A voice for the ages

Growing up in Hyderabad, especially when you’re born into a family that’s inclined towards art, you’re bound to pick up a thing or two about ghazals. That’s exactly what happened with Talat Aziz, one of the music form’s most recognisable faces.

“I come from an old Hyderabadi family — my father was a senior bureaucrat and was very fond of music, while my mother was a writer,” says Talat, speaking to us ahead of his performance in the city on Sunday. “It was a different era back then, we used to have these mehfils at home and that’s how I came to love music.  But I never thought I’d take it up as a profession,” he adds.

A busy weekend for the 60-year-old, Talat was in Kota, Rajasthan on Friday night, and in Delhi on Saturday, before flying down to Hyderabad — now his second home. Moving to Mumbai in 1977, Talat explains, “For this profession, you have to be in Mumbai. There are countless singers from all over the country, beautiful singers but they all come to Mumbai, only because the industry is here. You make a name for yourself here, and you’re known all over the country."

After Jagjit Singh launched his career by producing his first ghazal album, Talat shot to fame and soon became a trusted playback singer for the Indian film industry too. But that didn’t take away from his focus on being a ghazal singer, he says: “From the late ’70s and early ’80s, there was a period of about 10-15 years where ghazals as an alternate to Bollywood became very big.  I was a part of that movement. Our albums would outsell even Bollywood and international albums. People wanted a change, and we gave that to them — a simple melody with good lyrics. That’s essentially how ghazals became mass. Before that it was very niche.”

And even with the rise of other genres in the industry, he believes that ghazals are still just as universal. Talat says, “Last night I was in Kota where 10,000 people were listening to me for three hours. Internet and social media can help art, not just music. The only problem is, you have to invest and make sure you stand out. As long as you have talent, it will show... and hopefully you’ll get a break!”