Film music director Jeet Gannguli remembers late Ustad Rashid Khan who sang many of his compositions

Sangeet er Mahajuddho, a music competition show on Bengali television, featured the late Ustad Rashid Khan and music composer Jeet Gannguli (left) as the judges.

When he first heard Ustad Rashid Khan sing in a stage show many moons ago, from his very first note of Sa, film music composer Jeet Gannguli felt something pierce through his heart. Gannguli was very young and yearned to touch his feet. Years later, the two would collaborate. “I am so fortunate that I could record quite a few songs with him,” says the Bengali and Hindi film music composer (CityLights, Hamari Adhuri Kahani, Aashiqui 2, Raaz Reboot, Paglu, Challenge).

“There are some periods in your life that are steeped in so much sadness and pain that it is tough to express oneself coherently and I am going through that right now,” adds Gannguli about Ustad Rashid Khan’s demise this week, on January 9, aged 55, in Kolkata, “Child-like in his innocence, with unparalleled talent, amazing gayaki, Ustad ji was a phenomenal artist and human being.”

The late Ustad Rashid Khan (centre) with Amaan Ali Bangash (left) and Jeet Gannguli.

Gannguli’s first song with him was Ghanana Ghanana from the animated film Cheeti Cheeti Bang Bang (2008) in Hindi and Lal Kalo in Bengali. “That’s when we first interacted. Right then, he embraced me as his brother. His wife Soma and son Taj and daughters Meethi and Suha have loved me and my wife Chandrani just like family. Ustad ji lovingly called my wife Buri. When I composed Sajna (Bapi Bari Jaa, 2012), he’d said, ‘Arre bah, Buri likheche gaan ta! Chalo hoye jaak! (Oh great, Buri has written this song, let’s sing it)’,” he says.

“Recording a song with Ustad ji was a different experience altogether and one never had that kind of experience with any other singer these days. Before he reached the recording studio, he would chew on paan, joke, talk and laugh with everyone. When he would come for recordings, Ustad ji would never punch. These days we have software that allows the music producers to pick one word and punch it. But he never liked that. He would sing the entire line; he would sing the whole bandish in one go. And one would have to retain it, for the graph that he would create when he would sing a song. This can be understood only by those who have worked with him closely. I have so many takes of Ustad ji in my hard disc that I will never be able to erase. He has sung this same song Sajna in so many ways. Very few artists do this. It was tough for me to pick one from all those,” says Gannguli.

During recordings, Khan used to sing in a special way, and the way he would interact with the composers was so different, Gannguli further adds, “I had experienced the same when I worked with Lata Mangeshkar ji. Legends like them would listen to every note and listen to every little nuance of what the composer said and then elaborate and emote it all while singing the song. The respect and the attention they would give to a composer was great and it meant a lot to any composer. He was fond of paan and supari. His tongue was thick and he would love it if the words of the songs were simple and easy to pronounce. He didn’t like difficult words.”

For Gannguli’s first Bollywood film, Morning Walk (2009) he sang two songs, Bhor Bhayo, a duet with Shreya Ghoshal and Manwa, a mix of Latino and Hindi.

“In those days, this kind of combination was not heard of much. And Ustad ji was very happy to sing this one. It also got me my very first award. Later, in Hansal Mehta’s CityLights (2014), the title song was sung by Ustad ji and Ustha Uthup.

Rashid Khan’s love for food is a story almost everyone, who knew him from up close, relays. “Ustad ji would cook for us often. He would make biryani and paya soup. He loved paya soup. Sometimes, he would even feed me with his own hands and also rehearse songs while at it.”

The late Ustad Rashid Khan feeding composer Jeet Gannguli.

“He meant a lot to me. At his son Taj’s birthday, he tied the sacred thread on his wrist and then asked me to be the second one to do the same. He treated me like a brother. I believe an artiste never really dies because his work is always there. Just like I feel for KK whom we lost two years ago. Whenever we listen to them, we find them with us,” says Gannguli.