Cinemaazi remembers Ustad Ali Akbar Khan on his birth anniversary

Today marks the birth anniversary of Padma Vibhushan-awardee Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Noted music composer, sarod player, and teacher, he presented classical Indian music to the West. Born 14 April, 1922, he received his training from his father, maestro Alauddin Khan. Performing from the age of 13, he went on to become the court musician to the maharaja of Jodhpur for seven years. Conferred the title Ustad or master musician by the state, his fame grew when he was invited by renowned violinist Yehudi Menuhin to New York City in 1955. Many performances and recordings followed in the West, where he also often performed with his brother-in-law, famous composer and sitarist Ravi Shankar. Invited to compose music for films, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan scored the music for Chetan Anand's Aandhiyan (1952), Satyajit Ray’s Devi (1960), Tapan Sinha's Kshudito Pashan (Hungry Stones, 1960), and the Ismail Merchant-James Ivory production The Householder (1963), for which he won the Best Musician of the Year award. Khan also played the sarod for a song in the film Seema (1955), as well as composed some of the music for Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha (1993). Ustad Ali Akbar Khan passed away in 2009.