Begum Akhtar was born Akhtari Bai Faizabadi in Faizabad on 7th Oct 1914.She took the music world by storm with her maiden performance at the tender age of fifteen.She acted in some Hindi movies in the Thirties. She rendered her songs herself in all her films.She disappeared from the Music world for five long years after her marriage.In 1949, she returned to the recording studios, the Lucknow Radio Station and soon after, to stage performances.She was amongst the early female singers to give public concert, and break away from singing in mehfils or private gatherings, and in time came to be known as Mallika-e-Ghazal (Queen of Ghazal)
She was a regular performer on All India Radio. She usually composed her own ghazals and most of her compositions were raag based.She was the one who brought Thumri and Dadra to the common man through public concerts. Her voice matured with time, adding richness and depth. She has nearly four hundred songs to her credit.She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for vocal music, and was awarded Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan (posthumously) by Govt. of India.She died on 30 October 1974 in the arms of Nilam Gamadia, her friend, who invited her to Ahmedabad, which has become her final performance.
Some Of Begum Akhtar's Most Popular Ghazal
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