Ghazal singer Hariharan's 50th birthday was something to write home about. For, not only were the celebrations organised at the posh ITC Grand Maratha Hotel, but the event was also graced by the likes of the Big B a.k.a. Amitabh Bachchan and Pakistan's veteran ghazal king Mehdi Hassan.

The others to grace the occasion, which was held earlier this week, were Reliance Vice Chairman Anil Ambani, Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh, Jaya Bachchan and Tina Ambani.

An emotional Hariharan, the son of renowned Carnatic vocalist, late Ananthasubramani Hariharan and Shrimati Alamelu, said "The day I really felt I achieved something was in 1977 there was an ‘All India Sur Singar Competition'. There were over 2000 to 3000 people. And me, Suresh Wadkar and Rani Verma, we got the awards there. I think that was a great day for me."

Leslie Lewis, a long-time partner of Hariharan, said: "Like I just said, he is a great guy, very easy going. And the important thing is that we both respect each other for what we do. He knows my strong points, I know his strong points. He knows my weaknesses and I know his. I think that's the best way because, it is very harmonious when you respect each other and that is how we do good music."

The year 1996 was a milestone in Hariharan's career, when the Hindi-English fusion music album titled "Colonial Cousins" was released and skyrocketed him to unprecedented fame. A collaborative effort with Lewis, "Colonial Cousins" became the first Indian act to be featured on MTV Unplugged and also won the pair a string of national and international awards, including the MTV Indian Viewers' Choice Award and US Billboards Award.