Jammu, May 10: Leaving his countless admirers in shock, popularly known as ‘Mehdi Hassan of Kashmir’, Vijay Malla, a distinguished Kashmiri singer, who with his sonorous and melodious voice carved his niche as a great singer not only that of Jammu and Kashmir but of  the whole country, passed away on May 9, 2012  .
  The cruel hands of death snatched him in a moment when this passionate singer’s heart   stopped beating, perhaps it was overburdened by the love and affection he got from his admirers.
 A tearful adieu to this legendary singer was given today by his family members, relatives, friends and thousands of fans.
 Remembering Vijay Malla, Jai Krishan Raina, a free lancer producer, director and childhood friend of the singer said “We studied in same school Hindu High School Sheetal Nath Sringar till 10th standard. He was a very talented singer since his childhood,   used to mesmerize all with his silk voice by singing famous of Hindi movie song ‘Maan Tarpat Hari Darshan Ko Aaj’ in school functions.
 Recalling his popular Kashmiri songs including “Mann Che Bhawanad, Rattandeep Yallae, Pamposh Mallaye Trawe Naaye” and Zindah Rozanh Baapat Chhi Mraan Lukh, Bah Markha Naa” these devotional songs became the icon of Vijay Malla’s melodious voice.
 “He sang more than 200 songs in Kashmiri in his short life span. He was popularly known as “Mehdi Hassan of Kashmir”, Raina said with a heavy heart.
  “This is certainly a loss to our community and we have lost an artist who had an authority of experimenting and playing with the technicalities of music like, Sur, Raag and Raagni,” he added. His soulful voice will continue to comfort people of state
 A Sufi Poet, lyricist, Brij Hali, who had more than 20 years of association with Malla, while remembering this legendary artist said, “Due to his spiritual being, I had a strong bonding with him, adding that he gave his soulful voice to my several compositions and made them immortal”
 Expressing grief over the sad demise of his friend and towering artist of the state,  Brij Hali said, “I have lost my brother, my favorite artist and the whole artistic community have gone in darkness with the demise of this great soul, I have no words to express his loss.”
 He recalled some of his composition sung by Malla including “Kaayes Pershen Paanus Janaaos Sath Laye” (Oh man why are you so worried, when you know that one day you have to leave this world alone).
 By nature he was very social, secular, soft spoken, jolly and generous person, said Brij Hali.  Recollecting his days with the great singer,  Brij Hali said “Once we were sitting at Malla’s residence and were about to have   meals, suddenly a stranger entered into his house, Malla immediately welcomed him and offered him meal which was served to him. I was very surprised to see his generosity which still is fresh in my mind and makes me emotional”
 Brij Hali said whenever I enquired from him about his well being, he used to recite me couplets “Kaide Hayaat Bandegum, Asal Main Dono Ek Hai, Mout Se Pahale Aadmi, Gum Se Nizat Paye Kayon”
 Brij said Malla had a strong grievance with  the state government  for not giving him the  recognition he deserved. Brij said he had to face lot of difficulties during his life, adding that state government never honored him even with a citation for his distinguished contribution in the field of Kashmiri music for which he devoted his entire life.
 He further said that he got his preliminary music training from Prem Sangeet Niketan Srinagar. He went to Mumbai in 1985 where he spent three years and worked with many leading singers of the country, his singing was enormously appreciated by music fraternity but due to bad health, he returned to Jammu and Kashmir.
 He was born on February 7, 1956 at Habbakadal Srinagar in a family with music background  . He was a very simple person. Such was his persona that none could help being impressed by Vijay Malla.
 He got his formal music education from Brij Krishan Shair and Pt Jaganath Shivpuri. Later, he joined Department of Song and Drama Division as staff artist on June 21, 1982. He had to retire in 2016.  He worked with very famous singers in Mumbai like Anoop Jalota and Hari Haran. His music album ‘Justju’ was released in 1992. He was singer, composer and music director. He was a top artist of Jammu and Kashmir and was awarded with “Akhil Bhartiya Music Award” by Ministry of Information Broadcasting in 1995 for his contribution in music.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 10 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 10 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 IST