#BegumAkhtar was born on 7th October, 1914 in Faizabad town of Uttar Pradesh. Her name was Akhtaribai Faizabadi though she was much popular as Begum Akhtar. She showed interest in music at a very young age and was sent to train under the great sarangi player, Ustad Imdad Khan.
Later, she learnt classical music from great exponents of this field like Mohammad Khan, Abdul Waheed Khan and Ustad Jhande Khan Saheb.
#BegumAkhtar
#BegumAkhtar
At 15 she gave her first public performance. People were moved by her voice and she gained instant recognition. Her ghazals even impressed Sarojini Naidu and was appreciated at a concert that was organized for helping victims of Bihar earthquake.
#BegumAkhtar
#BegumAkhtar
Her first recording was done by the Megaphone Record Company and they released many gramophone records with her melodious Ghazals, thumris, dadras, etc.
#BegumAkhtar
#BegumAkhtar
In 1930's, Begum Akhtar also acted in a few Hindi films which include Ameena (1934), Mumtaz Begum (1934), Jawaani Ka Nasha (1935), Naseeb Ka Chakkar (1935). In all these films, she sang all her songs herself.
#BegumAkhtar
#BegumAkhtar
#BegumAkhtar moved back to Lucknow after a while where the renowned director Mehboob Khan approached her for a film titled "Roti". The music was composed by the famous Anil Biswas. The movie was released in the year 1942 in which Begum Akhtar had sung six Ghazals.
#BegumAkhtar married barrister Ishtiaq Ahmed Abbasi in the year 1945. Due to family restrictions, she could not sing for almost 5 years. She fell ill and her only medicine was music. In 1949, she returned to record at the Lucknow Radio station and sang three Ghazals and a dadra.
She felt so satisfied and happy that she wept with joy. She then continued to give public performances and sing in concerts till she passed away.
#BegumAkhtar
#BegumAkhtar
#BegumAkhtar was persuaded by Madan Mohan, a famous music director to sing in two movies "Daana Paani" (1953) and "Ehsaan" (1954). The songs "Aye Ishq Mujhe Aur to Kuch Yaad" and "Hamein Dil Mein Basa Bhi Lo"
Her last movie stint was that of a classical singer in Satyajit Ray's film "Jalsa Ghar".
#BegumAkhtar
#BegumAkhtar
#BegumAkhtar was called as Mallika-e-Ghazal or the Queen of Ghazals. Her style of singing is inimitable and few can match upto her style. Most compositions were self composed and based on Ragas.
#BegumAkhtar performed last in a concert in Ahmedabad. That day she felt that her voice was not upto the mark and raised her pitch. This put much stress on her and her health deteriorated. She breathed her last on 30th October 1974, leaving many fans disappointed and heart broken
