ISLAMABAD: The birthday of Shahenshah-e-Ghazal Mehdi Hassan will be celebrated on Thursday (July 18). Mehdi Hassan was born on July 18, 1927 in a village called Luna in the Indian state of Rajasthan in a family of traditional musicians.
He was honoured with Tamgha-e-Imtiaz Pride of Performance and Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the government of Pakistan. In 1983 he was awarded Gorkha Dakshina Bahu in the court of King Birendra by the Government of Nepal.In 1978 he was awarded KL Saigal Sangeet Shehenshah Award by the government of India.
He remained a leading singer of the Pakistani film industry along with Ahmed Rushdi. The highest civilian award of Pakistan Nishan-e-Imtiaz' was also conferred on him.
In 1957 Mehdi Hassan was given the opportunity to sing on Radio Pakistan which 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.
His first song was "Jis ne mere dil ko dard diya" from film Susral' in 1962 and popular ghazal "Insha ji utho ab kooch karo is shaharr me dil ko lagana kia" made him immortal. Legendary Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar complimented him saying that "Bhagwan talks in his throat."
In October 2010 HMV released "Sarhadain" in which probably the first and last duet song "Tera Milana" featuring Mehdi Hassan and Lata Mangeshkar was released.
Mehdi Hassan died on June 13 2012 after a protracted illness in a private hospital in Karachi.
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