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KARACHI: Legendary ghazal singer Mehdi Hasan was paid tribute by poets, authors, musicians and a large number of his admirers who attended the launch of Mehdi Hasan: The Man and His Music – a book compiled and written by Asif Noorani, a veteran journalist and author.
Held at the Karachi Club Annexe on December 6, book enthusiasts, fans and music aficionados at the book launch were disappointed when the musical maestro who was supposed to have graced the occasion could not make it because of his ailing health. Currently there are highs and lows in his condition and sadly on Monday, he was unwell.
Launched jointly by Liberty Books and EMI Pakistan, the music recording company, the book contains rare photographs of Mehdi Hasan and two CDs of his most enchanting and memorable tracks.
As Noorani said in his speech, “It is disappointing that while five books are available on Lata Mangeshkar (who has great admiration for him as a singer), not a single book is available on Mehdi Hasan. This book is an attempt to fill in the void.”
Noorani also talked about the tremendous amount of time and effort put into compiling interviews with celebrities and asking them to talk about Mehdi Hasan, something other than what people already knew. He wanted them to share with him, unpublished photographs of the maestro alone as well as in the company of different people, from curators of fine arts to renowned personalities from both sides of the border.
Poet Zehra Nigah, the chief guest on the occasion, described the book as a “labour of love”. She lauded Noorani’s effort for publishing this in English and also stated how Mehdi Hasan had raised the standard of singing, because previously singing ghazals was considered a low-level skill.
The two CDs includes some outstanding tracks recorded during a concert in 1976 and a few unheard pieces like his ‘Jugalbandi’ with Nazakat-Salamat, a Bulleh Shah kafi (a classical form of Sufi poetry) and a rendition of ‘Heer’ in Urdu. These tracks were unearthed from the archives of EMI Pakistan.
Umer Shaikh of EMI, Pakistan said that if anyone put an oscilloscope in front of Mehdi Hasan while he sings, they would then know what an admirable and smooth voice he has.
Famous musician and TV artist, Arshad Mahmood said that the book is a great effort to document our tradition and culture for upcoming generations. Author and radio journalist from BBC London, Raza Ali Abdi also spoke on the occasion.
The night ended on a high note as audience members paid tribute to Mehdi Hasan with an emotional standing ovation.
*Additional reporting by Hasaan Haider
