Begum Akhtar’s life on celluloid soon

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Legendery ghazal singer Begum Akhtar’s eventful life and career will be captured on celluloid soon by her closest disciple Rita Ganguly who wants to set right the “unnecessary sensationalisation” of her life in some low-grade movies. Ganguly, who runs the Begum Akhtar Academy of Ghazals in New Delhi, said the script for the feature film was ready and a hunt was now on for finding a producer. She said that her film would give a correct account of Akhtar’s life as known to her through long years of association and tell the tale of an uncomplicated life married to music. She regretted that for a performer who has left a repertoire unparalled in depth and sophistication, the films that were made earlier were unrepresentative and trotted out fictitious accounts. “I want to correct all this,” Ganguly, who has also written a play on the ghazal queen’s life which was staged in the US, UK, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka besides many places in the country, said. The film will be centred on research done by Ganguly, a Padmashree recipient, as well as her personal interaction with Akhtar who was born on October seven, 1914 and originally named as Akhtaribai Faizabadi. Recollecting the day Akhtar literally took her away from Thumri exponent Siddheshwari Devi’s tutelage after a public performance in the 60s, Ganguly said that she had become a part of her ever since. “She is with me even now, 30 years after her death through her music and persona,” Ganguly, who is also a dancer of repute, said. “Completely devoid of airs and an outspoken personality, Akhtar asked me once to perform in a music conference at Rabindra Sadan in Kolkata along with her. Now tell me how many singers of her standing will ask a cub artiste to perform at a function which is devoted to her solely?”

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