Google pays homage to Mehdi Hassan on 91st birthday with doodle

KARACHI: Google is paying tribute to Pakistan’s legendary ghazal singer Mehdi Hassan with its doodle feature on his 91st birthday (July 18) . Google honours prominent personalities and occasions with special logos that it calls ‘doodles’. Shahenshah Ghazal, Mehdi Hassan was born on July 18, 1927 in a village called “Luna” in Rajasthan, India. The legendary Ghazal singer landed his first musical performance on Radio Pakistan in 1957, primarily as a thumri singer, which earned him recognition within the musical fraternity. After that, he never looked back, going on to sing ghazals and playback songs for Pakistani movies. Mehdi Hassan is world-wide considered the best ghazal singer of all time. His first song was ‘Jis Ne mere dil KO dard diya’ film Susral in 1962 and popular ghazal ‘Insha ji ab kooch Karo is shar me dil KO lagna KIA’ made him immortal. Later Lata Mangeshkar said compliments for him that “Bhagwan talks in his throat”. In October 2010, HMV released ‘Sarhadein’ in which probably the first and last duet song ‘Tera Milana’ featuring Mehdi Hassan and Lata Mangeshkar was released. Ranjish hi Sahi Dil Hi Dukhane K Liye Aa; Patta Patta, Boota Boota; Dil-E-Nadan Tujhe Hua Kya Hai and Dil Ki Baat Labon Par Laakar are among the his all-time hits. He was honored with numerous awards including Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Pride of Performance and Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan. He remained a leading singer of film industry along with Ahmed Rushdi. One of his songs he will be most remembered for is Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s, ‘Gullon Mein Rang Bhare.’ A host of other numbers like ‘Ik Husn Ki Devi Se Mujhe Pyar Hua Tha’, and ‘Jab Koi Pyaar Se Bulaye Ga, Tum Ko Ek Shakhs aad Aye Ga’ are also equally memorable. He sang for over 300 films during his music career. Hassan died on June 13, 2012 after a protracted illness in a hospital in Karachi.