Roshan Ara Begum
| Roshan Ara Begum | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1917 Calcutta, India |
| Died | 6 December 1982 Pakistan |
| Genres | Khayal, Qawwali, Thumri types of classical music singing |
| Occupation(s) | Hindustani Classical Music, Pakistani classical music |
| Instruments | Vocal |
| Years active | 1938–1982 |
| Labels | HMV |
Roshan Ara Begum (Urdu: روشن آرا بیگم) (1917 – 6 December 1982) was a Hindustani classical and Pakistani classical vocalist. In Pakistan she is revered as Mallika-e-Mauseeqi (Queen of Music). As the daughter of Ustad Abdul Haqq Khan, Roshan Ara is linked through her cousin Ustad Abdul Karim Khan to Kirana gharana of classical music.
Born in Calcutta in or around 1917, Roshan Ara Begum visited Lahore during her teens to participate in musical soirées held at the residences of affluent citizens of Chun Peer in Mohalla Peer Gillaanian at Mochi Gate, Lahore, British India (now in Pakistan).
During her occasional visits to the city she also broadcast songs from the then All India Radio station in Lahore and her name was announced as Bombaywali Roshan Ara Begum. She had acquired this popular nomenclature because she shifted to Mumbai, then known as Bombay, in the late 1930s to live near Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, from whom she took lessons in Hindustani classical music for fifteen years.
Her performance in Chun Peer's abode in early 1941 pleasantly surprised local heavyweights and connoisseurs with her expertise in rendering classical compositions. In Mumbai, she lived in a sprawling bungalow with her husband Chaudhry Mohammed Hussain.
Possessing a rich, mature and mellifluous voice that could easily lend itself to a wide range of intricate classical music pieces, Roshan Ara employed her natural talent in the promotion of the art, which requires a high degree of cultivation and training. Her singing features a full-throated voice, short and delicate passages of sur, lyricism, romantic appeal and swift taans. All these flourishes were combined in her unique style that reached its peak from 1945 to 1982. Her vigorous style of singing was interspersed with bold strokes and layakari.
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