A. R. Qureshi

A.R. Qureshi, full name Alla Rakha Khan, was a musician, composer, singer, actor, and music director who gained worldwide recognition as a tabla player. He was born on April 29, 1919, in Phagwal, Jammu, and is the father of the world-famous tabla player Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain is a veteran and prominent film and >> Read More... . At the age of 12, A.R. Qureshi became fascinated with the tabla and ran away from home to learn from Mian Qader Baksh of the Punjab Gharana. In the 1940s, he secured a position in All India Radio, Bombay, and between 1946 to 1958, he composed music for over 40 Hindi films under the name A.R. Qureshi. Despite his success in Bollywood, he continued to accompany prominent Hindustani musicians in live concerts, such as Vilayat Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, and Ali Akbar Khan Born on April 14, 1922, in Brahmanbaria, Banglades >> Read More... , among others.

Eventually, he abandoned composing music for films and concentrated on playing the tabla. In the 1960s, Ustad Allah Rakha gained popularity in the West when he began accompanying Pandit Ravi Shankar Born on April 7, 1920, in Banaras, Uttar Pradesh, >> Read More... in concerts worldwide. He is remembered for his performances at the Monterey Pop Festival (1967) and Woodstock (1969). He has to his credit the music of the movies Perveen (1957), Bewafa (1952), Khandaan (1955), and Abidah (1948) among others. Ustad Allah Rakha was honored with several awards, including the Padma Shri in 1977 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1982. He passed away on February 3, 2000, due to a heart attack following the unexpected death of one of his daughters.