<P>
<BR>
He has got training from the best<BR>
masters of the Indian classical tradition.<BR>
A voice that evokes in you what is<BR>
termed as spiritual. No wonder A.R<BR>
Rahaman has chased him from time to <BR>
time for singing opportunities. <BR>
The man is Murtaja Mustafa,son<BR>
of the legengary Ustad Ghulam Mustafa. <BR>
Murtaja Mustafa is one of most chilled <BR>
out singers that I have ever met.Both of us<BR>
are sitting on a red persian carpet in <BR>
his small drawing room decorated with <BR>
trophies,awards,and ancient muscial <BR>
instruments. " yaha pe Rahman ki class lagti<BR>
hai",(So this is AR Rahman's music class!)<BR>
I say to myself. Thats another story;we will <BR>
come to it later. <BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
I had gone to his Turner Road residence <BR>
to meet the legendary classical vocalist ,<BR>
Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan. Apart from <BR>
being the leading light of the Rampur <BR>
Ghrana , Ustad ji has taught/mentored <BR>
almost every second playback singer. <BR>
Right from Asha Bhosle ,Manna De to <BR>
Shaan and Sonu Nigam, Ustad Ji has <BR>
helped generations of playback singers <BR>
to excel in their art. Then there are <BR>
two special disciples who are just family <BR>
to him- AR Rahman and Hariharan. Ustad is<BR>
extremely low-profile and quiet in <BR>
his demeanour. He also doesn’t prefer to<BR>
talk much about his star students. <BR>
I had lot of questions in mind when I <BR>
started the interview but I started to <BR>
realize that he was not at all interested <BR>
in critiquing anybody or anything. He<BR>
answered all my questions in parables <BR>
like a Zen master.Then he has also taught<BR>
his two sons Kadir and Murtaja. If you<BR>
have heard Rahmans’ Pia Haji Ali (Fiza),<BR>
Anarkali (Boys, Tamil) and Chupke se (Sathiya)<BR>
,and Ismail Darbars' Kisna (Kisna) you <BR>
would feel instantly what and how their <BR>
smooth vocals have contributed to these songs.<BR>
Murtaja has often collaborated with Rahman (bhai) <BR>
on films like The legend of Bhagat Singh,<BR>
whose background score he recorded in London. <BR>
Murtaja is also working on an album <BR>
where all the three brothers will sing. <BR>
Then there are usual routine classical<BR>
performances, studio recordings and <BR>
riyaz and more riyaz ; Mustafa household <BR>
never sleeps. Murtaja told me, “Even if<BR>
I come at 3 o clock in the night and I<BR>
have a 10 am mixing session next day in <BR>
the studio I will reach the studio at <BR>
sharp 10 am. Same applies to Papa, he<BR>
has taken sessions with Rahman bhai <BR>
at 3 am in the morning”. Something <BR>
like this offers an insight on the <BR>
industry where professionals try to <BR>
beat lack of time and space with passion.<BR>
Motivation levels are very high here. <BR>
<BR>
<BR>
I had a good chat with Murtaja. I had <BR>
been chasing him for a fortnight and<BR>
he finally got me an appointment <BR>
with Ustad ji and also agreed to talk <BR>
to my Dictaphone. The result – he got <BR>
late for a recording session and missed <BR>
altogether his Friday Jumma Namaz. <BR>
It re-affirmed my belief that in my<BR>
research, respondents have at times <BR>
proved to be more self-sacrificing <BR>
than me. Such gestures often make me <BR>
feel more responsible for my work.<BR>
<BR>
Readers,let me know if you want to know<BR>
more about the interview I will do a <BR>
detailed posting.<BR>
<BR>
PRASHANT PANDEY, for SARAI <BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
</P>
<br><br>
<A target="_blank" HREF="http://clients.rediff.com/signature/track_sig.asp"><IMG DEFANGED_SRC="http://ads.rediff.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_nx.cgi/www.rediffmail.com/inbox.htm@Bottom" BORDER=0 VSPACE=0 HSPACE=0></a>