‘The world of Ghazals’ is fast becoming an art-form or genre of the gone era in this present net-age. But speaking truthfully, I really feel that if one misses to listen, feel and grasp the lovable essence of Urdu poetry in his life (especially Ghazals), then he is truly missing the joy of one of the most blessed and precious treasures of existence offered to mankind.
The art was close to my heart from the early teens and as an ardent fan, I was always looking for new cassettes released in the Ghazals section since the beginning of 80s. There were many memorable & landmark albums released by world renowned maestros in those ‘Ghazal friendly times’ before the Cable revolution. But this exclusive write-up talks about one of those rare, forgotten and lesser known albums of the decade, which remains amongst the best works I have ever heard by a debutant ghazal singer till date even after more than two decades.
Probably many of the readers here might not have even heard of this album released in 1987, since neither the artist came up with any other post this first attempt of his, nor the album got a deserving revival during the Audio CD wave in the country after a few years. Moreover the Pop Music Industry, which was at its peak in the early nineties further worked as the last nail in the coffin for such albums which fast went out of the shelves in absence of the much needed support in the market.Coming to the basic life-line of the article, this much appreciated album was called SURAAHI and it featured 8 fabulous ghazals, simply yet soulfully sung by Vishal Goswami, son of the legendary film-maker Manoj Kumar. Interestingly every single (well chosen) ghazal of the album had some melodious notes, brilliantly composed by the musical duo, Uttam Singh & Jagdish Khanna (then popularly known as Uttam-Jagdish) and the 8 moving tracks still remain the favourite of many ‘Ghazal fans' like myself, even after so many years.
SURAHI was released by T-Series music company in Cassettes & (may be) LP formats since Audio CDs were yet to hit the market in India. But along with its highly enjoyable tracks, it had another unique feature which was a very rare and never seen before kind of inclusion for a Ghazal album. And it was a humble and loving introduction of the artist made by none other than, the show man of the Hindi Film Industry, Sh. RAJ KAPOOR. The first track of the album was of this rare introduction and then there were 8 immensely enjoyably ghazals, 4 each in the A & B sides of the cassette, sequenced intelligently.
But again this was not all, as one of those 8 Ghazals, having the title of the album, “Surahi La Surahi …… Aaj Saari Raat Peena Hai” was penned by the maestro MANOJ KUMAR himself and it had beautiful verses like,
"Bhatkega Har Gali Mein, Gham Ne Jo Mujhko Chhorha,
Todegi Duniya Usko Bhi, Jaise Mujhko Torha,
Chehre Pe Naqli Chehra, Dhoondhey Kahan Sachhaayi,
Hum Jaiso Ka Kya Rona, Jab Roye Yahaan Khudaayi”
The audio company later released the Compact Disc (ACD) of SURAHI in 1992 which surprisingly had no track divisions but only two 30 minutes tracks having all the songs. Probably because its master was made from the earlier Cassette master only having only 2 tracks of A & B sides, as per the routine. Now at present, a few of SURAAHI’s ghazals are unofficially posted at Youtube by some energetic fans and the album is officially available for purchase both at T-series and few other websites too. So if you are a true fan of the Ghazal genre, then do try to catch this album at the earliest and have a nice time with Raj Kapoor, Manoj Kumar and Vishal Goswami together offering their melodious SURAHI, pouring out some exceptionally great ghazals written by 5 thoughtful poets.
With Cheers to the enjoyable world of Ghazals!
HIS BLESSINGS
Tags :
SURAHI by Vishal Goswami, Surahi Ghazal Album and Manoj Kumar, Surahi Ghazal Album and Raj Kapoor, Did You Know Facts about Bollywood by Bobby Sing, Bollywood Trivia by Bobby Sing, Interesting Unknown Facts about Hindi Films and Music Industry at bobbytalkscinema.com, Surahi at bobbytalkscinema.com
