934 Bihar earthquake in 1943. It was here that she attracted launched her into the public sphere, the attention of Ishtiaque Ahmed with even Sarojini Naidu praising Abbasi, a young barrister, whom she her performance. courted and eventually married. This changed her life, MARITAL WOES along with her name – Invitations from the princely kingdoms this is when she became of Hyderabad and Rampur helped Begum Akhtar. Her Akhtari to break away from the lure of conservative husband Begum Akhtar NCPA October 2013 • 33 TRIBUTE a golden platter to be consumed Begum Akhtar fell into ceaselessly by those willing to be depression and ill health within a few addicted. Akhtar unconsciously years of her marriage polished and encrusted it with her own distinctive style and delivered it with panache. “What Begum Akhtar did was place the ghazal gently on the raga till it opened itself to that whispered love, and gave itself willingly. She guided the syllables to the prescribed resting places, till note by syllable, syllable by note, the two merged into a compelling ethos. She, in effect, allowed the ghazal to be caressed into music, almost translated as it were. Unlike other ghazal singers, who clothed words till they couldn’t be seen, she stripped them to a resplendent nudity. If she clothed them at all, it was in transparent muslins like the Dacca gauzes: woven air, running water, evening dew,” wrote the late Kashmiri poet, Agha Shahid Ali, about her music. THE QUEEN ABIDES Begum Akhtar conquered thumri, tappa, dadra and khayal with consistent triumph. “What she offered, in fact, was the kind of music that embodied an uncanny amalgam of the singing idioms in vogue not only in Lucknow and Varanasi, but also Punjab. Thereby, she added a new dimension to the Poorab ang vocalism in light classical music. contemporaries such as Badi Motibai Her voice captured the aatma of the Akhtar believed and Rasoolan Bai, both of whom had to composition, and delivered its essential struggle to keep the wolves from the core to the listeners,” says senior music that song door. Akhtar loved the good life and critic and scholar, Manjari Sinha. constantly spent whatever she earned. The technique involved was her own emerged from She had a large brood of people who – at once, distinct and difficult. It were her dependents. The death of her bore ample evidence of long arduous the soul, and mother, professional upheavals and training and practice in the traditional misjudged relationships led her to carry way, which she backed with deep would not get her heart on her sleeve unabashedly. contemplation. It was not only the She overcame personal tragedies and hypnotic quality of Akhtar’s voice, so easily affected channelled them into the celestial but also the spontaneity of style music in her voice. that compelled admiration from her by something countless votaries. Impeccable diction, MALLIKA-E-GHAZAL phrases clothed in the most appropriate as trivial as her Akhtar succumbed to a cardiac arrest on combination of swaras, adorned with 30th October, 1974, while on a concert the most effective khatkas, murkis, cravings tour in Ahmedabad. With her tragic taans and the typical signature, pattis, demise, the last vital link to Lucknow’s or breaks in her voice. The peculiar colourful musical era, filled with refined charm of her voice was easier felt than ONE FOR THE NAYSAYERS tastes, Urdu poetry, polished manners described. Hers was a strong voice – not She denounced the myth about voice- and a beautifully polite language, was round or petal-soft, but angular, pincer- culture and rhetoric with her casual love severed forever. like. It was seasoned with an occasional for cigarettes and liquor. She believed crack in the upper register, which would that song emerged from the soul, and Koyaliya Mat Kar Pukar: A Tribute to ordinarily be called a serious blemish would not get so easily affected by Begum Akhtar will be held at Godrej in a singer’s voice. In Akhtar’s case, it something as trivial as her cravings. Dance Theatre on 4th October. stayed ravishing like a beauty spot on Her career was more successful in social Veejay Sai is a writer, editor and culture a pretty face. and financial terms than her senior critic. 32 • October 2013 NCPA.