Bade Ghulam Ali Khan

Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was a classical singer of Indian origin with a career spanning forty-four years. He belonged to the Patiala Gharana of singing. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was born in Kasur in 1902 in the former Punjab Province of British India, received vocal music training from his uncle Kale Khan at the age of five and later from his father. After India's partition in 1947, Kasur Tehsil was assigned to Pakistan. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan had three younger siblings - Mubarak Ali Khan, Barkat Ali Khan, and Amanat Ali Khan Amanat Ali Khan legendary classical and ghazal voc >> Read More... . Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was a renowned vocalist who combined the best elements of three distinct musical traditions to create his own unique style, the Patiala-Kasur style. He incorporated gyrations of Jaipur, Behram Khani elements of Dhrupad, and behlavas of Gwalior to create a distinct and pleasing sound.

While he agreed that classical music lay in leisurely improvisation, he believed that long alaps would not be appreciated by the audience, particularly considering his tendency to sing for the masses. Thus, he created brief raga expositions and excelled in light-hearted ragas such as Adana, Hameer, Bhupali, Jaijaiwanti, and Jaunpuri. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan lived in various cities in India and Pakistan, including Bombay, Lahore, Calcutta, and Hyderabad during his lifetime. In 1947, after the partition between India and Pakistan, he went to Kasur but returned to India permanently in 1957. With the assistance of the then Chief Minister of Bombay, Morarji Desai, he obtained citizenship of India and shifted in a bungalow at Malabar Hill in Mumbai.

Despite many requests and persuasions from well-known producers and music directors, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan stayed away from singing in films for a long time. However, he was convinced by the film producer, K Asif, to sing two songs for the movie Mughal-e-Azam in 1960, in association with the music director Naushad. He asked for huge amount and was paid the same. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan received several awards and recognition for his contributions to music, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellow (1967), Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1962), and Padma Bhushan Award (1962). He died in Hyderabad in 1968 after a prolonged illness that left him partially paralyzed in the last few years of his life. With the help of his son Munawar Ali Khan Ustad Munawwar Ali Khan was an Indian Classical Vo >> Read More... , he carried on giving performances till he died.

Malti Gilani, a student of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, formed the Yaadgaar Sabha in 2017 in order to keep his music and memory alive. In his honour, Basheerbagh's major avenue is known as Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Marg. In 1968, Indian filmmaker Harisadhan Dasgupta Harisadhan Dasgupta was a renowned Indian-origin f >> Read More... also produced the documentary Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Sahib about Khan.