Ustad Ghulam Ali Khan: A maestro’s voice crosses borders
In an illustrious career span of 50 years, Pakistani ghazal singer Ustad Ghulam Ali Khan is, for the first time, rendering his voice for a patriotic song. The track is for an Indian film, 498A -The Wedding Gift, which is being directed by Suhaib Ilyasi, reports timesofindia.com. Khan says, “I am sure it will tug a chord in every Indian’s heart.”
The maestro doesn’t see how his patriotic number for Indians can ruffle feathers in his homeland. “The musical chords have always remained strong between the two nations. As a man and a singer, I have been trying to bridge the gap and blur the barriers between the two countries,” the website quotes Khan as saying. He adds that, “India and Pakistan were one till ‘siyasat’ played its dirty game and created a siyasi border in 1947. We are like brothers and while brothers may disagree, they are bound by strong ties and so are Pakistan and India. How does it matter, then, if I sing a nationalist song for India or Pakistan?”
Khan is venturing into a new territory with this song; he will make his debut on the silver screen at the same time. “I agreed to do a cameo on Ilyasi’s insistence. There are great dialogues that I have to deliver in the film but the thought of coming on camera is making me nervous,” he confesses. Glamgold.com quotes director Ilyasi as saying, “When I first heard the mukhda (initial version) of this song, I could only think of Ghulam Aliji. We really had work hard to convince him because he has not sung for any Hindi film for a long time, but once he heard the melody, he immediately agreed. The song has come out so beautifully.”
According to timesofindia.com, Khan, who holds Punjab close to his heart, says he is in constant contact with Asha Bhosle, Daler Mehndi, Hans Raj Hans, Nouman Saheb and “my Indian fans.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 16th, 2011.
COMMENTS (2)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Mr ghulam ali is the only pakistani singer who is invited to india quite often, also he is coming to india since my child hood.Apart from being a extremely good singer, he is a great man, very very humble and polite ( something that is grossly missing from most of the pakistani singers,actors or players).Most of the people who come from pakistan will say one thing in india and say totally different in pakistan.Being a good performer is great but being good human being is very very important.