The last time the nation heard the late Zakir Hussain`s music on the big screen was in filmmaker Nandita Das`s 2018 drama ‘Manto’—the biopic of renowned author Saadat Hasan Manto. Hussain had composed the background score for the Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer. On the maestro`s passing away, Das looks back at her collaboration with him and tells mid-day that it was awe-inspiring to watch him create compositions for the film.

“To have the opportunity to observe an artist’s mind is always fascinating. Playing an instrument is very different from composing music. It was a delight to watch him create a melody, a rhythm, a composition in his mind and then translate it into reality. As a percussionist, it was awe-inspiring to see his equal understanding of other instruments like string and wind instruments. After all, he has worked with all the great masters such as Pt. Ravi Shankar, Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan,” she says.