Wah, ustaad! How an award-winning podcast celebrating tabla legend Zakir Hussain came to life

Late Padma Bhushan Zakir Hussain son and pupil of Allah Rakha Khan took the tabla to the masses outside the classical circuit with one commercial Wah Taj The commercial released in 1988 saw Hussain playing the instrument with a child at the Taj Mahal It became the most watched commercial inspiring many children to take up the instrumentHussain who was bestowed the status of Ustaad passed away on December 15 2024 To mark his 75th birth anniversary on March 9 this year filmmaker Archana Iyer invited three guests who worked closely with Hussain during his time to share personal stories The outcome was a podcastdocumentary titled Documenting A GeniusOne of the interviewees was admanturneddocumentaryfilmmaker Sumantra Ghosal who made that commercial He went on to make five more documentaries with the legend dedicating 30ndash40 years of his career life Director Ram Madhvani who was part of one of the documentaries The Speaking Hand along with Hussainrsquos longtime sound engineer Mujeeb Dadarkar also features in the podcastFilmmaker Archana Iyer and Zakir HussainWithin a twohour studio slot and a tight budget Iyer shot the podcast under her independent production Topiary Studios on February 4 and released it on March 9 Her entry to the Quill Podcast Awards 2026 made it as a finalist in the Best Video Podcast category and took home the Best Society and Culture Podcast awardIyerrsquos association with Ustaad started as a line producer editor and location sound recordist under Ghosal who was shooting a commissioned documentary for the Symphony Orchestra of India SOI in 2015 ldquoZakir is like Krishna everybody thinks they have a piece of him A combination of genius talent and wit his performances crossed many bordersrdquo says Iyer While applications to the Quill award are free the first round is a nomination process based on votingThe podcast paints an endearing picture of Ustaad revealing the man behind the legend Ghosal recalls the moment when he proposed the idea to document Zakirrsquos journey over dinner at Outrigger at The Oberoi ldquoI offered to invest in equipment time and filmmaking and requested him to get me access to concerts and artistes He agreed I confessed to him about knowing nothing about tabla and Zakir replied lsquoThatrsquos wonderful because neither does the audience Your journey of discovery can become theirsrsquordquoGhosal and Madhvani also share lighthearted experience of shooting Planet Drum a world music album by Mickey Hart of the rock band Grateful Dead in 1991 Ghosal tells us about the importance of documenting artistes ldquoOtherwise their work remains spread out wide and far across YouTube and peoplersquos memories A good documentary filmmaker will collate that material add insight to give you a feeling of the life and times of the person It offers the attitude of the artiste to his art What did he do with it what did he think about the tabla and what did he leave behind for other tabla players to followrdquo explains GhosalMadhvanirsquos voice softens when we talk about Hussain ldquoZakirrsquos energy is palpable There are few people including him that I met in my life who when they enter a room the energy changes and shifts Sushmita Sen is one of them Shah Rukh Khan is another Mr Amitabh Bachchan is the third mdash where you can sense that here is genuinely a superstarrdquo he saysDadarkar who worked with Hussain for most of his shows calls him surround sound ldquoHe would be aware of microphones EQ settings and acoustics He didnrsquot need to but he possessed this 360degree awarenessrdquo he says He shares a story on the podcast about shouting at set up staff for disrupting a rehearsal ldquoI remember telling him not to get so angry He looked at me and said lsquoI am not angry I am just shouting for effectrsquordquoIyer leaves us with another anecdote ldquoWhen we were shooting for SOI I would mic him every day being my chirpy self One day I was in a bad mood and he caught it Ustaad looked at me and simply wished me lsquoGood afternoonrsquo It jolted me back to liferdquoBy the end of the hour the viewer is left with the feeling of being privy to conversation among friends unpacking memories spent with a true artiste We picture Ustaad playfully breaking into a Pink Panther tune just like he often did midconcert