ISLAMABAD: The first death anniversary of Lollywood ghazal singer (late) Mehdi Hassan Khan is being observed today (Thursday).
Mehdi Hassan was born on July 18, 1927 in a village called Luna, in the Indian state of Rajasthan into a family of traditional musicians.
He was awarded KL Saigal Sangeet Shehenshah Award by the government of India.
He was honoured with Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Pride of Performance and Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the government of Pakistan.
In 1983, he was awarded Gorkha Dakshina Bahu in the court of King Birendra by the Government of Nepal.
He remained a leading singer of the Pakistani film industry along with Ahmed Rushdi.
The highest civilian award of Pakistan, ‘Nishan-e-Imtiaz’, was also conferred on him.
In 1957, Mehdi Hassan was given the opportunity to sing on Radio Pakistan, which earned him recognition within the musical fraternity.
He had a passion for Urdu poetry, and therefore, he began to experiment by singing ghazals on a part-time basis.
His first song was ‘Jis ne mere dil ko dard diya’ from film ‘Susral’ in 1962 and popular ghazal ‘Insha ji utho ab kooch karo is shaharr me dil ko lagana kia’ made him immortal. Legendary Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar complimented him, saying that “Bhagwan talks in his throat.”
In October 2010, HMV released “Sarhadain” in which probably the first and last duet song “Tera Milana” featuring Mehdi Hassan and Lata Mangeshkar was released.
Mehdi Hassan died on June 13, 2012 after a protracted illness, in a private hospital in Karachi.
