Zakir Hussain

Sound

Zakir Hussain

Born 1951-03-09 · Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Zakir Hussain Qureshi (9 March 1951 – 15 December 2024) was an Indian tabla player, composer, arranger, percussionist, music producer and film actor. The eldest son of esteemed tabla player Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain was widely regarded as the greatest tabla player of his generation and one of its finest percussionists. He produced music across multiple genres and contributed to popularizing Indian classical music to a global audience. Often prefixed by the honorific title of 'Ustad', Hussain was awarded the United States National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship, the highest award given to traditional artists and musicians. He was also given the Government of India's Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1990 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, Ratna Sadsya, in 2018. Hussain received seven Grammy Award nominations, winning four times, including three in 2024. He was described as the most recognizable exponent of the tabla by The Guardian. The New York Times marveled that the "blur of his fingers rivals the beat of a hummingbird's wings." Description above from the Wikipedia article Zakir Hussain, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

Monkey Man poster
6.9

Kid is an anonymous young man who ekes out a meager living in an underground fight club where, night after night, wearing a gorilla mask, he is beaten bloody by more popular fighters for cash. After years of suppressed rage, Kid discovers a way to infiltrate the enclave of the city’s sinister elite. As his childhood trauma boils over, his mysteriously scarred hands unleash an explosive campaign of retribution to settle the score with the men who took everything from him.

Monkey Man

2024

Heat and Dust poster
6.0

Anne is investigating the life of her grand-aunt Olivia, whose destiny has always been shrouded with scandal. As Anne delves into the history of her grand-aunt, she is led to reconsider her own life.

Heat and Dust

1983

A Tribute To Ismail Merchant poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

A Tribute To Ismail Merchant

2005

Remember Shakti - The Way Of Beauty poster
5.2

The Way of Beauty is a DVD which features a 60 minute documentary which tells the story of the Indo-western music group SHAKTI. Formed in 1975, the group pioneered a groundbreaking and highly influential musical East-meets-West approach. The other features are a 45 minutes film called "Sound Check" and "Saturday Night in Bombay" 55 minutes. The films are directed by Partho Sen Gupta between 2000 and 2006

Remember Shakti - The Way Of Beauty

2008

Chaalis Chauraasi poster
6.0

Four friends -- Pankaj (Naseeruddin Shah), Bobby (Atul Kulkarni), Shakti Chinappa (Ravi Kissen), Albert Pinto (Kay Kay Menon) -- want to rob a lonely house in a lonely stretch of it's Rs 20 crore fake Indian currency... and the very fake note vending machine that lies in there. Just one problem: They have no plan...

Chaalis Chauraasi

2012

Saaz poster
4.5

After her father dies, Bansi watches her elder sister Mansi become a celebrated singer while supporting the family. When Bansi pursues the same dream, Mansi's jealousy drives her to arrange Bansi's marriage to offset her efforts. Defying the odds, Bansi returns to the stage, setting off a fierce rivalry between the two sisters. Centered on its female protagonists, the film explores Bansi's journey to reclaim her identity.

Saaz

1997

Way of Beauty - Shakti Timeless poster
NR

"Shakti Timeless" tells the story of the Indo-Western music group Shakti. Formed in 1975, the group pioneered a groundbreaking and highly influential musical East-meets-West approach. In the 1970s, the group, whose name means creative intelligence, beauty and power, consisted of legendary British jazz guitarist John McLauglin, North Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain, violinist L. Shankar and percussionist T.H. Vinayakram, the latter two hailing from South India. Together, they created a fluid and organic sound that managed to successfully combine seemingly incompatible traditions. After a number of very successful live concerts and albums they disbanded. The group was reformed in 1997 under the name Remember Shakti with new talents from India, such as V. Selvaganesh, who replaced his father Vinayakram on percussion, and the young prodigy U. Shrinivas, who replaced L. Shankar. In 2000, the young Indian classical singer Shankar Mahadevan joined as the first vocal element in the group.

Way of Beauty - Shakti Timeless

2006

Tabla Beat Science: Talamanam Sound Clash poster
7.0

Filmed June 21, 2002 with 12 cameras at the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco, this DVD documents a Tabla Beat Science performance that features founders Zakir Hussain (Tablas) and Bill Laswell (Bass), along with Ustad Sultan Khan (Sarangi and Vocals), Ejigayehu "Gigi" Shibabaw (Vocals), Karsh Kale (Drums), DJ Disk (Turntable) and MIDIval PunditZ (Electronics). Directed by Alex Winter.

Tabla Beat Science: Talamanam Sound Clash

2003

Jazz in Marciac 2018 - Dave Holland, Zakir Hussain, Chris Potter - poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Jazz in Marciac 2018 - Dave Holland, Zakir Hussain, Chris Potter -

2018

Zakir Hussain: The SFJazz Sessions poster
NR

Tells the story of four extraordinary nights (and days) showcasing the formidable talents and genre-bending collaborations of peerless tabla virtuoso/percussionist/composer Zakir Hussain, in concert with some of his favorite musicians. Filmed and recorded in March, 2013, during the historic inaugural season of The San Francisco Jazz Center, these sessions highlight the consummate virtuosity and improvisational genius of one of the world’s greatest musicians and the easy, personable charisma which have made Zakir an international celebrity. The presentation of the music is interwoven with insightful interviews, personal commentary and intimate glimpses of life, offstage and backstage, of the phenomenal artists who came together during the sessions.

Zakir Hussain: The SFJazz Sessions

2014

Khayal poster
NR

Here in this film about the Indian classical music, the sitar maestro Pt. Ravi Shankar and the santoor maestro Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma explaining their concepts of a raga, a gharana, and their world of music. Characteristics of various gharana/schools such as the Jaipur gharana, the Kirana gharana, the Agra gharana, the Patiala gharana, the Mewati gharana are explained along with the contribution made by their leading exponents.

Khayal

1987

Behind the camera