Ustad Ghulam Abbas Khan mesmerizes audience on 'Khayal'

By Sudha Pachauri

NEW DELHI: City ghazal enthusiasts had a respite from the sweltering heat as the soothing voice of

Ghulam Abbas Khan

serenaded them at a musical event 'Khayal', organized by

Ustad Imam Uddin Khan Dagar

Memorial Society. which aims to promote traditional classical and semi-classical art forms in city.

Ustad Ghulam Abbas Khan performed at

India Habitat Centre

, New Delhi. This Ghazal concert was based on the poetry of eminent Urdu Poet Janab Chandrabhan 'Khayal'. Concert was organised by Ustad Imam Uddin Khan Dagar Memorial Society.

The concert had a unique format in which poet

Chandrabhan Khayal

had an interaction with eminent Urdu poetess Mrs Amita Parsuram. Ustad Ghulam Abbas Khan Composed 3 Poetries of Khayal Sahab. The audience was touched and mesmerized by his performance.

His silky voice had lots of emotions and tunes were very effective and touched the hearts of audience. Particularly the Nazm 'Nahi Koi Shareek Allah Ka' created very effective atmosphere.

Ghulam Abbas Khan has recently released an album titled 'Teri Aankhein' in Mumbai with the galaxy of ghazal and film stars including Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Hariharan, Jaspinder Narula and Johnny Lever.

He is among the very few vocalists who do the equal justice to classical singing and ghazal both. He is also a grear composer. He has released about 15 Albums of ghazal and classical songs. He has travelled to 26 countries for his concerts.

He comes from eminent family of Musicians known as Rampur Sahaswan Gharana. He is son of late Padmashri Ustad Ghulam Sadiq Khan who was a classical vocalist of international repute.

Shadma A Khan, his wife and a ghazal enthusiast, said, "Ghazal tradition is a vanishing art. Because of an all pervasive Bollywood culture, the youngsters are ignorant of traditional art forms of the country. The bollywood songs that one hears have absolutely no meaningful lyrics and lack profundity."

Amita Parsuram, Urdu Poetess said, "As a classical singer, Ghulam Abbas Khan has adopted ghazals as his genre and does full justice to the immortal hits of Mehdi Hasan, Ghulam Ali and Jagjit Singh."

The stage also belonged to the musicians who helped in generating the mood and the sentiment, especially with the mellifluous strains of guitar and tabla.