Guest
‘Isai Murasu’ Esmail Mohamed Hanifa, the eminent artiste of Tamil Muslim devotional music and political anthems, breathed his last at Chennai, on Wednesday 8th April, 2015. Aged 97, he is survived by his two sons, and four daughters. Nagore EM Hanifa, who mounted to reputation as the ‘voice’ of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or DMK, was a self-taught musician. He had his first concert at the tender age of 13, the ambience of his concert being as unlikely yet unique for any performer – a bullock cart….! His desire to gather knowledge on Carnatic Music helped him get inputs from Qadir, at the Nagore dargah (formally known as Hazrat Syed Shahul Hameed Dargah). Concerts held at homes, weddings, prayer ceremonies at the Dargahs and shrines, taught him a noteworthy proficiency of using his voice without a microphone. His full-throated voice was suitably utilized by DMK, whose fortune got a boost up from Hanifa’s stirring anthems, so much, that they are still brought into play. A man of ethics, Hani
