Ghazals By Hariharan

On the occasion of the 35th Pandit Motiram Pandit Maniram Sangeet Samaroha 2007, The Department of Culture, together with Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj, is organising a 4-day grand music festival, from 29th November to 2nd December, at the Nizam College grounds.

Young and upcoming artistes will share the dias with some senior ones during the festival, such as flautists Rakesh Chaurasia and Shashank, vocalists Pandit Jasraj, Pritam Bhattacharya and Sanjeev Abhyankar, Hariharan, vainika Jayanthi Kumaresh, sitarist Ustad Shahid Parvez, Sufi Kathak dancer Manjari Chaturvedi, and tabla player Vijay Ghate.

Today, the inaugural day, the second program for the night is by playback singer and ghazals maestro Hariharan. He will be singing some of his hit Hindi ghazals. Blessed with a mellifluous voice and impeccable musical skills - Hariharan was trained both in Carnatic and in Hindustani music - this Tamilian from Bombay first made his mark in an unconventional way: as a ghazal singer. He took the Indian musical scene by storm in 1996 with his phenomenally successful "Colonial Cousins" album, a collaborative effort with Leslie Lewis. This Indian-English fusion album consistently topped the Indian musical charts in 1996, and even became the first Indian act to be featured on MTV Unplugged.

Born in 1955, Hariharan grew up in Bombay, and has bachelor degrees in science and law. The son of renowned Carnatic vocalists Alamelu and the late H A S Mani, Hariharan naturally inherited his parents' musical talents. Alamelu was Hariharan's first guru, and from her he picked up Carnatic music skills. Later, in his teens, inspired by the songs of Mehdi Hassan and Jagjit Singh, Hariharan developed a passion for ghazals, and started training in Hindustani music from Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan.

In 1977, Hariharan bagged the top prize in the All-India Sur Singaar competition, and was promptly signed on by the late music director Jaidev to sing for the Hindi film "Gaman". His ghazal "Ajeeb Saane He Mujh Par Qarar" in that movie became such a hit that it won Hariharan an Uttar Pradesh state award, and his playback singing career took off.

He has sung more than 1,000 songs in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi movies. He has also released about 15 ghazals albums, including Sukoon, Aab Shaar-e-Ghazal (with Asha Bhosle), Dil Ki Baath, Horizon, Paigam, Hazir (with Ustad Zakir Hussein on tabla) and Gulfam.

Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj has been organising music festivals every year at the Nizam College grounds, in memory of his late father and brother Pandit Motiram and Pandit Maniram respectively, since the last 35 years. His father and brother were both music professors at the Nizam College. The entry to the concert is free.

Please contact the Department of Culture at 2324-2482 for further details.