MUMBAI: With the mehfil beautifully set at the Big FM office, renowned ghazal singer and host of popular show Carvaan-e-Ghazal, Talat Aziz celebrated the completion of 75 episodes of the radio network’s most loved show today. Joining him in this landmark achievement was none other than India’s singing idol, Sonu Nigam who in a splendid revelation told the veteran singer that he is in fact a huge fan of ghazals and it was Ustaad Ghulam Ali, Talat Aziz and Pankaj Udhas whose ghazals he grew up listening to.

Over the last one and a half year, ‘Carvaan-e-Ghazal’ has provided enriching content to listeners and some beautiful melodies in the form of ghazals, qawwalis and sufi music. Its host, Talat Aziz is not just a ghazal specialist, but also an institution of knowledge with a career spanning more than three decades and performances across the world. The show won the Excellence in Radio Award for the Best Non-Breakfast Show at India Radio Forum 2014.

Airing across all Hindi Speaking Markets (HSM), ‘Carvaan-e-Ghazal’ has welcomed some renowned singers such as Gulzar saab, Ustaad Ghulam Ali, Chitra Singh, Khayyam saab, Shreya Ghoshal and Sonu Nigam to interact with host Talat Aziz and share some fascinating trivia with listeners. Throughout its journey, ‘Carvaan-e-Ghazal’ has kept its promise of taking listeners and music lovers alike, into a world full of beautiful poetry and song. Sonu Nigam bears witness to that as he confessed that the show was indeed one of his favourites too, on radio.

Speaking on the occasion, host of ‘Carvaan-e-Ghazal’, Talat Aziz expressed, “I cannot believe that it has been 75 episodes already, it seems like the journey began only yesterday. I am extremely thankful to the audiences who have been so generous with their kind support. I feel honoured to be associated with Big FM because of the elite renditions of soul-stirring music that they air. I hope to see the show achieve much more success in times to come.”

Speaking of the show, Sonu Nigam stated, “It gives me immense pleasure to be here celebrating the success of ‘Carvaan-e-Ghazal’. I reminisce the times when Talat Aziz saab and I sang a duet and the album we released was also called ‘Carvaan-e-Ghazal’. The show has provided listeners with a window to not only discover a niche genre but also some never-heard before stories and interesting facts about ghazal and sufi singers, their lives and their music. Moreover, it is Talat Aziz’ style of narration and his music which is so unique and charismatic because of which the show is such a hit with the listeners.”

He further added, “This is one of my favourite shows on radio and I sincerely thank Big FM for being such a support to the industry and providing a great platform for listeners to explore such soulful music.”