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As you like it
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Interview Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is making waves with his voice
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Photo: Sandeep Saxena
Hues of innocence Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
He sings up to his name. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s voice provides the relief we need in this frenzied world. “Sukoon is the word”, he insists, as he settles for the interview. Sufi music is making waves, but the genre is being interpre
ted in myriad ways.
What is Sufi: the person, the voice, the verse or the music? “I believe it is the thought and the style. A sufi is a person who doesn’t believe in any particular religion and loves humanity. That’s why he is closer to Allah.” Can a voice be Sufi?
“Of course, the voice which has masoomiyat...the innocence that connects you to the One above.”
What’s Sufi?
He clarifies what he sings in Bollywood is not always Sufi. “‘Laagi Tumse Man Ki Lagan’ is Sufi while ‘Naina Das Lenge’ is not, though both of them have been used to suit the plot of the film.”
Exactly, this is what the critics question. The purists hold Rahat and his uncle and mentor, the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, responsible for taking qawwali and Sufi music from the dargah to marriages and films. “I don’t think setting matters. It is the intent that matters. I still go to the dargah regularly and perform. I sing for Allah. If people take it for their beloved, it is their choice. Some see Him in their beloved.” He feels films have played a role in taking Sufi music to the masses. “Aaj ghar ghar main baj raha hai.”
Tough task
Again, where does he like to meet his audience? “I go to their level and then try to bring them along to a higher level. It sounds easy but is difficult to practice. For instance, when I composed ‘Laagi Tumse Man Ki Lagan’, I first sang it at a few concerts. Only after I got a positive response I retained it. At times I drop my compositions if I don’t get a positive feedback. It doesn’t mean they are bad.”
His voice and compositions have been incorporated in the soundtrack of Hollywood films like Four Feathers and Apocalypto. Rahat feels it’s the music that strikes a chord with the audience first. “Words come later. Nusrat sahib had a following in Japan. His verses were translated into Japanese, but the first attraction was the music,” says Rahat, who used to accompany him on tours from a young age. “I am still learning from him.” His eyes want to know whether one has understood the import.
Singing since the age of seven, Rahat represents a gharana which is around 600 years old. Does it help? “It did,” he says after mulling over it. “I got the respect and recognition from day one and most importantly the time to grow.”
Rahat will soon be seen as a mentor on reality show Junoon Kuchh Kar Dikhaane Ka on NDTV Imagine. The show is being touted as a competition between three genres: Sufi, Folk and Bollywood.
Can the genres compete against each other? “I don’t think so. Basically all music has originated from folk and classical music. How can there be a competition between the original and its offshoots?” He says he agreed to do the show because it’s an opportunity to popularise Sufi music. “We generally don’t see youngsters singing Sufi and folk music in reality shows. Here I would like my team to sing those Sufi songs which were once popular but have lost out to film songs.” With the winners to be decided by SMS voting, Sufi and folk don’t seem to stand much chance in front of Bollywood. “I feel it is a myth. Anyway it could be a reality check.”
Rahat was introduced in Bollywood by the Bhatt camp with “Laagi Tumse Man Ki Lagan” (Paap)
Rahat’s recent album “Charkha” is doing well.
ANUJ KUMAR
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