INTRODUCTION
BEGUM AKHTAR (7 October 1914 – 30 October 1974)
Akhtari Bai Faizabadi, also known as begum akhar she was a well known Indian singer of
Ghazal, and
Dadra, and
Thumri genres of
Hindustani classical music.
Early life
Begum Akhtar was born in Bada Darwaza, Town Bhadarsa, Bharatkund,
Faizabad District, Uttar Pradesh. 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)
Career
Akhtar was barely seven when she was captivated by the music of Chandra Bai, an artist attached to a touring theatre group. she travelled to
Calcutta with her mother and learnt music from classical stalwarts like Mohammad Khan .
Her first public performance was at the age of fifteen. The famous poetess,
Sarojini Naidu, appreciated her singing during a concert which was organised in the aid of victims of the
1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake. 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 amongst the early female singers to give public concert, and break away from singing in
mehfils or private gatherings, and in time came to be known as
Mallika-e-Ghazal (Queen of Ghazal)
Beghum Akhtar acted in a few Hindi movies in the 1930s.
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 which was released in 1942 and whose music was composed by maestro
Anil Biswas. "Roti" contained six of her ghazals but unfortunately due to some trouble between producer and director,
Mehboob Khan subsequently deleted three or four ghazals from the film. All the ghazals are available on Megaphone gramophone records. Begum Akhtar, meanwhile, left Bombay and returned to Lucknow.
In 1945, Akhtaribai married a Lucknow-based barrister, Ishtiaq Ahmed Abbasi, and became known as Begum Akhtar.
[8] 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 returned to the recording studios.
[9] She sang three ghazals and a dadra at Lucknow
All India Radio station. She wept afterwards and returned to singing in concerts, a practice that lasted until her death. Though, she sang publicly in Lucknow, except for women's only concert in aid of the war, which was held in 1962.
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 and she felt unwell.
The additional demand and stress that she put herself under resulted in her falling ill and was rushed to the hospital. She died on 30 October 1974 .
Hindi films
- Naseeb Ka Chakkar
- Roti | Anna Sahab Mainka
- Panna Dai| Gyan Dutt
- Dana Pani | Mohan Junior
- Ehsaan
Filmography
- Mumtaz Beghum (1934)
- Jawaani Ka Nasha (1935)
- King for a Day (1933, director : Raaj Hans)
- Ameena (1934, director : -)
- Roop Kumari (1934, director : Madan)
- Naseeb Ka Chakkar (1936, director : Pesi Karani)
- AnaarBala (1940, director : A M Khan)
- Roti(1942, director : Maadhav Kaale)
- Jalsaghar(1958; director: Satyajit Ray)
Awards and recognition
Bibliography
- In Memory of Begum Akhtar, by Shahid Ali Agha. US Inter Culture Associates, 1979.
- Begum Akhtar: The Queen of Ghazal, by Sutapa Mukherjee. Rupa & Co, 2005,ISBN 81-7167-985-4.
- Begum Akhtar: The Story of My Ammi, by Shanti Hiranand. Published by Viva Books, 2005.ISBN 81-309-0172-2.
- Begum Akhtar: Love’s Own Voice, by S. Kalidas. 2009.
ONE VIDEOS GHAZAL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46HnhCItoKg
Ghazal - aaey kuch abr, kuch sharaab aaey
Akhtari Bai Faizabadi, also known as begum akhar she was a well known Indian singer of Ghazal, and Dadra, and Thumri genres of Hindustani classical music.
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