Ustad Amir Khan left an indelible mark on the Hindustani classical music. His rich baritone voice with a three-octave range could move effortlessly in any octave. He developed a unique singing style or gayaki of his own that blended the spiritual flavour and grandeur of Dhrupad with the ornate vividness of Khayal. His swara-oriented and aalap-dominated style had an understated elegance. His reverence for raga, restrained passion and an utter lack of showmanship moved and awed listeners. He used to say: “Nagma wahi jo rooh sune aur rooh sunaave” (Music is that which originates from the heart and touches the soul.)
It was a delight to note that the unique style of Amir Khan, that came to be known as the Indore Gharana, has been preserved through the guru shishya parampara when the Kalashree Foundation organised “Ustad Amir Khan Festival” at Muktadhara auditorium recently. The three-day festival had several representatives of the Indore Gharana opening with the authentic vocal recital by Naresh Malhotra, the senior most disciple of Pandit Tejpal Singh who in turn is a direct disciple, a ganda-bandh shaagird, of Ustad Amir Khan.
Ably accompanied on tabla by Sudhir Pande and on harmonium by Zakir Dhaulpuri; Naresh opened his impressive vocal recital with a Bada Khayal “Kajra kaise daarun…” set to ati vilambit i.e. a very slow tempo Jhoomra tala, in the most melodious evening raga Yaman Kalyan. His systematic alaap-barhat especially in lower and middle octaves encompassing the expanse of the raga with emphasis on melody and the judicious use of pauses, the bol-alaap and sargams using Merukhand patterns and the variety of taans, spoke of his taleem and riyaaz. The popular Chhota Khayal “Aiso sughar sundarava Baalmawa….” set to madhya laya or medium tempo Teentala had also showers of sargam and Aakar taan with complicated patterns.
The main raga was followed by popular bandishes (compositions) of Ustad Amir Khan in ragas like Hamsadhwani and Jog. Naresh rendered his Rubaidaar tarana with Persian couplets in raga Hamsadhwani, set to Teentala. The Jog bandish “O Balma…” was set to Rupak Tala of seven beats cycle followed by a Teentala tarana. Naresh maintained the meditative quality of Ustad Amir Khan with a judicious blend of virtuosity, but at few places he slipped in speedy Aakar taans.
The other artiste of the inaugural evening was Prateek Chaudhury, son and disciple of Pandit Debu Chaudhury, accompanied on tabla by Shubh Maharaj, the grandson and disciple of Pandit Kishan Maharaj. Prateek played raga Jhinjhoti for his main raga followed by raga Maru Bihag.
Rama Sundar Ranganathan and Manish Trikhaa were the other young vocalists from the Indore gharana trained under Pandit Tejpal Singh. The festival also had a violin recital by Anupriya Deotale and a vocal recital by Mandar Gadgil from Pune before it concluded with Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan, Khalifa of Dilli Gharana, performing with Babur Latif on tabla and Zakir Dhaulpuri on harmonium.
His contemplative rendering of a raga was marked with an aesthetically executed detailed badhat or progression while singing a Khayal in ati-vilambit, very slow tempo Jhoomra, using Merukhand patterns of permutations and combinations. This would be followed by gradually speeding up sargam and Aakar Taans and Bol-Taans with complex and unpredictable movements with in the bounds of the raga structure, and finally a madhya laya or drut laya (medium or fast tempo) Khayal composition or a Rubaidar tarana.
