hursheed Anwar’s transition from a political activist in the early part of his life to a music composer, director and producer of films has mostly remained out of public spotlight. The connection between the two phases needs some uncovering. The nationalist movement was widespread, popular and had many strands to it. The latest that had added its hue then was Marxism. The aligning of getting rid of exploitation by colonial rule in simultaneity with all other types of exploitation must have been an irresistible ideal to pursue.

Left-wing politics based on the ideas of Marx as they filtered through to India after the Russian Revolution influenced the educated sections of the population more than it did the workers. As it was, the working classes, especially the industrial ones, were comparatively small in numbers and the mobilisation of the peasantry had yet to see the success of the Mao’s model. The intellectual resetting of ideas thus had a huge impact on those wanting an alternative worldview to the narrative that coloniszation had handed down.

The subcontinent was very rich in culture as many strands had been woven into it and the upward surge of culture coloured the many aspects of ideas and politics. It could not just be freedom from colonial rule but a more whole recipe that made the struggle more meaningful. The sources of that were discovered in the rich cultural traditions which had shaped the lives of the people and it all had to be rooted in it.

It was a source of great inspiration to the poets and the writers who went about finding new forms for the sensibility that was in the process of maturing. The older idiom was either discarded new meanings were discovered in it that made it relevant to the emotional turmoil that the people here were going through. It was not discarding the past altogether nor was it accepted the contemporary in totality. It had to be a more coalesced form of the two. The task was taken upon themselves by the most sensitive people.

Khursheed Anwar got involved in politics beyond the college campus. He was fascinated by the activism and armed struggled of many youngsters who espoused what was best represented by the charismatic personality of Bhagat Singh. In one of the severe crackdowns on the group he was arrested and sent to prison. He was also charged with treason. While he was acquitted in the so-called Picric Acid Case, the trauma had a telling effect on him and in a fundamental way changed his life.

It is difficult to say how Khursheed Anwar who came from a family of non-musicians got so immersed in music. It could be that his father was a connoisseur of music and held sessions at his house which exposed a young Khursheed to music of the highest quality in his impressionable years. Lahore at that time had some of the most outstanding vocalists and instrumentalists in the subcontinent. Khursheed became a shagird of Ustad Tawakkul Hussain Khan and was taught music in the conventional manner. The personalised ustad-shagird nexus which was then the time tested system of transmitting music knowledge from one generation to the next.

Realising the changes that had taken place and the need for engaging the common listener drove Khursheed Anwar initially to join the radio and later the films. There his struggle must have been to retain the excellence of music while refraining from bowing low to popular taste. Instead of bringing down the level of music he must have wanted to raise the level of the listener, a goal that has rarely been achieved by even the most passionate, ardent and committed artists in pursuit of bridging the great class divide.

In recordings of the thaats/ ragas with some basic information about the gharanas accompanied by succinct comments, he faced the same dilemma of accommodating and balancing the virtues of the past with the demands of the present.

Khursheed Anwar was attracted to the film music composed for Kardar’s Kurmai. Before Partition, he had composed music for Ishara, Parakh and Yateem, Aaj aur Kal, Pagdandi, Parwana (the last film featuring KL Saigol), Singhar, Nishana and Nilam Pari. Despite good scores in later films, he was never able to touch the popular chords the way he did in the 15-year span, though these received great critical acclaim. In film composition, Khursheed Anwar’s best contribution perhaps lay in composing songs in ragas that are not generally considered amenable to popular rendition, like kaunsi kangra, dev gandhaar and bilaskhawani tori as well as ragas from Carnatic music.

The write is a culture critic based in Lahore.