The man behind the tabla

In 1945, director K Asif directed Prithviraj Kapoor in a film titled Phool, which also starred Sitara Devi. While that might be known, it was only recently that Ustad Allarakha’s son Fazal Qureshi discovered that his father did playback for the veteran actor in the movie. That, and a lot of other little-known nuggets of information about the man who brought the tabla to the forefront of world music, will be shared by Fazal and actor-storyteller Danish Husain on the occasion of the Ustad’s 99th birth anniversary at a memorial concert called The Journey Continues.

Highlighting the man 

While the tabla maestro has been organising a concert in the memory of his father for the past nine years, it has always been about collaborating with other musicians and paying him a musical tribute. This time, while there are younger musicians such as Zubin Balaporia, Sridhar Parthasarathy, Sheldon D’Silva, Andrew Kanga among others, who will be performing at the concert, Danish will regale the audience with anecdotes and stories about the man behind the tabla in his inimitable storytelling style. 

“While people do know about his mastery when it comes to the tabla, they are not so aware of him as a personality, his friendships with actors and music composers of that period, his collaborations with other musicians including drummer Buddy Rich and percussionist Mickey Hart, and the way his music influenced and left behind an indelible mark on others. When people leave the auditorium, they should feel they know him. Insaan ki tasveer mukkammal ho — that’s our effort,” says Danish.

Re-discovering gems 

The process of research on the late tabla maestro’s journey from Lahore to Mumbai and his subsequent rise to fame threw up a lot of gems and was a process of re-discovery for his son Fazal. “My father’s life was full of interesting twists and turns. While I was aware of a lot of things including his early days of struggle and his compositions for films under the name AR Qureshi, there was a lot that I didn’t know. I asked my eldest sister, who in London, for information. On his part, Danish read up a lot, including author Peter Levezzoli’s book The Dawn of Indian Music in the West, which talks about the impact Indian classical music had on western music,” reveals Fazal. For Danish, who has always been a man of words, poetry and literature, this was his induction into the world of music. “If I sing, I will get thrown out for being besura but at least, I know what a dayan and bayan in a tabla is!” he laughs, adding that this opportunity gave him the chance to not only discover and learn about Ustad Allarakha but also about other Indian classical musicians. 

Since April 29, the day of the concert, marks the beginning of the birth centenary year of the maestro, the duo plans to take the show to other places as well. “I think his story needs to reach more people,” says Danish, adding that Abbaji, as he was fondly called, has a lot of goodwill and people will want to know about him. And how do they plan to top this show next time? “No idea. Maybe we might have holograms of Buddy Rich and Mickey Hart performing alongside us!” laughs Danish.

The Journey Continues tomorrow, April 29 at 7 pm, St Andrew’s Auditorium, Bandra.