Some gab, some gift in his genes
ANJANA RAJAN
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He believes that if God has given him a voice, he must put it to the best and most versatile use. Continuing the series on dance accompanists, meet Imran Khan.
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VERSATILE AND WILLING Imran Khan inherits his holistic views from his father and guru. Photo: ANU PUSHKARNA.
He gave his first concert at the age of two. Imran Khan gives this information about himself without undue bravado, also without undue modesty. The reason is soon clear. His own knowledge of the event is based not on memory but on some photographs and a cassette recording that provides proof of his singing abilities at an age when some young men might not have learnt to talk yet.
"I had my training under my father Ustad Naseer Ahmed Khan Saheb," explains Imran. "I would always manage to sing after him, whatever he sang. It always surprised his guests and students when they visited. That was how I sang a whole recital along with my father. I have heard the recording. As a reward my father gave me golden ring. At that time, four of my fingers could slip into that ring. Now it fits my little finger! "
A scion of the Dilli gharana, said to have been established by Amir Khusrau himself, Imran is open about his performance styles. "Basically I am a classical vocalist. I also sing thumri, dadra, tappa and other forms," he relates. "This is because from my childhood, my father has put one idea in my mind: He always told me, if God has gifted you with a good voice, why should you limit yourself?"
So Imran, apart from his solo vocal recitals of `pure' classical, also sings forms known as light classical, including ghazals. Besides, he provides vocal accompaniment for dance and has composed and sung for eminent Kathak dancers like the doyenne Uma Sharma, besides Prerna Shrimali and others. "I love Kathak and I enjoy singing for Kathak. I find it a challenge to work with the rhythmic permutations, while at the same time taking care to highlight the mood of the dance sequence. It is a field in which you have to work with full intensity."
Imran sang for Bharatanatyam dancer Rama Vaidyanathan when she presented a bada khayal of Swati Tirunal through her dance form. He has also composed the music for her choreographic piece `Vistar' besides Saroja Vaidyanathan's Bharatanatyam dance production `Karna'.
A band too
That's not all. Imran also sings in the band Orange Street founded by Anirban Chakraborty. "It's quite a challenge to sing Hindustani music along with a hard rock band," he points out. "I sing classical, Sufiana, also ghazals with them. The band is popular. We just returned from a tour of Estonia, the U.K., Sweden and other countries. Soon we will go to Europe again."
Having roamed the world as a musician, Imran finds one thought tugging at his heartstrings. "There is no lack of talent in India. Yet I see when artistes come from abroad, they get so much respect. And our own artistes have to run from pillar to post to get noticed."
As for short cuts to stardom, Imran is not too enamoured of the talent hunt shows throwing up icons every fortnight.
"I was a guest on a show in which the director asked the judges to reject a contestant who had been consistently winning, because the audience would get bored! One of the judges, Naushad Saheb, walked out in protest, but that candidate lost anyway. Everything is fixed these days. It makes me very sad."
For his own part, Imran gets "sukoon" - peace - from pursuing his music, practicing eight hours a day and teaching too. "Classical music is our real heritage," he avers.
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