MEHDI HASSAN TRIBUTE by USTAD MOHAN KHAN

Ustad Mohan Khan, a disciple of Shahenshah-E-Ghazal Mehdi Hassan, paid the first ever tribute to the legendary singer. "He is my guru and I wanted to pay tribute to him. He used to love me a lot and I have learnt so much from him," said Ustad Mohan Khan. "For a disciple, his guru is more important than god...This 'parampara' will never die," he added. 

The event titled ‘Tribute to Shahenshah-E-Ghazal’ was organised by Populus Global in association with Mumbai based music troupe Musicolor. Mehdi Hassan died in Karachi June 13 after a prolonged illness. The idea to pay tribute was initiated by Mohan Khan's shagird Gopalakrishnan. Mehdi Hassan presented popular ghazals like "Ranjish hi sahi", "Ab ke hum bichde", "Mohabbat Karne wale" and "Zindagi mein tho sabhi pyar..." at the concert. He says it was "difficult to select from his work" and that he picked up the "most popular ones".

Ustad Mohan Khan came in touch with Hassan in the late 80s and after that he was constantly with him. "He visited India in the late 1970s and 1980s. There would be concerts and a lot of us, his followers, would be around him, wanting to hear and learn from him. He would visit my house, discuss nuances of the art," he said. "I remember this concert in Leela Penta (now Hotel Leela) where he asked me to sing in the second half. It was abrupt - he told everyone that the second half of the concert will be presented by my 'shaghird', Mohan Khan... I was shocked and surprised as there were luminaries from the music field present," Ustad Mohan Khan added.