Abhijeeth Bhattacharjee and Prodyut Mukherjee all set to host a festival in memory of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan

It will feature Shri Sanjeev Kumar Jha & Manish Kumar (Dhrupad Bandhu Recital) and Padmabhushan Pt.Ajoy Chakrabarty (Patiala-kasur Ghanara) on the first day and Padma Bhushan & Grammy Award Winner Pt.Vishwa Mohan Bhatt( Mohan Veena) and Pt. Ronu Majumdar on the second day.

The prestigious, one of its kind festival has been conceived, curated and produced by Abhijeeth Bhattacharjee and Prodyut Mukherjee.

"This Festival is in aid of Children at Autism Ashram and aimed to promote Indian music and espousing the cause of Autism, through all our events,"  said Abhijeeth Bhattacharjee, Chairman Sangitanjaly Foundation and an ace social Worker.

Pt Prodyut Mukherjee said, "Sangitanjaly Foundation ( a Non Profit Trust & NGO) is one of the established cultural organisations in India that promotes Indian Art & Dance forms which includes Folk, Light Music, Fusion, Sufi etc and it creates a platform for upcoming and budding talents in this domain."

"We are organising the Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan National Festival of Music & Dance in Nov, 2024  (7th Season) in Hyderabad. It's a great honour for us to offer our Shradhanjali  to the maestro Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saheb who spent his last days in Hyderabad.

"Ustadji's Mazhar is located in Hyderabad at Dara Mir Momin in Hari Bowli in Charminar, and this Festival will be in his honour & also to show our reverence to this legend," said Abhijeeth Bhattacharjee.

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was a Hindustani classical vocalist from the Patiala Gharana. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was born in Kasur, a small town near Lahore, Pakistan. In 1957,with the help of Bombay Chief Minister Morarji Desai he acquired Indian citizenship and moved to a bungalow at Malabar Hill in Mumbai. He lived at various times in Lahore, Bombay, Calcutta, and Hyderabad.

At the age of five, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan started learning vocal music from his paternal uncle Kale Khan, and later from his father Ali Baksh Khan. Bade Ghulam amalgamated the best of three traditions into his own Patiala-Kasur style: the Behram Khani elements of Dhrupad, the gyrations of Jaipur, and the behlavas (embellishments) of Gwalior.

Many of his raga expositions were brief, contrary to convention and while he agreed that the beauty of classical music lay in leisurely improvisation, he believed that the audience would not appreciate long alaps and he had to sing for the masses and change the music to what the audience wanted.

He excelled at more light-hearted ragas such as Adana, Bhupali, Hameer, Jaijaiwanti and Jaunpuri. He was convinced by film producer K Asif to sing two songs based on ragas Sohni and Rageshree for the 1960 film Mughal-e-Azam with the music directed by Naushad.

Ustadji came to Hyderabad because of Nawab Moin-ud-Dowla Bahadur, who heard him sing on radio and sent someone to Pakistan for him. Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan came to Hyderabad and stayed for a very long time.

It was his wish to be buried here. His grave ( Mazhar) is located at Daira Mir Momin in Hari Bowli,Charminar,Hyd.

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan had a special liking for ‘Hyderabadi Tehzeeb’ and always enjoyed his stay here. Ustad ji is one of the most respected legends for his great contribution to Indian Classical Music.

His name is synonymous with Patiala Gharana. His famous thumri composition ‘Ka karoon Sajni aaye na balam’ based on raaga Sindh Bhairavi is an all time favourite for all hindustani Classical singers. His Thumri ‘Yaad Piya ki Aye' based on raag Bhinna Shadaj and Bhajan ‘Hariom Tatsat' based on raag Pahadi are again amongst the most popular compositions of all times.