Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan’s one last wish has been to perform at the India Gate with Lata Mangeshkar.
NEW DELHI: Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan’s one last wish has been to perform at the India Gate with Lata Mangeshkar.
One half of the wish has been granted after the Union home ministry cleared the paperwork for the venue. The other half, however, seems a distant dream as the melody queen has refused to perform in the capital citing the sweltering heat.
Organiser Shivnath Jha said, “Khansaheb considers Lataji his younger sister. It has been his wish for a very long time to perform with her. Although Lataji has refused, we’ll try and convince her. Weather conditions shouldn’t come in the way of relationships, especially the one that they share.”
This isn’t the first time Khan has expressed a desire to perform with Lata. Soon after the Bharat Ratna was bestowed on her in 1999, the ustad congratulated her on the phone and said, “There are few who are blessed like Lata. It would be so nice if both of us could perform together.”
Since then, many organisers have tried to get the stalwarts together, but in vain. Almost two years ago, some cultural enthusiasts from the capital wrote to Lata proposing a dual performance, but she did not reply.
The July 15 concert is another attempt in this direction. This time, actor Farooque Shaikh and Union minister Kapil Sibal have joined the ‘Bismillah — The Beginning’ movement, as it is being termed, to fulfil the nonagenarian’s wish.
Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal has done his bit by extending an invitation to Khan to perform in Delhi at the ‘True India’ concert, to coincide with India Gate’s 70th anniversary. The show is also expected to feature AR Rahman.
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