Kolkata, Sahar Zaman, grand-niece of ‘King of Ghazals’ Talat Mahmood and author of a biography of the singing legend, wishes a biopic of the singing legend be made in his 101st birth anniversary year.
Zaman, a well-known television journalist, also said she would be happy if a filmmaker like Sanjay Leela Bhansali directs the biopic with Ranbir Kapoor essaying the role of Mahmood who also starred in 13 films between 1945 and 1958.
Mahmood was born in Lucknow on February 24, 1924 and breathed his last on May 9, 1998, in Mumbai where he worked for many years from 1950. He also worked in the Kolkata film industry for a few years during its heyday in the early ‘40s.
“There needs to be initiatives by state governments to organise events to commemorate personalities like Talat Mahmood, Raj Kapoor and others in their centenary years,” Zaman told PTI.
A session was organised on the book, ‘Talat Mahmood: The Definitive Biography,’ written by Zaman and published in 2023, the birth anniversary year of the ‘Padma Bhushan’ recipient, on Saturday.
“I wish a biopic is made on his life tracing in detail his eventful journey spanning three cities – Lucknow , Kolkata and Mumbai,” she said.
Zaman said she wished someone like Sanjay Leela Bhansali helm such a project.
“He is one of those filmmakers who can frame the vastness, keeping in mind the detailing required to recapture that era spanning over three cities,” said the singer’s kin.
Zaman said she would love to have Ranbir Kapoor essay the lead role if any such biopic is made. Asked how Mahmood as a sensitive person reacted to ghastly incidents like the ‘1946 Great Calcutta Killings’ riots and the Mumbai riots of 1992 after demolition of Babri Masjid, she said, “A singer like him would always talk about deep human emotions.”
“A lot of things are reflected in ghazals and their words… spoken through music, instead of statements. Remember, artists are unifying factors,” Zaman said.
Zaman then narrates one incident involving the then Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and the King of Ghazals in the 60s.
“The year he got the Marathi Singer of the Year award, Thackeray sir invited him to his residence and said: ‘I am a huge fan of yours. You bring such softness to the lyrics’. And that mutual respect and admiration remained over the years,” she said.
Mahmood sang in 16 regional languages – including Bengali, Assamese, Marathi, Sindhri, Malayalam and Telugu – and lent voices to over 800 songs having commanded love and admiration of billions of followers.
Asked if partition and the subsequent events in the subcontinent curbed the visit of Mahmood to attend concerts in Pakistan, Zaman said even at difficult times, he did go there.
“Part of his family lived there and he would go there for concerts. My book has a chapter on this. I have narrated how a concert of Talat Mahmood caused a massive traffic jam near the venue in Pakistan and Mehdi Hassan ji on the way to the concert was also stuck in that jam,” said his biographer.
Zaman said that another friend of his in Pakistan, singer Noor Jehan, was wanted him to sign a contract for nine films to be made in Pakistan, but Mahmood gently declined saying he could not live long away from India.
“When he had consciously made the decision to live in India after partition, he never wavered from that. He loved his motherland, he loved India and he believed in the secular and pluralistic values of India,” she said.
Describing Mahmood as the ‘Frank Sinatra of India’, Zaman said he embarked on a world tour as one of the few singers of the subcontinent in 1956 and “helped in building a route map reaching out to the Indian diaspora”.
Pointing out Mahmood re-recorded his 40s-50s albums in 1965 using a new technology when the older version could not be played in contemporary music systems, she said, “Mahmood embraced changes. He was doing fusion in his time and he moved with time being active even months before his death. In fact he was ahead of his time.”
About Mahmood’s journey, Zaman said, “Kolkata embraced him as over one lakh albums of his first smash hit ‘Tasveer Banata Hoon’ in 1944 was sold, breaking all records,” she said.
Tutored by another legend Pankaj Mallick, he sang in Bengali as ‘Tapan Kumar’ and recorded several songs. However, as he shifted to Mumbai, he had to struggle like any newcomers there, Zaman said.
“Initially, they did not like his vibrato, which made him suppress his normal expression. However, as Anil Biswas asked him to revert to his natural gayaki, he tasted success with ‘Arzoo’ with Dilip Kumar. The song ‘Aye Dil Mujhe Aisi Jagah’ topped the charts,” she said.
The Dilip-Talat partnership won hearts and he cemented his position in Mumbai, she said.
“Interestingly, I had never looked at his music career in this manner before 2017” when she curated the ‘Jash-e-Talat’ show on television,” she said.
Mahmood’s biographer also said that he was “one of the first singers in India who flagged the issue of royalty rights for singers”.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
