Daily Times

I feel happy to disclose that for the last month, my evenings have been taken over by PTV’s ‘Bazm-e-Mehdi Hasan, a tribute to the late Mehdi Hasan, the musical genius who died a couple of years ago. I have immensely enjoyed this music programme by the title of ‘Bazm-e-Mehdi Hassan from PTV’s popular channel to pay homage to the memory of the great musical icon Mehdi Hasan.

This is a unique production having a beginning but no visible end, running into several musical episodes spreading into days and weeks and bound together with the unity of one compere, namely Salman Alvi who is himself a well-known musician along with a band of about a dozen or more accomplished musicians who are intermittently replaced after every episode by equally brilliant musicians. The format of the programme has been most skillfully devised to keep alive the interest of viewers to sit through its interminable length by creating a very informal environment in which singing and its commentary go side by side by the excellent command of its compere who knows every singer personally as also the ghazal they perform and their intricacies for the benefit of viewers.

The act of commemorating the great contribution of our music icons who are no longer with us now will revive their great tradition.

The show proceeds with a remarkable continuity with singing by various musicians (who had a close rapport with Mehdi Hasan) along with the comments by the compere and other participants which make it lively and informative for the viewers. There is an air of informality and the singers are seemingly selected at random and are allowed to sing ghazals of their own choice freely and spontaneously, apparently giving no impression that they had made any homework for their flawless renditions. It was indeed amazing that throughout this marathon an impression went around as if every singer performed his/her item without any preparation or rehearsals, and with full liberty to take as much time as they wished. And all this was done without any blemish or fault which was very unusual.

This ‘Bazm’will be hailed for some of its special features. It introduced many new singers who had never appeared in the media before and whose performance was in no way less worthy than the professional singers in the media. Some of them competently sang in Classical mode. One positive aspect of this ‘Bazm’ was that it highlighted the greatness of Humaira Channa and her great versatility as a great singer of all kinds and forms of musical genres, her masterful control of all classical and light classical modes of singing, which she can perform with effortless ease.

One great contribution of this ‘Bazm’ was that it enlivened the musical treasure of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s of our Play-back singing particularly relating to the late Mehdi Hasan, from which his stature as a colossal play-back singer comes to the fore. Most of us were not aware of his vast contribution as a play-back giant of our age. Hitherto Mehdi Hasan’s fame as an exceptional singer came to us from his comparatively recent contributions to Radio and TV and little was known about his huge contribution as a play-back singer during the earlier phases of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. His more iconic contribution as a play-back singer pertained to the decades between the ’60s and ’90s, in which most of the super hit songs were sung as a play-back singer by Mehdi Hasan.

This ‘bazm’ is also responsible for highlighting the great contributions of our very eminent lyricists of the past who were fated to remain in the background behind the glare of the singers who were lucky to get their credit from music lovers. Most of these lyrics are great pieces of literature in their own right outside the film world. It is quite ironic that the lyricists despite their true contribution to the success of a song remain hidden in anonymity, and remain deprived of the appreciation they deserve alongside the singer. Thus this ‘Bazm’ very rightly gave credit to the lyricists who composed the song.

Besides bringing the established singers into the limelight who for lack of attention were lying idle, the ‘bazm’ played a significant role in digging out new singers with surprising talents who would prove an asset for Pakistan in the future. This I consider a cardinal contribution to the promotion of music in our country, provided programmes like ‘Bazm’ are made a routine and not an exception. The act of commemorating the great contribution of our music icons who are no longer with us now will not only revive their great tradition but will also help the new entrants to climb up the ladder to greater glory in the profession they have chosen for their future.

The writer is a former member of the Provincial Civil Service, and an author of three books.