Later this month, October 30 marks the death of Begum Akhtar in 1974. Fifty-one years later, when ghazals are mentioned, her name is among the top, maybe even the first, that comes up.

Her story is also interesting enough to have inspired books (notably Akhtari: The Life and Music of Begum Akhtar by Yatindra Mishra and Begum Akhtar: The Story of My Ammi by Shanti Hiranand, a student and companion of the singer) and stage productions—quite recently, Ammi Akhtari, directed by Saif Hyder Hasan.

Begum Akhtar's greatest contribution to Indian music is considered to be elevating and popularising the genres of ghazal, thumri, and dadra. She blended classical Indian elements with soulful Urdu poetry, thus giving the ghazal a different kind of musical significance and bringing it from private meh

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