Padma Shri for Penaz

Penaz Masani, the sole Zoroastrian among the list of Padma awardees announced by the Government of India on January 26, 2009, told Parsiana that she was "overwhelmed” when informed about the award. The Padma Shri comes as the icing on the cake for the ghazal singer who, in her career spanning two-and-a-half decades has garnered much recognition, including the title of Shehzadi Tarunnam from the state government of Uttar Pradesh in 1996, and the 11th Kalakar Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 2002. Regarding the Padma Shri, which she was to receive at a function in New Delhi on March 31, 2009, Masani informed Parsiana: "People ask me why I got it so late, and I tell them that any time’s a good time.”

Penaz Masani: sole Zoroastrian Padma Shri 2009

"I am very, very happy, especially for my father,” said Masani whose family has roots in Indian classical music. As revealed in her website, her father Doli Rustomji Masani, a disciple of Ustad Faiyaz Khansahib of the Agra gharana, was a classical singer in the court of Sayaji Rao Gaek­wad of Baroda in the 1930s where he performed for the royals and their courtiers. Masani received her first lessons in the same tradition under the tutelage of Ustad Amanat Hus­sein Khan and later became a disciple of Madhu­rani, the famed and revered ghazal exponent.

The young performer’s career took off when she won the Sur Singar Sam­sad contest in 1978 and was subsequently invited to perform on television where millions of viewers were left spellbound by her confident handling of the Urdu art form. Since 1981, when Masani established herself in a domain of veterans, she has cut more than 20 discs and sung in over 10 languages. She has also become a playback singer for Indian cinema. Swinging with the times and shaping her repertoire to include the modern beat, the glamorous tousle-haired Masani ventured into the realm of pop music with her album Tu Dil De De which topped the charts on Channel V and MTV, taking her into the band of top-ranking pop artists of the day, as per information available on her website.

No stranger to the stage, Masani has regaled audiences in India and abroad, having performed in many countries of the Middle East, Latin America, the US, Australia, Bhutan, Mauritius, Sey­chelles, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Fiji and the UK. Her solo concerts in India alone have crossed the 500 mark. In a unique experiment, Masani cut an album, Dil Mein Ankhon Mein, where the music is western while the lyrics retain the traditional form of the ghazal but in a younger, racier mood which holds greater appeal for the new generation, the website reveals.