Ustad Alla Rakha, the classical tabla player, was popularly known as:

Explanation

Ustad Alla Rakha (1919-2000), whose full name was Allarakha Qureshi, was one of the greatest tabla players of India. He was affectionately known as "Abbaji" (father) by his students and admirers. His son, Ustad Zakir Hussain, became the most famous tabla player in the world.

Alla Rakha was born in the Jammu region (in present-day Jammu and Kashmir). He was so devoted to music that he left home at about the age of 12 to learn the tabla. He became a disciple of Mian Qadir Baksh of the Punjab gharana of tabla, and he also learnt vocal music from Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan of the Patiala gharana. He worked as a staff artist with All India Radio in Lahore and Mumbai and also composed music for more than 20 Hindi films under the name A.R. Qureshi. He became world-famous as the accompanist of the sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, with whom he performed at major international events, such as the Monterey Pop Festival (1967) and the Woodstock Festival (1969). These performances introduced the tabla to audiences in the West. He also performed with jazz musicians, such as the drummer Buddy Rich. In 1985, he founded the Ustad Allarakha Institute of Music in Mumbai to teach tabla. He received the Padma Shri (1977) and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1982).

Why not the other options?

• ✗Panditji is a respectful way of addressing a Hindu musician or scholar, such as Pandit Ravi Shankar or Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.
• ✗Babaji and Dadaji are general terms of respect and are not the popular name of Alla Rakha.