Magic of Begum Akhtar’s voice continues even today
Mumbai: Begum Akhtar, who made fans go crazy with her mesmerizing voice, had once vowed that she would never become a singer.
As a child, Begum Akhtar used to study music from Ustad Muhammad Khan. Meanwhile, an incident happened that Begum Akhtar refused to learn to sing. Those days, Begum Akhtar was not in the right mood. Her teacher scolded her many times. He taught her and when she could not learn, he scolded her. Begum Akhtar cried and said to her, “Hum se nahi binta Nanaji. I will not learn to sing.” Her teacher said. No, Batu does not lose courage like this. My brave Batia, let’s get involved in putting the head once again. After listening to his words, Begum Akhtar started the practice again and put the correct head.  Born on October 7, 1914, in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Begum studied music in Faizabad from Sarangi teacher Iman Khan and Atta Muhammad Khan. She learned Bharatiya Shastriya music from Muhammad Khan and Abdul Waheed Khan.
Begum Akhtar joined the Parsi theater in the thirties. Due to acting in dramas, she missed her practice, which made Muhammad Atta Khan very angry and he said, “Until you stop acting in drama, I will sing you.” I will not teach you. On this, Begum Akhtar said. You come to see my drama only once, after that I will do whatever you say.
That night Mohammad Atta Khan went to see Begum Akhtar’s play ‘Turki Hoor’. When he sang the song ‘Chal Re Meri Naiya’ from the play, tears came to his eyes and after the play was over, Mohammad Atta Khan said to him: “Batia is a true actress. Work in drama as long as you want.”
As an actress, Begum Akhtar started her career in the cinema with ‘Ek Din Ka Badshah’, but due to the failure of this film, she could not make any special identity as an actress. In 1933, the film Nal Damanti was made under the banner of East India. After the success, Begum Akhtar was able to make some recognition as an actress. During this time, Begum Akhtar showed the essence of her acting in films like Amina, Mumtaz Begum, Jawani Ka Nashe, Naseeb Ka Chakra. After some time, she moved to Lucknow where He met famous producer and filmmaker Mehboob Khan who was impressed by Begum Akhtar’s art and invited him to come to Mumbai.

In 1942, Begum Akhtar acted in Mehboob Khan’s film ‘Roti’ and also sang songs. Begum Akhtar had recorded six songs for this film, but during the making of the film, she recorded them after a quarrel between composer Anil Vishwas and Mehboob Khan. The last three songs were removed from the film. Later, the same songs were released on gramophone disc. After a few days, Begum Akhtar found the glare of Mumbai a little strange and she went back to Lucknow.
In 1945, Begum Akhtar got married to Barrister Ishtiaq Ahmad Abbasi. The story of their marriage is quite interesting. Begum Akhtar and Ishtiaq Muhammad met during a program. Begum Akhtar said, “I don’t consider fame and money as good things.” The greatest achievement of a woman is to be a good wife. Hearing this, Abbasi Sahib said, “Would you give up your career for marriage?” He replied, “Yes, if you marry me, I will.” After marriage, they stopped playing songs and even humming.
After marriage, she turned away from singing after her husband did not allow her. When Begum Akhtar, who loved singing immensely, had to stay away from the world of voice for about five years, she could not bear the shock of it and became permanently ill. Even the medicines of Hakim and doctors could not improve their health.
One day, when Begum was singing, her husband’s friend Sunil Bose, who was the director of the Lucknow radio station, heard her singing and said, Abbasi Sahib, it is very unfair, at least to sing to your Begum on the radio. Give a chance. Heeding his friend, he gave Begum Akhtar a chance to sing. When Begum Akhtar went to sing for the first time in Lucknow Radio Station, she did not sing properly. The next day, the newspaper came out. Akhtar did not freeze. After seeing all this, he started doing Riyaz and later his next program was good.
Begum Akhtar once again started participating in music events. Meanwhile, she continued to act in films and gradually regained her lost identity. In 1958, the film directed by Satyajit Ray. ‘Jalsa Ghar’ proved to be the last film of Begum Akhtar’s career. In this film, she played the role of a singer. During this time, she was also associated with the stage and acted. In the 70s, she continuously participated in music-related programs. Due to the increasing pressure of participating in and work, she started falling sick and it affected her voice. After that, she took a break from music programs.
In 1972, she was honored with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for her remarkable contribution to the field of music. Apart from this, she was also honored with the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards. This great artist left this world on 30 October 1974. Seven days before her death, Begum Akhtar had sung the ghazal of Kifi Azmi.