Gyaan Adab hosted Faiz Ahmed Faiz: The Legend on August 3rd, commemorating the timeless literature that the great poet has left behind as a part of his legacy.
The audience witnessed the beautiful, melodious rendition of Faiz’s songs by a rare Indian vocalist, Smita Bellur. She is India’s first female Hindustani vocalist to have been accepted into a lineage of traditional Qawaals (Sufi/ Islamic mystic singers) and to have received extensive guidance from them. Her deep engagement with mysticism and music, spanning two decades, has led her to immerse herself in the Khayal form of classical music.
She was accompanied by Suhail Akhtar, a brilliant orator, compere and literary figure, he interspersed each of the songs with anecdotes from Faiz’s life.
The evening’s set began with the ever-popular Aaye Kuch Abr. Our artists for the evening explored themes such as sadness with songs such as Gulon Mein Rang Bhare and brought the night to a close with the revolutionary, with a performance of Hum Dekhenge.
Special thanks to Hardik for helping the artists and Gyaan Adab with the sound set up.