At the dargah of Haji Waris Alis Shah in Barabanki’s Dewa Sharief, the qawwals are mourning the death of a musical legend who started his journey here.On Friday, they began their evening recital with, ‘‘Khuda gawah hai jo kuchch hai mere daaman mein kisi ki den nahin., the favourite of Naushad, one of Indian film music’s greatest composers, who died at the age of 87 in Mumbai today.‘‘He was very keen to come to Lucknow one more time, and visit the dargah where he always believed he received his first training in music, and of which he was a mureed (devotee),’’ says Sarwari, Naushad’s niece.Naushad Ali, who belonged to an orthodox Muslim family from Lucknow, was taken to the dargah as a religious exercise but was fascinated by the Sufi qawwals who have performed there for generations. The music of the qawwals never left him—he blended its soul into film music and composed all-time greats such as ‘‘Mohabbat ki jhooti kahani pe roye’’ (Mughal-E-Azam), ‘‘Duniya mein aaye hei to jeena hi padega’’ (Mother India) and ‘‘Madhuban mein radhika nache re” from Kohinoor.The composer, who is survived by three sons and six daughters, pioneered the introduction of Hindustani classical music into film songs and many of his compositions were inspired by ragas.Naushad moved from Lucknow to Mumbai in the late 1930s to try his luck in films. Initially, he had to struggle and even had to spent nights on the footpath.But never did he forget his Lucknow past. At Allan Sahib & Sons in Lucknow, from where he received his first harmonium from the owner, they are reliving his memories. Recalls Azmatullah, whose grandfather had given the maestro his first peti: ‘‘Naushadsaab was always full of memories of Lucknow, of Lal khan ka haata and Royal Talkies (now Mehra cinema) where he began his career as an orchestra artiste playing the harmonium as a background score for the silent movies.’’ ‘‘The first time we had gone to Mumbai, Naushad saw us and stopped his car. When he discovered we were from Dewa he took us to his place. Since then we have been there several times,’’ says Mohammed Arif, leader of the qawwals. UnforgettableFive of the music legend’s best remembered filmsMughal-e-AzamNaushad experimented with bhajan and qawwali for the first time, using Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Lata Mangeshkar. It is said that Naushad was the only composer whose name appeared above the film’s title on hoardings.Mother IndiaSituational numbers were resonantly relevant to the plot of the film, such as the Lata Mangeshkar-sung Nagri nagri dware dware and Duniya mein hum aye hain.PakeezahComposed the background music and is said to have completed the remaining compositions after Ghulam Mohammed’s sudden death.Mere MehboobHis detractors said Naushad was only audio-visually identified with Dilip Kumar, so he did this film with the newest superstar Rajendra Kumar and still delivered his best.Baiju BawraA historical milestone as Naushad introduced Hindustani classical music to cinema lovers and broke the myth that classical music could not appeal to the masses.shirin.abbas@expressindia.com(With PTI)
