Personal Blog Of Mohib Ahmad

One Ghazal, So Many Singers

September 10th, 2006 Posted in Music, Urdu Poetry

Which singer comes to your mind when you read chupke chupke raat din aaNsuu bahaanaa yaad hai? Ghulam Ali even though Jagjit Singh has also sung it. What about ranjish hi sahii, dil hii dukhaane ke liye aa? Mehdi Hassan obviously but there is a version by Runa Laila as well. And baat niklegii to phir duur talak jaayegi? Of course Jagjit. He has made that nazm his own.

There are quite a few Ghazals and Nazms that have been rendered by more than one singer. ‘roshan jamaal-e-yaar se hai anjuman tamaam‘ has been sung by Abida Parveen, Jagjit Singh and Mehdi Hassan, each version unique. But there is one Ghazal that has been sung by no less that 6 singers. You would think that such honour would be given to ustaad shaoraa (master poets). Wrong. It actually is by Saleem Kausar, a young Pakistani poet. The Ghazal in question is ‘maiN Khayaal huuN kisii aur kaa‘. I have listened to Mehdi Hassan, Jagjit Singh, Ghulam Ali, Raees Khan and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan singing this beautiful Ghazal.

To start with, first listen to the poet himself reciting the Ghazal in a Mushaira. For complete lyrics and meaning of difficult Urdu words, please click here.

Here are all the other versions I have.

Mehdi Hassan version:

Jagjit Singh version:

Raees Khan version:

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan version:

Munni Begum version:

I don’t have Hariharan and Ghulam Ali versions with me but they are also worth listening to. Please do tell me which one do you like the most (I would tell my preference after some days so as not to bias anyone’s judgement).

Update: The video of Munni Begum version added.

  1. 26 Responses to “One Ghazal, So Many Singers”

  2. By Siyaah on Sep 11, 2006

    I’ll take Mehdi Hassan on this one.

    It’s an interesting idea to compile and compare versions of the same ghazal sung by several artists…worth pursuing more…

  3. By Mohib on Sep 11, 2006

    As much as I like MH, I don’t prefer his version of the Ghazal.
    :-)

    I would surely post more of these.

  4. By The illusionist on Sep 14, 2006

    After waiting much for the downloads and giving them all the audience that they more than deserved I found myself wanting to go back to Nusrat. So that’s certainly my choice :). Athough Raees Khan’s was interesting too. Now to get to business, how can I have the Nusrat version on my hard disk? :D

  5. By Mohib on Sep 14, 2006

    I like Raees Khan’s version the best out of all these. It has a ver different feel to it than the rest.

  6. By confused on Sep 15, 2006

    Interesting question. I think we become biased by whom we had heard before. So in this case I opt for JS. Though the Raees Khan version was good too.

    But chupke Chupke will always be Gulaam Ali, no one coms even close.

  7. By deepak on Sep 26, 2006

    Will you e-mail me the audios of Raees Khan as mp3 attachment,what ever you have, including the above?
    I’ll be thankful.

  8. By deepak on Sep 26, 2006

    Raees Khan’s version is the ULTIMATE. This ghazal can’t be sung in any other tone and with any other composition.

  9. By Tamanna on Oct 1, 2006

    I too liked the Raees Khan version. btw u can download it from channeldosti too
    http://www.channeldosti.com/ghazlein.php?folder=/Raees-Khan

    I already have a copy :-D

  10. By sahib on Oct 9, 2006

    mehdi hassan is ultimate and no one in this can sing
    it like that . and no gazal singer will compare mehdi hassan.he has sung gazals that no one can get those feelings in the voice.

  11. By Amit on Oct 18, 2006

    Jagjit Singh is my choice.

    -Amit
    http://www.ipatrons.com

  12. By athreya on Oct 20, 2006

    There is also q version sung by Hariharan and he has sung it beautifully.

  13. By dipendra on Oct 26, 2006

    i prefer jagjit singh ….i have all version …jagjit voice makes in this gazal smooth without those time waisting aaaaaaa, sa re ma pa etc etc ..:D

  14. By rais on Nov 29, 2006

    Excellent work
    How do I get a downloadable version of the Saleem Kausar recitation?

  15. By Devashish on Dec 15, 2006

    Has to be Raees Khan !
    Thanks for posting the different versions, its an amazing effort

  16. By Vaibhav on Feb 2, 2007

    I totally fell in love with the MH version of this ghazal when I first heard it. Over time, I came across other versions of which I liked some, and hated the others. After numerous listenings, I have settled my choice of preferred versions to the following three, in this order:
    1. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, 2. Mehdi Hassan, 3. Raees Khan.

    I do have the Hariharan and Jagjit Singh versions, if you want to add them to this page.

    Vaibhav

  17. By Aisa on Apr 10, 2007

    I liked the poet himself reciting it. I listened to that first and then the music just killed it for me.

  18. By Pankaj on May 19, 2007

    I like Rais Khan the most.

  19. By Abdul Mujib on Jun 26, 2007

    U.Mehdi Hassan is the best signer I love his songs.
    From Kabul

  20. By Krishna on Jul 26, 2007

    very recently I heard mehdi Hasan saab’s version - have not heard any other version ..and I have completely fallen in love with the way he sings

    “sar-e-aa’iinaa meraa aks hai pas-e-aa’iinaa ko’ii aur hai”

    Simply out of this world ..

  21. By Krishna on Jul 26, 2007

    And I must also say that you have done an exceptional job in bringing it all together here in one platform…

    Big Thank you from me ..Mohib bhai ..keep up the good work..

    PS : I would be extremely pleased if you can mail all these versions ..at your convinient time..

  22. By Abdul Razzak Usman on Sep 2, 2007

    I am a ardent fan of these great ghazals singers - Mehandi Hassan , Jagjitsingh and Nusrat Fateh ali Khan but I am sure that nobody can excel Mehandi hassan in this Ghazal.

  23. By Rakesh on Nov 7, 2007

    Any idea why Mehdi Hasan repeated “Zindgi” so many times.

    Great singing by him!

  24. By shaan on Jan 21, 2008

    When I hear, I feel, I am in another world.
    In this song, I can only say one the best_Jagji Singh

  25. By Dr Virendra Singh Godhara on Mar 7, 2008

    ‘One ghazal having so many singers’ reminds me of “YE NA THI HAMARI QISMAT KI VISALE YAR HOTA” by Ghalib. I have heard Mohammad Rafi, Habib Wali Mohammad, Usha Mangeshkar, Suraiya and Begam Akhtar singing it. May be others too would have attempted.

  26. By M, Abid Ali on Mar 29, 2008

    Marhaba,Marhaba what a Ghazal and very Beautiful Compotion By Mehdi hassan, subhan Allah

  27. By satish sharma on May 16, 2008

    In my opinion Mehdi Hassan is a great ghazal singer and his version is the best.

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