Ustad Ustād or ostād (abbreviated as Ust., Ut. or Ud.; from Persian language, Persian ) is an honorific title used in West Asia, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is used in various languages such as Persian language, Persian, , Azerbai ...

Taufiq Qureshi (born 1962) is an

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

ian. He is a

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

and a composer.

Early life

Born in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, to the legendary tabla player, Ustad

Alla Rakha Ustad Alla Rakha Qureshi (29 April 1919 – 3 February 2000), popularly known as Alla Rakha, was an Indian tabla player who specialized in Hindustani classical music. He was a frequent accompanist of sitar player Pandit Ravi Shankar and was ...

. His eldest brother is a tabla player, Ustad

Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain ( ur, , link=no) is the name of: * Zakir Husain (politician), an Indian politician and former president of India * Zakir Hussain (actor), Bollywood actor * Zakir Hussain (field hockey) (1934–2019), Pakistani field hockey player * ...

. He received guidance from Ghatam Vidhwan, Pandit Vikku Vinayakram.

Career

Taufiq Qureshi started his career, when he was still in his 20s. His stint with live performances began with the creation of his own world music band, ‘Surya’ way back in 1986-87. He has been featured as a performing artiste on the 2009 Grammy Award-winning album ''

Global Drum Project ''Global Drum Project'' is an album by Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain (musician), Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo. It was released by Shout! Factory on October 2, 2007. The album combines music played on a variety of drums and ot ...

'', ''

Remember Shakti Remember Shakti is a quintet which combines elements of traditional Indian music with elements of jazz. The band consists of English guitarist John McLaughlin, and Zakir Hussain (tabla), U. Srinivas (deceased) ( mandolin), Shankar Mahadevan ...

'', ''Masters of Percussion'' and ''Summit''. He collaborates with various classical artists for fusion concerts. A dedicated self-learner, Taufiq soon discovered his greatest asset; ‘a feel for the world of sound with all its intricate nuances’. This quality makes him one of the most sought after rhythm-programmers, arranger-composers and percussionists in the world of studio recordings (film background scores, TV serials, ad-jingles, albums, etc.). He plays a variety of percussion instruments like

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

, duff,

bongos Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

, batajon. He is the first artiste to have developed a unique rhythmic language to adapt the tabla syllables on the African drum called Djembe. Taufiq’s trademark style incorporates body and vocal percussions to create unique rhythmic motifs spanning across cultures. Recently Taufiq has been honored by Sandeep Marwah with the life membership of International Film And Television Club of

Asian Academy of Film & Television Noida Film City houses the Asian Academy of Film & Television and Marwah Films & Video Studios along with prominent news channels from India. It is located in Sector 16-A Noida, India. It was founded in 1988 by Sandeep Marwah, an Indian film pro ...

at Marwah Studio,

Noida Film City Noida Film City houses the Asian Academy of Film & Television and Marwah Films & Video Studios along with prominent news channels from India. It is located in Sector 16-A Noida, India. It was founded in 1988 by Sandeep Marwah, an Indian film pr ...

. He has been teaching students for over a decade.

Awards and recognition

*Gold at the Cannes film festival (2010–11) for Best Music for the Indian Railways jingle. *Gold at the London International Awards - Las Vegas (Nov 2013) for Original Music for the Nike jingle - ''Parallel Journey''.

Bollywood

He has also been a part of background score and contributed music for movies like

Damini ''Damini'' () is a 1993 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film directed and co-written by Rajkumar Santoshi. It stars Meenakshi Seshadri in the titular role with Sunny Deol, Rishi Kapoor and Amrish Puri. Aamir Khan makes a special appearance. T ...

, Train To Pakistan, Ghatak, Agnivarsha,

Asoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

Mission Kashmir ''Mission Kashmir'' is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Hrithik Roshan, Jackie Shroff, Preity Zinta, and Sonali Kulkarni. It deals with terrorism and the tr ...

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

Dil Chahta Hai ''Dil Chahta Hai'' () is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy drama film written and directed by Farhan Akhtar. It was produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and released under the banner of Excel Entertainment (which Akhtar and Sidhwani co- ...

, Devdaas, Sawariya,

Dhoom 2 ''Dhoom 2'' (trans. Blast 2) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Sanjay Gadhvi and written by Vijay Krishna Acharya, based on a story by producer Aditya Chopra, who backed the film at an estimated budget of unde ...

Bhool Bhulaiya ''Bhool Bhulaiyaa'' () is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language psychological thriller film directed by Priyadarshan and produced by Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar under the T-Series Films banner. A remake of the 1993 Malayalam film '' Manichitrathaz ...

, ''

Parzania ''Parzania'' (translation: ''Heaven and hell on earth'') is a 2007 Indian drama film co-written and directed by Rahul Dholakia; David N. Donihue is the other co-writer. The film featured Naseeruddin Shah and Sarika in the lead roles, while Cor ...

'' (2007), Tere Naam (2008),

Jab We Met ''Jab We Met'' () is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Imtiaz Ali and produced by Dhilin Mehta under his banner Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision. The film stars Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor in their fou ...

(2010–11), Action Replay (2010–11), Housefull 2 (2011), Tez (2012), ABCD (AnyBody Can Dance) (2013), Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013). Fluent in Marathi, Taufiq has been a judge on Zee Marathi's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.

Personal life

Taufiq Qureshi is married to

Geetika Varde Geetika Varde Qureshi is an Indian classical vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana of Hindustani classical music and wife of percussionist Taufiq Qureshi. She is also one of the graded artistes of All India Radio and a proud recipient of the pr ...

, a vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. He has one son, Shikhar Naad Qureshi, who studied at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Shikhar is also a rhythm player and performs on stage as well.

Discography

* Rhydhun (2000) * Swar Utsav - Streams In Confluence (2001) * Rhydhun Gold (2002) * Mondo Beat - Masters of Percussion * India The Greatest Songs Ever * Taalisma (2002) * Colours of Rajasthan (1995) * PercJam (2003) * Bombay Fever (2006) * Mystic Soundscapes - Forest (2007) * Rooh - Songs From The Heart (2007) * TaDhaa- An Expression Of High Energy (2011) * The Oath Of Vaayuputras (2013) * Aami 018 Malayalam film

References

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Qureshi, Taufig 1962 births Living people Hindustani instrumentalists Carnatic instrumentalists Indian percussionists Indian male composers Tabla players Indian Muslims Musicians from Mumbai Indian classical composers Indian male classical musicians