Shehnai player, Ustad Bismillah Khan, legend of Indian classical music, needs no introduction. Ustad Bismillah Khan is a name that is synonymous with the wooden instrument of the shehnai. Khan was born on 21 March 1916 in Dumraon, Bihar in a Muslim family of musicians. His real name was Qamruddin Khan.
Khan’s musical journey began at a young age. Shehnai was already considered an important folk instrument but it was Khan who made it popular.
He made a huge impact by bringing the shehnai to the concert stage. Khan’s father Prophet Baks Khan and grandfather were also great musicians in the Dumraon estate. To start his musical journey, Khan was sent to Varanasi at the age of 6 to live with his uncle Ali Bux. Khan’s uncle Ali was a shehnai player at the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi. The Ustad used to accompany his uncle to a music conference in Allahabad, which later brought an early recognition for him.
Khan left an impeccable mark for himself through the folk instrument Shehnai. Khan was first invited to play the shehnai at the Red Fort by the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on 15 August 1947, the first Independence Day. Khan is one of the few musicians who were awarded the 2001 Bharat Ratna for their contribution to Indian music.
Yatindra Mishra’s book ‘Sur Ki Baradari’ narrates an interesting incident in the life of the maestro where one of his disciples tells him that people from all over the world come to visit you, still, you wear torn and old clothes, it’s good do not think so. To this Khan replied, “I have got Bharat Ratna for my shehnai and not for my clothes. Today it will be sewn tomorrow.
The clarinet maestro also participated in many international events, including the World Exhibition in Montreal, the Cannes Art Festival and the Osaka Trade Fair.
Khan had a brief association with the film as well. He played his melodious shehnai in two films, Vijay Bhatt’s ‘Goonj Uthi Shehnai’ in 1959 and Kannada film ‘Sanadi Appanna’ in 1977. He also appeared in a song from Satyajit Ray’s 1958 film ‘Jalsagar’.
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