The legend of Begum Akhtar lives on (New Delhi):
The intimately seductive voice of Begum Akhtar took north Indian music by storm for nearly half a century. Earlier known as Akhtari Bai Faizabadi, because she was born in the town of Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh, Begum Akhtar cut her first disc for the Megaphone Record Company in Kolkatta at an early age.
Innumerable early recordings of her can still be found with Kamal Ghosh – the nephew of the proprietor, who first convinced the singer to record her music.
As the years went by Begum Akhtar’s voice dominated the world of light classical music, finding its finest expression in the subtly nuanced forms of the ghazal, thumri and dadra. Her spontaneous artistic style combined with the tonal quality of her voice gave a unique dimension to poetic emotion.
The poet Kaifi Azmi once said of her that she wasn’t a body, but a melody in herself – something that would keep her alive eternally.
Starting as a live performer and dancer, she made the switch to films when the talkies arrived. She acted in movies of the 1930s produced by the East India Film Company of Kolkata. Many years later she made a brief singing reappearance in Satyajit Ray’s classic Jalsaghar.
“Her career moved from the pre-independence feudal Tawaif to the post-independence concert singer – a professional concert singer,” said Salim Kidwai, a historian.
Begum Akhtar was among those performers for whom famous poets actually competed to compose poetry.
“At the time that she was performing there used to be mehfils. She never prepared for a performance. Even when she decided before hand, on the stage she would change depending on her mood. I think her main contribution has been in bringing light music to a concert level,” said Shanti Hiranand, Begum Akhtar’s disciple.
Thirty years after her death, her music retains its intoxicating quality. This week a new docu-drama on the queen of ghazal was screened in the capital New Delhi.
Sony Music has also just released Farmaish – an album of Begum Akhtar’s music unheard since a private performance she gave at the Khatau residence in early 1957.
In a music world flooded with strains of raucous and loud pop, there are some voices so memorably sensuous that they never fade away. Begum Ahktar’s music and colourful life are among those imperishables of musical legends that outlive changing tastes.