Naushad Ali will be remembered as the man who, throughout
his career ,unflinchingly stood by the music he believed in-Indian
classical and folk. In the very early
years it was easy enough ,when he had several like minded cotemporaries. But
decades later ,when melody and poetry were thrown away with yesterday’s left
0vers and many of the veterans
desperately tried to change with the times ,Naushad refused to swerve from his stand.
He quit and the film industry lost for all practical purposes The music
director who had given ir such classical scores as Rattan,Baiju Bawra and
Mughal-e-Azam .
A lover of music
from childhood for which sin ,he had to face his father’s wrath and leave
home.Naushad moved solely on the strength of his talent, from pavements to the
palaces of Mumbai.But he never for got his roots nor his culture and its folk
and classical manifestations.Helped by the exquisite poetry of Shakeel,Naushad
produced melodies which had the Indian musical tradition s their essence. His
almost high-handed dismissal of Western influences and his over emphasis on
classical music won him many critics who found his stand un reasonable. But to
day in the era of A.R.Rahman and others does it really sem so?May be Naushad
might have known better than his critics.
