Shakti band members (L-R) V Selvaganesh, Shankar Mahadevan, John McLaughlin, Ganesh Rajagopalan and Zakir Hussain

In their 50th anniversary year, things have become even more special for jazz-fusion stalwarts Shakti. The group, comprising guitarist John McLaughlin, tabla player Ustad Zakir Hussain, vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, percussionist V Selvaganesh and violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan, has bagged a Grammy nomination for This Moment, their first album in 45 years.

“It was an absolute surprise,” says Mahadevan, who has been associated with the band for 24 years. He adds, “On Dhanteras, I offered my prayers to Maa Saraswati and Maa Laxmi at my sister-in-law’s place and minutes later, Selvaganesh ji called to inform me about the nomination. I called Zakir bhai to congratulate him as he’s got three nominations. When I called John McLaughlin ji, he didn’t even know we were nominated (laughs).”

Released in June, This Moment comprises eight new compositions and has been nominated in the Global Music Album category alongside Peruvian music icon Susana Baca, Creole-French band Bokanté, Nigerian musician Burna Boy and American-Nigerian singer Davido, among others.

Ask how the album worked out and Mahadevan, 56, shares, “We’re a world fusion band that’s a perfect blend of strong Indian melodic content and complex rhythms of the East with the harmonic elements of the West. We never did a studio recording as we were always touring. I am glad we created this studio album after 45 years. I feel This Moment earned a nomination as it has the true essence of Indian and Western melody and harmonic structures.”

Shakti toured India and abroad to celebrate their 50th anniversary. They released the album in June in memory of mandolin stalwart and a key member of the band, the late U Srinivas.

March next year marks the 100th birth anniversary of Sahir Ludhianvi, the extraordinary Urdu poet-lyricist, born on March 8, 1921. The diary, In The Year Of Sahir, is my attempt to celebrate this amazingly gifted man.

A wealth of articles, two biographies in English and a formidable publication in Urdu (Fann aur Shaksiyat) by the poet Sabir Dutt already exist on Sahir, not to forget the extensive blogs and websites dedicated to him, plus there are several editions of his poetry collections, which are continuously reprinted. In Surinder Deol’s biography, A Literary Portrait, he informs us that Sahir’s Talkhiyan is the only other Urdu poetry book, besides Divan-e-Ghalib, to have been published in many Hindi and Urdu editions. So, the question for me was to seek out a different way of presenting new insights into his work and personality that could be of historical value and fresh and engaging.

Following on from the cinema diary I produced in 2013, which celebrated a hundred years of Indian cinema, the concept of another diary seemed both appropriate and appealing; the idea was to present observations and memories from an array of contributors, interspersed with unseen and wonderful photographs of Sahir from the collection of Meesam Raza, a dedicated admirer of the poet.

With this in mind I went about contacting over 30 people — poets, singers, directors, producers, distributors, writers, academics, musicians, screenwriters, playwrights, actors, artists and theatre directors — all of whom generously gave of their time to share their experiences of working with Sahir or living with his songs and poems.

Gradually the diary took shape as one-by-one the contributors sent me their comments, each telling a unique story.

Asha Bhosle remembers the day she recorded the amazing “Aage Bhi Jaane Na Tu…” from Waqt: “As I sat rehearsing the song in Mumbai’s Famous Tardeo Recording Centre, I heard the familiar soft voice greeting me. I looked up to see a tall lanky figure dressed in his familiar white cotton shirt, dark trousers and open sandals. I complimented him on the lyrics of the song and mentioned that the meaning resembled the essence of the Bhagwad Gita. He acknowledged it with a smile and complimented me on my white sari which had a bright border… During the recording of ‘Woh Subah Kabhi toh Aayegi’, he jokingly remarked to music director Khayyam that his career’s ‘subah’ had dawned with this song.”

Ramesh Sippy recalls a time when he was eight years old, sitting in the corner of a room, when Sahir came to the family house to discuss a song with his father, G P Sippy. “Sahir sahib proceeded to recite the song words: ‘Ab vo karam kare ya sitam main nashe mein hun. Mujhko na koi hosh na ghum main nashe mein hoon.’ [Whether she’s kind or cruel, I am drunk. Unmindful of joy or sorrow, I am drunk]. My father liked the lyrics very much and wanted it for Marine Drive, but Sahir sahib refused point blank. He was offered double the money, but the answer was still a no. My father was a known teetotaller so Sahir sahib explained: ‘How can I give this song to a man who doesn’t even drink alcohol!’ That evening my father poured himself his first drink. And the song was his.”

Then there is the gifted musician Zakir Hussain, who observed Sahir’s approach to the required meter (wording the melody) is similar to that of a sitar or sarod player. As Zakir Hussain explains: “It’s how a tabla player instantaneously organises and reorganises rhythm patterns to aesthetically express the feeling of the piece. The example that comes to mind are the lyrics of ‘Abhi naa jao chod kar.’ His use of the word ‘zara’ is amazing. He uses it at the beginning of the line and suddenly switches it to the end of the following line; this I find masterful.”

Each comment and observation brings a new understanding of Sahir’s approach to song-writing — and then there is his formidable mastery of Urdu poetry. I think the proudest moment for me, when putting the diary together, was being able to track down and include K A Abbas’s long-forgotten translation of ‘Parchhaiyan’, a very fine work, first published in 1958 under the title Shadows Speak, a book that is now out of print. The idea of tracing the journey of this moving anti-war poem by Sahir and including a photograph of the book’s original cloth cover was most rewarding. This was possible thanks to Gulzar sahib, who had a signed copy of the first edition in his library.

In essence, this diary is not a history of Sahir but a personal tribute to a poet whose work is so impressive and enduring in its range and appeal. The only complaint I have heard so far about In The Year Of Sahir is from friends who say that although this is a diary, they do not want to write in it. My answer is that a diary is also about marking time, and as far as the writing is concerned, who can compete with Sahir’s words?

Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; December 15, 2016)

Dawood Ibrahim is a dreaded name, one that evokes everything from anger to hatred. But, Bollywood has never stopped using him as a muse. Zakir Hussain is the latest to play the don in upcoming film, 'Coffee With D', that also marks the debut of stand-up comic Sunil Grover.

Incidentally, as part of prep for another film earlier, Zakir had read many of crime writer S Hussain Zaidi's books, especially Dongri to Dubai. "But, the best way to really know about Dawood is to go through archives and news stories. There is so much written about the man that it's enough to understand his behaviour and mannerisms," he said.

Was it a challenge for him, though? "Well, the real challenge was to recreate his look. There is a certain image of how the man looks and dresses. We have done our best to come close to it," he said, adding, "There is possibility that he dresses differently now. I can't tell you when the movie is set and what the backdrop is, but we wanted the man to look like the Dawood of the '90s."

This is the third time this year that Dawood has managed a screen reference in Bollywood. Last month, Farhan Akhtar shot for a special sequence for Arjun Rampal's film Daddy (based on gangster Arun Gawli) at Mehboob Studios. Farhan had earlier told us, "I had seen videos of how he looked, the way he dressed. It is a cameo, but a well-fleshed out one. The characters (Dawood and Arun Gawli) are shown to have a few meetings like they did in real life."

DAWOODS, UPCOMING AND IN THE RECENT PAST:

> Farhan Akhtar in Arjun Rampal's upcoming film, Daddy, based on gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli

> Siddhanth Kapoor in Apoorva Lakhia's next, Haseena: The Queen of Mumbai, based on Dawood's sister, Haseena Parkar (played by Shraddha Kapoor).

> Rishi Kapoor as Iqbal Seth alias Goldman, a character modeled after Dawood, in D-Day (2013).

> Akshay Kumar as Shoaib Khan, loosely based on the don's life, in Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Dobaara (2013).

> Emraan Hashmi as a younger Dawood in the first part of Once Upon... in 2010.

Doctor saab turns journo

Sunil Grover, better known as Dr Mashoor Gulati on Kapil Sharma's show, will play a television journalist in 'Coffee With D'. His character, Arnab Ghosh, has been sketched out on the lines of journo Arnab Goswami. Grover, however, maintains, "Arnab Goswami is an entertaining journalist, but I am not trying to imitate him. It's the director's call to name the character. "Subconsciously, I might have picked up a few things of Arnab, but it's a fictional film."

Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 14, 2016)

Asira Tarannum (MID-DAY; June 16, 2014)

Earlier this month, hitlist had reported that the producers of Amitabh Bachchan’s show, Yudh, had issued a gag order to its cast and crew in order to keep details about the show under wraps. But it seems that despite strict instructions to remain tightlipped about the show, some artistes spoke to the media. When Endemol got word about this, the production house apparently told the casting director to fire those artistes.

But fortunately for these names, series director Anurag Kashyap has stepped in and apparently requested them to reconsider their decision.

Says a source, “ Zakir Hussain and Ayesha Raza broke the rules mentioned in the contract; apparently, they gave quotes to a journalist. Endemol wanted to replace them due to this violation but Anurag called the production house and requested them to not let these actors go.”

Anurag was not available for comment, ditto for actor Zakir Hussain and actress Ayesha Raza, who is also a part of Zoya Akhtar’s film, Dil Dhadakne Do.

But a friend of Zakir Hussain says, “He is still in an NDA ( non disclosure agreement) with Endemol, so he can’t say talk about anything related to the show.” The production head of Endemol also remained unavailable for comment.