Lakshmi Rameshwar Rao, Hyderabad
Ustad Raza Ali Khan was born on 8 August in 1962 in Bombay to the Hindustani classical vocalist Ustad Munawar Ali Khan, son of legendary Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and nephew of Ustad Barkat Ali Khan, the well known Indian classical vocalists of the Kasur Patiala gharana.
Raza Ali Khan received his early training from his grandfather and then from his father. He accompanied his father at concerts and gave his first solo performance at the Youth Festival in 1977 at the Eden Garden Stadium at Calcutta. Raza Ali Khan is an accomplished music director and composer.
Raza Ali Khan performs Khayal, Thumri, Dadra, Ghazal, Geet, Sozkhani, Noha Khani, and Manqabat. He has composed ghazals for Ghulam Ali. Under the pen name of Sabrang, he has created many new compositions.
Ustad Munawar Ali Khan Ustad Raza Ali Khan’s father, , was born in 1930 in Lahore, British India. He was an Indian classical and light classical vocalist of the Kasur Patiala Gharana, taught by his father Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and his uncle Barkat Ali Khan. He accompanied his father Bade Ghulam Ali Khan in his concerts and became a part of his recitals after Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, his father, had a paralytic attack in early 1961.
Munawar Ali Khan was a top-grade All India Radio artist. He had a full-throated voice with open “aakar” with a style that differed from his father’s style. He performed in major music festivals in India and abroad. He sang ragas which were not very popular in his gharana. Munawar Ali Khan created many khyal and thumri bandishes as well as geet and ghazal bandishes. He sang for a Bengali film “Jaijawanti”.
After Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, his father’s death in 1968, Munawar Ali Khan started giving solo concerts. Munawar Ali Khan taught many students including his son Raza Ali Khan, his nephews Mazhar Ali Khan, Jawaad Ali Khan, Naqi Ali Khan; Ajoy Chakraborty.
The Kasur Patiala legacy is now carried by his son Raza Ali Khan and his nephews Jawaad Ali Khan, Mazhar Ali Khan, Naqi Ali Khan, and Abdul Aziz Khan and is the current Khalifa (leader/ruler) of the Gharana.
Munawar Ali Khan died at the age of 59 in Kolkata on 13 October 1989.
Barkat Ali Khan
Ustad Barkat Ali Khan (1908 – 1963) was a classical singer, the younger brother of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and elder brother of Mubarak Ali Khan, belonging to the Patiala gharana. Barkat Ali Khan was born in Kasur in the Punjab province of then British India. His initial training was by his father, Ali Baksh Khan Kasuri and later his brothers Bade Ghulam Ali Khan with Amanat Ali Khan and Mubarak Ali Khan, his brothers. After 1947 and the partition of British India, Barkat Ali Khan, migrated to Pakistan with his family, and focused on the lighter aspects of Hindustani classical music.
Barkat Ali Khan was widely acknowledged as one of the great exponents of Thumri, Dadra, Geet and Ghazal, and was well known for both Purab and Punjab Ang Thumris. Mohammad Rafi was Barkat Ali Khan’s student.
Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (2 April 1902 – 23 April 1968) was an Indian Hindustani classical vocalist, from the Patiala gharana. Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was born in Kasur, of the erstwhile Punjab Province; British India Bade Ghulam Ali began training in vocal music at the early age of five year under his chacha Kale Khan, and later from his father. He had three younger brothers Barkat Ali Khan, Mubarak Ali Khan and Amanat Ali Khan.
In 1947 at Partition, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan returned to his native place, Kasur in Pakistan, but came back to India later to migrate to India permanently in 1957. He lived at various times in Lahore, Bombay, Calcutta, and finally Hyderabad.
Bade Gulam Ali was convinced by the film producer, K Asif, to sing two songs based on the ragas Sohni and Rageshri for the 1960 film Mughal-e-Azam, with music directed by Naushad. He demanded and received an extremely high price, reportedly ₹ 25,000 per song, at a time when the rates of popular and star playback singers such as Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi were below ₹ 500 per song.
Bade Ghulam Ali died in Basheer Bagh Palace in Hyderabad on 23 April 1968 after a prolonged illness that left him partially paralyzed in the last few years of his life. He continued to sing and perform in public with the support of his son, Munawar Ali Khan, until his death.
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1962)
Sangeet Natak Akademi fellow (1967)
Padma Bhushan Award (1962)
Film director Harisadhan Dasgupta made a documentary film about Khan in 1968, titled Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Sahib.
Resources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8iovqWt1Pk Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan || Tore Naina Jadu
Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan – Bhajan – Hari Om Tatsat – YouTube
Latulajhisulajhde balam Raag Bihag Munawar Ali Khan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aGfr44sxFc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSyF40YVTyQMunawar Ali Khan Pug ghunghuru bandh Raag kafi
Thumri: Jangla Bhairavi – Aaja Balam Pardesi – YouTube
Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Dadra Sainya Gaye Pardes – YouTube
(The writer has a Masters in Adult Education from Jamia Milia Islamia. She has many years teaching experience at the school level as also ten years of experience in book publishing and some published writing in newspapers and more students’ books. Lakshmi has retired and lives in Hyderabad.)
