Legacy like ghazal's

Bhajan singer Anup Jalota and singer Rita Ganguly, a disciple and close confidante of Begum Akhtar, have planned a biopic on the trials and tribulations of the legendary ghazal singer Begum Akhtar’s life.

Jalota says, “There are a lot of interesting bits about Begum Akhtar's life, things which lent her voice the pathos that made her singing so soulful.”

With a biopic being planned on Akhtar, ghazal enthusiasts believe that this form of singing is a legacy that needs to be preserved.

There was a time when ghazals were associated with the tawaif tradition in the courts. But soon it acquired mass popularity. Poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar mentions, “The sheikhs, the mullahs, the tawaifs were the ones against whom ghazals were written. But that slowly faded away.”

With the development of recording and film industries, from just a poetic form, ghazals became more popular with the masses. With numbers like Tum itna jo muskura rahe ho...kya gham hai jisko chhupa rahe ho...maestro Jagjit Singh became the voice of modern ghazal. “At one point of time, people didn’t listen to ghazals because they were difficult to comprehend due to their language and higher musical notes. Then came the time of Jagjit Singh who began to recite them in a simpler language which made it easier for a layman to comprehend and sing along. He started with modern poetry which became the defining factor.

It is because of him that even films have ghazals,” says Kehkashan Tyagi, founder, Hosla Charitable Trust.

Singer Micky Narula tells Metrolife, “I am a Bollywood singer but ghazal is my passion. It is an interesting form of singing and in fact, a beautiful way of expressing yourself. Ghazal is in a different league altogether. Jagjitji made it much easier, much softer and much more reachable.”

He adds, “Ghazals will not be extinct. They have a different mood. If you listen to a song like Sunn Raha hai Tu from the film Aashiqui 2, they are also ghazals but sung in a different style. So, ghazal will get its sway because people who like singing and listening to music, can’t refrain from listening to it.”

Mentioning the prominence of the language in a nazm (a type of ghazal), whether Urdu or Hindustani, “Akhtar says, “Language is not only a vehicle of communication. Language carries culture. It carries traditions, a sense of continuity and an identity. The moment you kill a language, you make a person rootless.”

Ganguly mentions, “The future generations need to gather the legacy of ghazals. It is not only about ghazal singing but the need to conserve a beautifully rich language, the language in which we still call our children with respect. So there is a need to conserve, practice and profess the language which is so rich in its scope.”