89th birth anniversary of Mehdi Hassan today

LAHORE - The 89th birth anniversary of the King of Ghazal, Mehdi Hassan, is being celebrated on Monday.

Mehdi Hassan was born on 18 July 1927 in a village called Luna, Rajasthan in Jhunjhunu district in India into a family of traditional musicians.

In 1957‚ Mehdi Hassan was given the opportunity to sing on Radio Pakistan‚ primarily as a "thumri" singer‚ which later 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.

He was honoured with numerous awards including Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Pride of Performance and Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan.

One of his Ghazals he will be most remembered for is Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s, ‘Gullon Mein Rang Bhare.’ A host of other numbers like ‘Ik Husn Ki Devi Se Mujhe Piyar Hua Tha’, and ‘Jab Koi Piyaar Se Bulaye Ga, Tum Ko Ek Shakhs Yaad Aye Ga’ are also equally memorable. He sang for over 300 films during his musical career.

Mehdi Hassan died on 13 June 2012 after a protracted illness in Karachi.