As part of the Birth Centenary celebrations of legendary ghazal and thumri-dadra virtuoso, Begum Akhtar programmes are being held in specific states in the country. Out of three festivals planned, the first one will be held in the University of Hyderabad. Under the scheme of centenary commemoration of eminent personages, the Ministry of Culture, Government of India declared the period from October 7 2014 to October 7 2015 to be celebrated in her cherished memory.
The Hyderabad leg of the celebrations will be held on July 3 and 4.
NaadSaagar Archives & Documentation Society for South Asian Music, in collaboration with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, has conceptualised a project to pay homage to the departed great, while utilising the occasion to do something meaningful in order to further her legacy.
A series of events that has been planned as part of the project includes, Commemoration festivals in Hyderabad, Bhopal and Lucknow, Web Portal on the legacy of Begum Akhtar, Exhibition on the life and times of Begum Akhtar.
The first two-day festival that will take place in the University of Hyderabad features performances by Vidushi Shanti Hiranand, Shubha Joshi, Ustad Mohammed Ahmed Warsi Nasiri Qawwal and Shri Sudeep Bannerji. This will be followed by the screening of Hai Akhtari..., directed by S Kalidas and poetry reading of selected ghazals of Shakeel Badayuni, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Jigar Moradabadi by students of UoH.