Chandigarh, Friday, February 5, 1999
Chandigarh, Friday, February 5, 1999 |
Taking Sufi music to Hollywood By Sarbjit Singh Evidently, the on-going period is a golden era of Punjabi music. Punjabi tunes have become almost a must for movies churned out by Bollywood. No TV channel, especially music channels, can afford to survive without beaming Punjabi numbers. Even Hollywood, an ultimate of film world, has been swayed by Punjabi music. Jackson
in his eyes Seven
years of glory
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Taking Sufi music to Hollywood Evidently, the on-going period is a golden era of Punjabi music. Punjabi tunes have become almost a must for movies churned out by Bollywood. No TV channel, especially music channels, can afford to survive without beaming Punjabi numbers. Even Hollywood, an ultimate of film world, has been swayed by Punjabi music. Earlier, legendary late, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan had stormed the Hollywood scene with his classical-based Punjabi music. Now Hans Raj Hans, a Jalandhar-based Punjabi artiste, Nusrat’s most favourite singer when he (Nusrat) was alive, is all set to leave for Hollywood, a place for which all artistes aspire, but only a few can make. In fact, in Hans’ case it is a different story. Hollywood itself has approached him to perform at the Hollywood Bowl, a Los Angeles’s premier outdoor venue with a capacity of 17,800 persons. A series of world music is being put together at Hollywood Bowl, the first this year. In an invitation letter sent to Hans, organisers have described that “it is a spectacular place to perform and is also a summer home of Hollywood Bowl orchestra. Our series of world music includes a night of Brazilian music, Argentinean music, African music, American rock music, gypsy music, Portuguese music and much more”. “We have read that you enjoy presenting popular Punjabi music, but you are also an acknowledged perfectionist in traditional music.” It is this traditional Sufi music which they would like Hans to perform at the Bowl. Incidentally, programme will be held on August 15, Independence Day of India. Hans’ name to Hollywood Bowl was recommended by Mr Robert Browning of World Music Institute in New York. Brimming with joy on receiving the invitation, Hans said at last world had given recognition to Sufi music, one of the best form of having a dialogue with God by his men (saints, fakirs, pirs and bhagats etc). “Sufi poetry drenched in spiritualism is a unique form of romance of humans with the unseen but omnipresent God,” says Hans. “Be faithful to your dreams and these will be fulfilled one day. This was my way of doing the things”, says Hans having the capacity to tackle from medieval ballads to berserk dance tunes with typical bhangra flavour. Going beyond the confines of traditional folk lore, Hans has innovated traditional rhythms and made them immensely popular by using modern idiom and creative frisson. “I am collecting all Sufi poetry and meeting experts of Sufism to live up to the faith expressed by organisers of Bollywood Bowl. I have cut down my engagements and trying to concentrate wholly to make Sufi music a permanent feature of Hollywood”, said Hans in an exclusive interview. Despite the newly surgent pop market, Hollywood is still trying to highlight the sacred music, a source of soothing the souls of the world where materialism has become a dictating force. Hans Raj, known as a real singer of real songs, has a broad base as his distinctive voice and style have both urbanised as well as traditional folk roots. His voice really grabs the hearts of youth and makes them dance wildly in a Sufi style. Those who have seen him performing at the culture centre of Gadaffi Stadium, Lahore, know this as Lahorites had forgotten their “self” while dancing to his tunes. Born at Safipur village, just at stone’s throw distance from Jalandhar, Hans developed an “ishq” for Sufi music on seeing a fakir, Parkash Gir, performing in his streets of the village. He used to tail the fakir, and influenced by his clothes, Hans prefers to be in Sufi robes even in routine life. On way to Hollywood from Safipur he has made several achievements while performing in Pakistan, the USA, the UK, Canada, etc. His first big achievement was when his name was recommended for a fellowship in Sufi music by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to Washington State University. He is fellow of the university for the past one and half years. Coming into contact with Nusrat in 1985 at an Asian song contest, Hans remained his best friend till his death. When Nusrat came to Bollywood for providing music for “Kache Daage” film, he rang up Hans from Bombay to record a song Ishq de gali cho koi koi langda... which has become a super hit song these days. Hans became successful
with a song Aj kal sohniao garur vich rahnde ho... and
has never looked back. Once even Gurdas Maan at Punjabi
Prof Mohan Singh Mela said, Ji karda ke Hans gai jave, te
main samne baitha sunda rahan. It was big compliment from
one famed singer to another. Hans remained a disciple of
Puran Shah Koti, a classical singer, whose father Sai
Naranjan was a close associate of Nusrat’s father,
Fateh Ali, and his brother, Mubarik Ali, in Basti
Sheikhan at Jalandhar. Hans’ latest Punjabi bhangra
pop based album “Jhanjra” composed by Jawar
Wattal has also become an instant hit. |
Jackson in his eyes “MY aim is to one day share the stage with Michael Jackson,” is the confident goal of upcoming singer Himmat Singh Heera. The confidence of this 25-year-old is not totally founded only on youth. His base, honed in classical music, along with the innumerable song’n’dance shows that he has staged in India and abroad take him a rung up the ladder of success every time. At the same time, the exposure thus gained also makes Himmat realise the vast ocean of the field that he has chosen as his profession and that yet he is but a drop in it. It is this trait that makes this Patiala boy work doubly hard and rise above the riff-raff. Ever since Himmat sang the shabad Awwal Allah noor upaya... in school when he was seven, he has not looked back. Belonging to a family of musicians helped. His four elder brothers, who are granthis and pathis at a gurdwara, took upon themselves the onus of training Himmat for the show business. He was formally made a disciple of Ustad Bakur Hussain of the Patiala gharana. The rigorous routine of the exercise of attaining mastery over sur, laya and taal continued at home too. While Harinder Singh coached little brother in classical music and ghazals, Harcharan Singh taught him Punjabi folk and Dalip Singh rhythm. The job of promoting Himmat and managing his public relations went to Inderjeet Singh. When barely out of his teens, Himmat set up the 10-member Heera Musical Group and began performing at marriages and other parties in Patiala. Soon word spread, and the group got offers for shows from all over Punjab-Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar and as far as Jaipur, Indore, Patna, Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai. He usually senses the mood of the audience and chooses songs accordingly, even as the fans expect popular Punjabi numbers embellished with the beat of the dhol and boliyan from this turbaned energetic singer-bhangra dancer. He himself prefers realistic songs with meaning and aspires to model after his senior, Hans Raj Hans, even though the Heera family is related to the pop badshah Daler Mehndi and Himmat has had occasion to sing with the star in France, besides Delhi and Mumbai. The lure of the dollar took him to Singapore a few years ago where he sold his voice in hotels and did kirtan in gurdwaras. But he soon realised that he had to supplement his income by working as a waiter. It went against his grain and he returned home. Today, Heera is ready to release his first album and talks are on to videotape one of the eight songs — a trend necessary for attaining name these days. Himmat is also preparing
for shows in the USA that he has been invited to. With
hard work and dedication, he will probably better the
success that another fellow Patiala artiste Gurdas Mann
attained. |
Seven years of glory AKS a dramatic club of this subdivision has completed seven years of its glorious performance and is proud of winning the second prize at the state-level competition held recently at Pathankot for its play “Hawalat”. There were 25 entries at the festival. Yogesh was adjudged the best supporting actor for his role in the play. “Hawalat”, written by Sarveshwer Dayal Saxena exposes the present system. Three unemployed young boys plan to save themselves from the biting cold by managing to stay in a police lock-up. They act like pickpockets, burglars and even terrorists before a police constable, but no trick is successful. Later, one of them dies of cold. The policemen accuses the other two of killing their colleague. They plead innocent, but nobody is convinced. They are booked under Section 302, IPC. The organisation dedicated to the memory of writer Safdar Hashmi had only nine members on roll seven years ago. In a town where arrogant sons of rich people rule society erratically, this small group of artistes began by performing “nukkad” plays to attract audiences. Some of the youths, who had other ambitions, had to part company. However, the club continued to grow from strength to strength. “Agwa Bhaichare Da”, “Natak Nahin” and “Iska Qatl ho Gaya” are some of the popular one-act plays staged by Aks. Among the full-length plays staged by the club, “Ek Tha Gadha” and “Rishtian da ki Rakhiya na” have been highly appreciated. The artistes utilised two stages simultaneously for another popular play “Bal Bhagwan” with Pradeep Pasricha as the hero. The club is proud of Surender Narula, Gaurav Vij, Bhupender Utreja, Satish Patel, Vikas Batra and Ambardeep. They have given 90 performances of 19 plays in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. The artistes are sore that they have to change venues for rehearsals and functions as no permanent and suitable place is available. They earlier had 150 to 200 persons in their audience which also included their relatives and friends. The number has increased to 800 to 1000 now. Aks has bid farewell to
the democracy tradition of having a chief guest for the
function because this generally used to disturb their
commitment to be punctual. They close the entry doors
after a half-an-hour wait for the audience and begin the
show in a pin-drop silence. May other organisations get
inspiration from them. |
Audioscan by
ASC KACHCHE DHAAGE (Tips): It is strange that while Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was a singer par excellence, he was not at all outstanding as a film music composer. In fact, the music of “Aur Pyar Ho Gaya” was not even above average. “Kachche Dhaage” is his latest and last film and here too the jinx is not broken. As a sentimental offering, it can be called a collector’s item, but purely on merit, it is nothing to write home about. The songs do not have the easy flow that one has come to associate with film music. There is a halting quality to them. Then there is also a strong Punjabi influence but that is very much in keeping with the current trend. I guess — and it is an absolutely wild guess — one reason for this paradox could be that no other artiste could execute the songs composed by him in keeping with his genius. What gives substance to this suspicion is the fact that in this cassette only Lata Mangeshkar has been able to salvage one of his creations, Oopar Khuda aasman neeche …. Sukhvinder is good in the male version of the same song, but only good. Perhaps, Nusrat never kept track of the film music and that is why some of the songs sound jaded, like the later-day creations of the overworked Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Take Khali dil nahin jaan vee ye mangda …. (Alka Yagnik and Hans Raj Hans) for example. In place of a 1998 song, it might very well have been recorded in 1978, and that too by any of the B-grade Indian composers. Things go even worse in Ek jawani teri …(Alka Yagnik and Kumar Sanu). As said earlier, Lata transcends all limitations to come up with some remarkable songs. It is she who makes Dil pardesi ho gaya … and Band lifafa dil mera … enjoyable and not Kumar Sanu. Nusrat himself has rendered a qawwali, Is shaane karam ka kya kahna …, which is brilliant as usual. AARZOO (HMV; Rs 45): Here is a one-song thoroughbred from Anu Malik. Ab tere dil mein hum rahenge … (Alka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu and chorus) is becoming a darling through that fascinating “to” in between. What a pity that the rest of the songs are not that inspired! In fact, the others seem to be from the typical Anu Malik song bank which he somehow manages to palm off to various producers. Take for instance, Rabba Rabba I love you … (Sonu Nigam and chorus) and Sajan sajan teri dulhan tujhe pukare aa jaa … (Alka Yagnik and chorus). They are as old as the hills. To complete the bunch there is Jai Mata di Jai Mata di … (Sonu Nigam and chorus). Take your pick. * * * * Punjabi cassettes continue to do well on the national circuit. Hans Raj Hans had joined the bandwagon with Lal Garara and has now come up with Jhanjar (Tips). He is one singer who stays closer to the traditional way of singing than many other crooners of today. He has six lyric writers here. The nine songs that he has sung are similarly from at least six different styles. For instance, Balle lachiyan … and Pardesian dheeyan … are sung in such different manners that someone who has not heard Hans before may not even realise that these are by the same singer. Music has been composed by Jawahar Wattal and Surinder Sodhi. Another Punjabi cassette being marketed on the national level, by T-Series is “Jhanjhar di Chhankar”. Last year, songwriter Shamsher Sandhu had recorded a variety programme for New Year, “Mela Mittran Da”. This year, he has come up with this cassette which is available in both video and audio form. As usual, various actors and actresses like Ranjeet, Preeti Sapru, Mahima Chaudhary and Johny Lever wish everyone a happy New Year while Gurdas Maan, Hans Raj Hans, Manmohan Waris, Sarabjit Bindrakhiya, Satwinder Bitty, Harbhajan Maan, Kaler Kanth, Amar Noori, Surjeet Khan and Sardul Sikandar sing the songs written by Shamsher Sandhu. Music is by Atul Sharma. |
Sonorous-voiced
K.L. Saigal In “Dilwale Dulhaniya le Jayenge”, when the London-based Kajol wants to please and appease her strict father, Amrish Puri, she plays for him a Saigal number Ek bangla bane niyara.... Significantly, till date, Saigal’s songs are seen as the tie that binds a man of a certain age to his homeland. Mohammad Rafi, Talat Mahmood, Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar and every other major singer of the Hindi film industry swore allegiance to the immortal Saigal. It took them a lot of time to come out of the influence of the legendary singer. Saigal’s biggest hit of his career was, indubitably “Devdas” which catapulted him to dizzy heights. He was subjected to the fawning adoration and admiration of music lovers crazed by the sonorous, sweet, scintillating, sad, soft and sedate sweep of his voice. “Street Singer” or “Tansen” or even “Shahjehan” might have endured better, but Saigal’s memory is inseparable from “Devdas”. His melancholic renditions to Timir Baran’s simple, sublime and sparse tunes like Dukh ke ab din betat nahin ... and Balam aaye baso more man mein.... are till date sighed after for their sheer breath control and depth of emotion. Talat Mahmood who sang Mitwa nahin aaye..... and Kis ko khabar thi kis ko yakin tha ... for Bimal Roy’s “Devdas” had admitted tkhat his renditions were no match for what Saigal had sung for the earlier “Devdas”. Singing evergreens like Babul mora nyhar chhuto jaye,..., Soja Rajkumari soja ... , Chaha barbad karegi humen maloom na tha ...., Deeya jalao...etc, Saigal overshadowed even his such awesomely talented heroine-singers like Kanandevi and Khurshid. Stars are generally advised to take their stardom with a pinch of salt. Unfortunately, Saigal took his stardom with a pint of spirits. Little wonder that his personal demons dogged him and like in the case of Devdas. Saigal too died an untimely death — sick, solo and sozzled — forgetting that the flame that burns twice as bright, lasts half as long. The songs sung by Saigal were so addictive that music lovers repeatedly frequented the theatres to see their favourite songs by the singer whose appeal brought out the romantic in everybody. M. L. Dhawan His last wish Well, the real significance of this number is that it was played on a gramophone at the cremation ground itself as per Saigal’s last wish. Surendra Miglani |
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