My first love affair was with ghazals: Rekha Bhardwaj

Singer Rekha Bhardwaj has displayed her soulful and distinctive style of singing in songs of different genres in Hindi films but hasn't yet sung a ghazal in a film, despite being extremely familiar with the form with which she had her "first love affair".

"My first passion and love affair has been with ghazals. And I'm returning to ghazals after a long time. This is a very good opportunity because it is like a joint family. In the music fraternity, ghazals have a family of its own, just like playback singing has a distinct family. And these two kinds of families combine to form one big family," she told media persons here.

Bhardwaj is joining hands with other renowned singers including Pankaj Udhas, Anup Jalota, Javed Ali among others to raise funds for cancer and thalassemic patients in a special ghazal show titled "Khazana".

"The organizers are working for this cause for 14 years, which itself deserves praise. The more number of people come forward and support this initiative, the better it would be. Hope this 'Khazana' moves on and on. Along with renowned singers, kids of a very young age are also going to participate in the event," she said.

One of the talented singers associated with the event is Sudeep Banerjee with whom Bhardwaj had previously collaborated for a ghazal album "Irshaad'.

Her first big hit was her husband Vishal Bhardwaj's composition "Namak" from "Omkara". From there, she has also received Filmfare best singer award for songs like "Darling" and "Sasural Genda Phool". She has recently recorded "Dum Ghutta Hai" for Ajay Devgn's "Drishyam" along with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.