Begum Akhtar

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Beghum Akhtar

Background information
Birth name Akhtaribai Faizabadi
Born October 7, 1914(1914-10-07)
Origin Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
Died October 30, 1974 (aged 60) [1]
Genre(s) Ghazal, Thumri, Dadra [2]
Occupation(s) Musician
Years active 1929 - 1974

Begum Akhtar or Akhtari Bai Faizabadi (October 7, 1914 – 1974) was a Indian vocalist of Ghazal, Dadra and Thumri.

Her first public performance was at the age of fifteen. She also acted in several Bollywood films.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Her father Asghar Hussain, a young lawyer who fell in love with her mother Mushtari and made her his second wife, subsequently disowned her and his twin daughters Zohra and Bibbi (Akhtar).[3]

[edit] Career

Akhtar was barely seven when she was captivated by the music of Chandra Bai, an artist attached to a touring theatre group. However, at her uncle's insistence, she was sent to train under Ustad Imdad Khan, the great sarangi exponent from Patna, and later under Ata Mohammed Khan of Patiala. Later, she travelled to Calcutta with her mother and learnt music from classical stalwarts like Mohammad Khan, Abdul Waheed Khan of Lahore, and finally she became the disciple of Ustad Jhande Khan.

Her first public performance was at the tender age of fifteen. She took the music world by storm. The famous poetess, Sarojini Naidu, appreciated her singing during a concert which was organised in the aid of victims of a Bihar earthquake. This encouraged her to continue singing ghazals with more enthusiasm. She cut her first disc for the Megaphone Record Company, at that time. A number of gramophone records were released carrying her ghazals, dadras,thumris, etc.

She was raped by one of her patrons and gave birth to a daughter.[4] In her later life as a respectable married woman she had to pretend the daughter was her cousin.

Begum Akhtar's good looks and sensitive voice made her an ideal candidate for a film career in her early years. When she heard great musicians like Gauhar Jan and Malak Jan, however, she decided to forsake the glamour of the film world for a career in Indian classical music. Her supreme artistry in light classical music had its moorings in the tradition of pure classicism. She chose her repertoire in primarily classical modes, comprised of a variety of raags, ranging from simple to complex.

In 1945, Akhtaribai married a barrister, Ishtiaq Ahmed Abbasi, and became known as Begum Akhtar. However, after marriage, due to her husband's restrictions, she could not sing for almost five years and subsequently, she fell ill, that is when her return to music was prescribed as a befitting remedy, and in 1949 she she returned to the recording studios [5]. She sang three ghazals and a dadra at Lucknow Radio Station. She wept afterwards and returned to singing in concerts, a practice that lasted until her death.

Her voice matured with time, adding richness and depth. She sang ghazals and other light classical pieces, singing them in her inimitable style. She has nearly four hundred songs to her credit. She was a regular performer on All India Radio. She usually composed her own ghazals and most of her compositions were raag based.

[edit] Death

During her last concert in Ahmedabad, she raised the pitch of her voice as she felt that her singing had not been as good as she had wanted it to be. She was not feeling well on the fateful day. The additional demand and stress that she put herself under resulted in her falling ill and was rushed to the hospital.

She died on October 7, 1974, in the arms of Nilam Gamadia, her friend, who invited her to Ahmedabad, which has become her final performance.

[edit] Awards

She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi award for vocal music as well as a Padma Shri. She was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan.

Today her name is almost synonymous with the concept of ghazal gayaki, and her imitable style of singing which immortalized her, and gave her the title of Mallika-e-Ghazal (Queen of Ghazals).

[edit] Bollywood career

[edit] Discography

Naseeb Ka Chakkar | -

  1. Kalyug Hai Jabse Aaya Maya Ne...

Roti | Anna Sahab Mainkar

  1. Wo Hans Rahe Hain Aah Kiye Jaa...
  2. Ulajh Gaye Nayanwa Chhute Nahin...
  3. Char Dino Ki Jawani Matwale...
  4. Ai Prem Teri Balihari Ho...
  5. Phir Fasle Bahaar Aayi Hai...
  6. Rehne Laga Hai Dil Me Andhera...

Panna Dai | Gyan Dutt

  1. Hamen Yaad Teri Sataane Lagi...
  2. Main Raja Ko Apne Rijha Ke Rahungi...

Dana Pani | Mohan Junior

  1. Ishq Mujhe Aur Kuchh To Yaad Nahi...

EHSAAN

  1. (1954 - hame.n dil me.n basaa bhi lo).

[edit] Filmography

After the advent of talkie era in India, Beghum Akhtar acted in a few Hindi movies in thirties. East India Film Company of Calcutta approached her to act in "King for a Day" (alias Ek Din Ka Badshah) and Nal Damayanti in 1933.

Like others of that era, she sang her songs herself in all her films. She continued acting in the following years. Subsequently Beghum Akhtar moved back to Lucknow where she was approached by the famous producer-director Mehboob Khan, as a result of which she acted in Roti (1974 film) which was released in 1942 and whose music was composed by maestro Anil Biswas [6]. "Roti" contained six of her ghazals but unfortunately due to some trouble between producer and director, Mehboob Khan subsequently deleted 3-4 ghazals from the film. All the ghazals are available on Megaphone gramophone records. Beghum Akhtar, meanwhile, left Bombay and returned to Lucknow.

The movies she acted in are:

  1. Mumtaz Beghum(1934)
  2. Jawaani Ka Nasha(1935)
  3. King for a Day (1933, director : Raaj Hans)
  4. Ameena (1934, director : -)
  5. Roop Kumari (1934, director : Madan)
  6. Naseeb Ka Chakkar (1936, director : Pesi Karani)
  7. AnaarBala (1940, director : A M Khan)
  8. Roti (1942, director : Maadhav Kaale)
  9. Jalsaghar(1958; director: Satyajit Ray)

[edit] Awards and recognition

[edit] Further reading

  • In Memory of Begum Akhtar, by Shahid Ali Agha. U.S. Inter Culture Associates, 1979.
  • Great Masters of Hindustani Music, by Susheela Misra. Published by Hem Publishers, 1981. Chapter 26.
  • Begum Akhtar: The Queen of Ghazal, by Sutapa Mukherjee. Rupa & Co, 2005, ISBN 8171679854.
  • Begum Akhtar: The Story of My Ammi, by Shanti Hiranand. Published by Viva Books, 2005. ISBN 8130901722.
  • Ae Mohabbat… Reminiscing Begum Akhtar, by Jyoti Sabharwal & Rita Ganguly, 2008, ISBN 9788190455930. [7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ In Memory of Begum Akhtar The Half-inch Himalayas, by Shahid Ali Agha, Agha Shahid Ali, Published by Wesleyan University Press, 1987. ISBN 0819511323.
  2. ^ Dadra Thumri in Historical and Stylistic Perspectives, by Peter Lamarche Manuel, Peter Manuel. Published by Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1989. ISBN 8120806735. Page 157.
  3. ^ http://www.livemint.com/2008/11/07235841/What-a-life.html
  4. ^ What a life - Begum Akhtar’s reality was much wilder than fiction
  5. ^ Begum Akhtar (1914-1974) - Biography NRCW, Govt.of India.
  6. ^ Akhtari Faizabadi at the Internet Movie Database
  7. ^ Tribute to Begum The Telegraph, October 19, 2008.

[edit] See also

Ghazal

[edit] External links

Video links
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