With the demise of great singer Mehdi Hassan, a glorious chapter of semi-classical music and ghazal singing has come to a close. It would be hard to fill the vacuum his departure has created for a long time to come. Known as ‘King of Ghazals’, Mehdi Hassan was a great entertainer. Be this live concerts or play-back film music, he sang numerous hits for decades. He was a household word not only in Pakistan but also across the world. He had been suffering from a serious lung condition for nearly 15 years. There were rumours of his death earlier this year, but were denied by son Asif Mehdi, adding that he was responding to treatments and recovering. Born in a small village ‘Luna’ in Indian Rajasthan, Mehdi Hassan belonged to a family of the famous Kalawant musicians. His father Ustad Azeem Khan and uncle Ustad Ismail Khan were traditionally Dhrupad singers, a difficult form of classical music. The fame did not come to Mehdi Hasan on a silver platter. He had to toil hard to achieve his unique position. From bicycle mechanic to truck driver he worked hard but never disassociated himself from the field of music. He was recipient of numerous awards: President Ayub Khan awarded him Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, President Ziaul Haq the Pride of Performance and President Gen Musharraf Hilal-i-Imtiaz. He was the receipient of several Nigar Film and Graduate Awards. In 1979, he was presented the Saigal Award in Jalandhar, India, while he was presented the Gorkha Dakshina Bahu Award by the government of Nepal in 1983.
Besides singing thousands of film songs that became popular, he enthralled millions of fans by performing in live concerts. To his credits are also several albums containing ghazals of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmad Fraz, Munir Niazi, Parveen Shakir, Nasir Kazmi and Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi. Who can ever forget ‘gulon main rang bharay bad-e-nau bahar chalay’, ‘Ranjish hi sahee dil hi jalanay kay liay aa’, ‘Mujhay tum nazar say gira tou rahay ho’, ‘Shola sa jal bujha hoon hawain mujhay na do’ and hundreds of other ghazals. Mehdi Hassan was a legend like other top-notchers of the film industry including Dilip Kumar, Lata Mangeskhar, Raj Kapoor, Naushad and many others. Lata once said: “Mehdi Sahib kay galay main bhgwaan gatey hain’. Mehdi Hassan would be remembered for generations to come.