Cinemaazi remembers Hirabai Barodekar on her birth anniversary

Here’s remembering Hirabai Barodekar, known by the sobriquet ‘Gaan Hira’ or sparkling gem in the musical arena, on her birth anniversary. A leading Hindustani classical music vocalist, she was born on 29 May, 1905 to Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, founder of the Kirana gharana, and Tarabai who came from a royal background. Her musical training started early. She first performed onstage at the anniversary celebrations of Gandharva Vidyalaya, Bombay in 1921, going on to debut at a national festival at the All-India Music Conference, Calcutta. In times when women performing onstage was a taboo, she became the first woman to stage a ticketed public concert. She also achieved phenomenal success as a recording artiste, with companies like Odeon and Columbia. She worked in Marathi and Hindi cinema in films like Suvarna Mandir (1934), Pratibha (1937) and Janabai (1938), also establishing the Nutan Sangeet Vidyalaya to train young women singers in Hindustani classical music. She was honoured with being invited to sing Vande Mataram at the first Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort on the midnight of 15 August, 1947. Hirabai Barodekar, honoured with the Padma Bhushan and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, passed away in 1989.