An era comes to end with demise of legendary singer Mehdi Hassan

Jumbo Editorial Team

Mehdi Hassan, who immortalized himself in his lifetime, breathed his last at Karachi’s Aga Khan Hospital on June 13. The singing legend was extremely popular throughout South Asia and Middle East besides quite a few other countries. He died of multiple organ failure at the age of 84 with his career spanning no less than five decades.

Born into a family of traditional musicians in 1927 at Luna village in the Indian state of Rajasthan, he was just 20 at the time of migration to Pakistan. He had taken up the profession of a bicycle and auto mechanic before setting his feet in the music industry. He took his time and the breakthrough came in 1957 when Radio Pakistan offered him the chance as a classical singer. 

Then he turned towards films, singing hundreds of songs for the next three decades earning fame and recognition. Many of his numbers became hits and his popularity grew in the entire South Asia. Then his ghazal singing talents mesmerized the entertainment industry and he attained iconic status. 

"We belong to the traditional Kalamt family and mine is the 16th generation which is into ghazal. My ancestors use to regale the Royals of Jaipur, Rajasthan in India. We still have remains of our home around the Amber Fort. And my earlier generations were gifted by the princely state of Jaipur to another royal household called Jhunjhunu in the faraway desert. But be it then or now, India or Pakistan, our music is the same, full of devotion," Mehdi Hassan was quoted as saying in an interview. 

He had to curtail his performances in the late 1980s due to illness, which included a serious lung condition. The severity of his illness forced him to give up all singing by the late-1990s. 

He, however, recorded a duet with the legendary Indian singer, Lata Mangeshkar, who once likened his songs to the voice of god, or an album called Sarhadein (Borders), which was released in 2011. Mehdi Hassan recorded his part of the song in Karachi, while Lata Mangeshkar's part was recorded in Mumbai. 

Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar was grieved to learn about the sad demise of the illustrious singer. “A singer like him is born once in a millennium. It is my bad luck that I could not sing with him when he was healthy. Now I can only regret. With his demise the music fraternity has lost a great and legendary singer,” she remarked in her condolence message. 

The legendary Indian actor, Amitabh Bachchan, has remarked that the era of soulful ghazal singing has come to an end. 

"Deeply pained to learn of the passing away of Mehdi Hassan in Pakistan, a vocalist of immense fame and unique sonorous voice," he noted. 

"Mehdi Hassan, an entire era of soulful ghazal singing gone now left with beautiful memories and personal meetings with him. Mehdi Hassan once told me, he came from humble beginnings, and used to train and sing to the tone of the tractor sound in the fields," Amitabh Bachchan recalled. 

“There are some who are beyond the captive of time and age. One such maestro was Mehdi Hassan. He may not be amongst us physically anymore but he will certainly live forever in our hearts and minds through his ghazals and geets. His gift to all of us including my generation and many more to come is intangible in words. He was more than an inspiration. He went as the greatest living ghazal maestro and we were lucky to have him,” musician Ali Zafar noted.