Written by: Haroon Shuaib
Posted on: June 14, 2023 | 
| 中文
Mehdi Hassan receiving the life-time achievement award at the 13th PTV awards ceremony
Mehdi Hassan Khan is aptly titled Shehanshah-e-Ghazal or King of Ghazal, by all those who speak and understand Urdu. Perhaps few have contributed as much in the popularization of the finest form of Urdu language and particularly this archetypal form of Urdu poetry as Mehdi Hassan Khan, who is the most revered male vocalist of Urdu poetry in the subcontinent.
Born on 1927 in a small village called Luna in the Rajasthan area of the Indian subcontinent, Mehdi Hassan came from a family of traditional musicians. He was the sixteenth generation of musicians of the Kalawant school of classical music. He was trained by his father, Ustad Azeem Khan and uncle Ustad Ismail Khan. Mehdi Hassan had an ancestry that boasts of Darbari Ustads (Court Musicians) who were seasoned performers in the courts of several Maharajahs, including the rulers of Indore, Patna, Chhatarpur and Mysore. This supremely talented scion was only eight years old when he was ready to perform at the court of the Maharaja of Baroda. Besides his natural vocal prowess, his rigorous training from such a young age contributed to his lifelong passion for music and singing.
Mehdi Hassan Khan
After migrating to Pakistan following independence, Mehdi Hassan and his family settled in the Chichawatni area of Punjab. Those were hard times for the family, and the young Mehdi Hassan had to work hard first as a cycle mechanic and later as a motor mechanic, to earn a living. He continued training as a singer all this time and performing at public gatherings, whenever he got a chance. He was finally in the studios of Radio Pakistan, Karachi, to sing some classical compositions for the first time in 1952. By 1955, he had been launched as a ghazal singer and had gained unprecedented popularity. His deep, sonorous baritone, the natural reverb of his voice, and superb vocal control while rendering challenging raga-based compositions, made him the first choice to sing complex and technically challenging compositions. His knowledge of classical ragas and years of vocal training meant that soon he had a faithful following of avid listeners.
What really made him stand head and shoulders above his peers was the way he was able to lend his vocals to the ghazal genre of Urdu poetry. In fact, he brought such a distinct flavor to ghazal singing that a whole generation discovered the works of some of the greatest Urdu poets of ghazal through Mehdi Hassan’s singing. He brought forth the poetry of ghazal with impeccable perfection and timeless pieces such as Ranjish hi sahi, Baat karni mujhe mushkil, Ghazab kiya tere wade pe, Gulon mein rang bhare, Dekh tu dil ki jaan se uthta hai and Ko-ba-ko phail gai baat shanasai ki. In fact, it is said that after Mehdi Hassan immortalized the beautiful ghazal Gulon mein rang bhare of Faiz Ahmed Faiz by singing it, whenever the poet would be requested to narrate this ghazal by his fans, he would ask them to listen to it in Mehdi Hassan’s voice. Ye ghazal ab meri nahin – Mehdi Hassan Khan sahib ki hay (This ghazal is not mine anymore. It belongs to Mehdi Hassan Khan). The poet would say.
Mehdi Hassan and Dilip Kumar
Fortunately for his fans, Mehdi Hassan Khan remained a prolific singer during his lifetime. Before passing away due to a prolonged illness on 13 June 2012, this giant of ghazal rendition had nearly 25,000 records to his credit, and rendered nearly all forms of musical compositions including classical, thumri and film music.
Besides ghazals, Mehdi Hassan also left behind a vast treasure of playback singing that he did for Pakistani cinema. Faiz’s ghazal, Gulon mein rang was one of the first pieces that was used in a film by the extremely talented director, Khalil Qaiser, in his cult classic film “Farangi”. Based on the traditional Jhinjhoti Raag, the composition was set by Ustad Ismail Khan, Mehdi Hassan’s uncle, and despite the fact that the lyrics had little relevance to the plot of the film, Qaiser was adamant that he wanted to use it in his film. The ghazal in Mehdi Hassan’s voice proved to be a major reason for the film’s box office success.
Mehdi Hassan Khan and Noor Jehan
There was a time when his was the most popular male voice ruling the Pakistani film industry, and he did the playback singing for all prominent heroes of Pakistan’s film industry during its golden era including Santosh Kumar, Darpan, Ijaz, Mohammad Ali, Waheed Murad and Nadeem. His command over ghazal singing led film directors, producers and music composers to even start using ghazal as part of the soundtracks of their films. Film ditties in Mehdi Hassan’s voice such as Abke bicchde khwaabon mein mile, Lagga hay husn ka bazzar dekho, Ay roshnion kay shehar, Dil main toofan chupaye baitha hoon, Jab koi pyar say bulaye ga, Duniya kissi kay pyar mein, Shikwa na kar gill ana kar, gill ana kar, Mujhay tum nazar say gira tou rahay ho, Rafta rafta wo meri hasti ka saman ho gaye and Pyar bharay dou sharmilay nain, are to date considered timeless and haunting melodies that were ever produced by Pakistan’s film industry. Mehdi Hassan's velvety voice coupled with his relaxed and poised style of rendition, created a magical charm transporting his listeners to an ethereal plane. For his repertoire, he always chose the kalam very meticulously and made sure that he got the correct intonation and diction.
Speaking about Mehdi Hassan, Arshad Mehmood, Pakistan’s leading music composer says, “There is one particular recording where he is singing and playing surmandal instead of harmonium. The sound of the instrument is very loud, which can be a bit annoying but Mehdi Hassan’s singing is truly out of this world. This is a ghazal of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Aaye kuch Abar. Another exceptional ghazal that he lent his vocals to is Ghalib’s Dil-e-nadan tujhay huwa kya hay. He gives a new meaning to it. The rendering of serious poetry that Mehdi Hassan Khan sahib could achieve is unparalleled. He brings so many novel inflections to it. His rendition of Allama Iqbal’s La phir ik bar wohi baad-o-jam is also simply beautiful. Mehdi Hassan Khan was a magician.”
Mehdi Hassan and Lata Mangeshkar
His influence on the singing styles of his peers and many who came after him, is evident from the fact that from Noor Jehan to Lata Mangeshkar, some of the most prominent vocalists from this part of the world greatly admired him as a maestro of his art. Lata Mangeshkar famously said, Inkay gallay mein bhagwan bolta hay, (When Mehdi Hasan sings, it is the voice of God). Melody Queen Noor Jahan said, Unki tarha suroon mein doop kar gana mein ne kisi ko nahi sunaa, (I have never seen anyone singing as immersed in melody as Mehdi Hassan). Big names such as Pervaiz Mehdi, Talat Aziz, Ghulam Abbas, Salamat Ali, Shahnaz Begum and Hariharan identify themselves as his formal students, while another great singer of ghazal, Jagjit Singh and another leading vocalist of Indian film industry Sonu Nigam, also considered him the ultimate ghazal singer and their inspiration.
Jagjit Singh expressing his humility to Ustad Mehdi Hassan Khan
Mehdi Hassan during his life time won many awards in Pakistan and abroad, where people understand and appreciate Urdu poetry including Nepal, India, Dubai and Iran. A winner of nine Nigar Awards for his playback singing, he also received the Pride of Performance Award from the President of Pakistan in 1985.
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