Muhammad Hanif Raag Kirvani Yad e Salamat

Ustad Hanif Khan, a seasoned
musician, is trained in the disciplines of
classical singing, tabla and flute, which
he plays with a masterly command and
stunningly rich expression.
A son of a schoolteacher in
Makhanpura, Lahore, he was raised with strict discipline.
He was intelligent as well as naughty and would usually
spend time reading novels rather than focusing on studies.
“Poor school records disappointed my
father. After high school, he sent me to work
in the mechanical workshop he used to run
at Dil Muhammad Road. “I was passionate
to learn music without any clue to find a
teacher. One of the co-workers told me
about an elderly man he would see playing
beat with the steering wheel while driving
daily to Harbanspura. I met the guy who
turned out to be the famous music director,
Mian Shehryar, who sent me to the Baithak
(academy) of Ghulam Shabbir and Ghulam
Jaffer.”
Hanif lost the address and reached the house of a poet and
dancer, Hazeen Saeed, who took him to Alexander Neelum,
a sitar player, who was not less than an institution for him
to learn the fundamentals. Neelum was a dedicated music
teacher and considered one of the best of the musicians
Hanif came across in his life. He taught Hanif vocals, tabla
and flute.
“He was not very social. After a few years,
he took me to Parvez Paras for further
grooming. He believed that Paras Sahab
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could help me make progress in the field as
he was attached with the All Pakistan Music
Conference (APMC),” he recalls.
In 1996, Hanif got his first prize as flutist. He stayed on
victory stands of the APMC in the years to follow, for his
vocal and tabla performances. He was more focused on
tabla but the first position for flute performance at APMC
pushed him to focus on flute and it became a lifetime
romance.
Hanif used to practice flute secretly as his father was a
conservative religious person but one day his father found
him playing the instrument in the workshop.
“Raged with anger to see all his workers as
the audience of my performance, he asked
me to choose between the mechanical work
and flute. My choice was obvious and I was
expelled from the workshop,” he recalls.
Hanif joined another workshop that led him to get the job
of in-charge mechanical workshops at Sanjan Nagar
Institute of Philosophy and Arts.
Raza Kazim, the in-charge of Sanjan Nagar, was
establishing Musicology Department at the National
College of Arts, Lahore. He presented Ustad Hanif’s
recordings to the internal jury, comprising students and
teachers of Musicology Department. He was super excited
for his first-ever recording but was also nervous for the
presentation before the music professionals. He got an
overwhelming response and he was transferred from
mechanical workshop to the in-charge of recording studios
at Sanjan Nagar.
“It was a dream job. I worked hard for long
hours listening keenly and experimenting
with the sound tracks in post-production
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editing which helped me a great deal to
understand the intricacies of music. Working
with Raza Kazim drastically refined my
perception and understanding of music. He
is a perfectionist, a music genius with very
sharp sense of the Ras (emotional content),
which is the soul of music.”
Teaching music at various institutions and doing public
performances for almost two decades, Ustad Hanif Khan is
known for his ras (emotional and aesthetic content) and
strong expression backed by masterly skills.
“In 2007, I decided to quit teaching job to
focus on music. But the school principal
changed the nature of my job to part-time
and gave me grade 1 and 2 students. It was
like finding the missing link of my life and
reliving my childhood with a freedom. It has
relaxed me and transformed my expression
in music.”
Hanif is now grooming a number of students. He has been
making flutes of his own for the last five years after he
realised that the flutes made by others could not carry the
wide range of his expression.
“After wasting almost a hundred pieces of
bamboo, imported from Kabul and India, I
succeeded in making a few perfect
instruments in harmony with my pitch and
frequency. During the process, I got an
intense feeling of being unified with the
flute,” he concludes.
Ustad Muhammad Hanif started his career in music under
guidance of Pandit Chandan Das and Ustad Parvez Paras.
He also learned Dhrupad Music from Ustad Hafeez Khan
scion of Talwandi Gharana. His flute recitals thus have an
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amalgamation of Dhrupad and Khayal along with an
emphasis upon expression of emotional content employing
volume control and meendh.
He has been performing professionally as a flautist since
1998 and has performed at all major national platforms in
likes of PTV, APMC Lahore and APMC Karachi, LMF, al-
Khayal Music Society, Sur Seva and many others along
with representing classical music internationally.
His recent ventures include performances at online
platforms hosted not just in Pakistan, but also India,
including Takiya Online, Artists United