Monalisa Patsani
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, August 31: In the 1980s and 90s when ghazal singers like Gulam Ali, Mehdi Hassan, Penaz Masani, Pankaj Udhas, Talat Aziz, Raj Kumar Rizvi and others were at the peak of their careers the popularity of ghazal was also high. Over the last decade or so the popularity of gazal has dipped, as music lovers, especially youngsters, have developed a fancy for western music, Sufi, rock and other trendy forms. Good ghazals are few and far between and no noted exponent has yet taken up cudgels to revive the mellifluous form.
Young gazal singer Roshan Bharti from Kota, Rajasthan who belongs to the famous Senia gharana was in the city recently to perform at Sham-e ghazal, a musical extravaganza organised by Orissa Urdu Academy.
Speaking to Orissa POST Roshan said, “For the past 15 years the demand of ghazals has been low, although slowly it is reviving again. It is like a cycle, what goes comes back again. I have been doing concerts continuously and recently did a programme in Srinagar. There is one other programme in Ahmadabad in a few days. I don’t believe youth are not receptive to the form. Indeed I know many youth who have developed a passion for ghazals. In a few years I feel that gazal will regain its popularity.”
Roshan who belongs to the 17th generation of Tansen’s family and is the grandson of Ustad Jamal Khan was in the city for the first time and was enthralled with the love he received from the people. “This was my first visit to the city and the response of the audience was good. Some singers who wanted to learn ghazals called me. It is good that singers are interested in ghazal, but good knowledge of classical music and Urdu is a must to be a perfect ghazal singer,” he said.
“The Ghulam Ali, Mehdi Hassan era is still considered the golden period of ghazal in the country and people are still enthralled of the melodious songs in beautiful rhyming couplets,” said Bharti.
Noted singer Babu Panigrahi who loves singing ghazals has been regularly organising programmes in the city where he invites popular exponents of the form. He also believes that the trend of ghajal songs has declined in the country.
“The poetic sublimity and rhyming couplets of ghazal are elements seldom found in other forms and that is what fascinates me. I started singing ghazals in 1984 and that time I used to perform the songs of Ghulam Ali. In Orissa I tried to popularise ghazal and since 1992 have been trying my bit to keep it alive in the state. I often organise pure ghazal programmes in the city in which we invite noted singers from across the country. I even participate in programmes organised outside the state,” he said.
“I agree that ghazal is slowly losing popularity. Not everybody has the aesthetic sense of appreciating pure ghazal. Commercialism has affected every industry so how can we expect ghazal not to be affected by it. Nowadays, we hardly find any singer who sings pure ghazal or known as a ghazal singer. With the growing demand of versatile singers who can sing all types of songs, a singer can’t concentrate on one form. The present trend has diluted ghazal due to which we hear Bollywood versions of ghazals that people seem to appreciate,” added Panigrahi.
Speaking about ghazal singers in the state, he said, “There are a few ghazal singers in the state doing well like Subhas Panda, Sushant Panda but, yes, we can’t call them full-fledged ghazal singers. Real ghazal singers there are few I feel really sorry for it.”