Today (October 30) is the 50th death anniversary of Mallika-e-Ghazal Begum Akhtar. German poet Rilke had said, “Cut these sentences and they bleed.” One can say the same about Akhtar’s music.

Talat Aziz renders 13 of Begum Akhtar’s classic ghazals and thumris. In an exclusive interview with Zoom, Padmini opened up about the responsibility of playing a real-life character on stage.

Born as Kaneez Raza in Karachi in 1955, Mehnaz Begum hailed from a distinguished musical lineage as the daughter of the celebrated singer and ghazal maestro, Kajjan Begum. She earned a Bachelor's ...