Pulling the right strings

Amarjot Kaur

When it comes to playing the sitar, it’s not just the finesse with which Ustaad Nishat Khan marries technique and knowledge that floors the audience. The merit in his talent lies at the very core of his musical sensibilities that know no barriers — Nishat Khan is the missing link between the traditional and contemporary, classical and fusion. In Chandigarh, he talks about his new album, love for Bollywood and the effect of social media on classical music.

On Punjab and its people 

Nishat performed in Chandigarh for the first time back in 1980 at Panjab University. His memories of Punjab exude the warmth of its rural landscape and lush green fields — a sight that he misses now. “Not just that, I also miss the dhabas. We don’t get to see them anymore. All of them been converted into restaurants,” he observes.

It’s not just Punjab’s landscape, but also its people that left a lasting impression on Nishat. His  performance in the city, back in 2013, came soon after his sitar concerto ‘Gate of the Moon’ got premiered at the opening night of the BBC proms. “I have always had an overwhelming response from Punjabis. I remember playing for three hours at a stretch here,” he adds. In the same year, Nishat composed the soundtrack for a black and white silent film, Franz Osten’s Throw of Dice, for the 100 year celebration of Indian cinema that was commissioned by the Government of India.

It’s a journey

The son and disciple of Ustad Imrat Khan, and a seventh generation musician, Nishat draws his own musical heritage while engaging genres as diverse as Western classical music, jazz, flamenco and Gregorian chant. Besides, he has worked with performers and composers like John McLaughlin, Philip Glass, Paco Peña and Evelyn Glennie. He often employs his intuition to decipher a set-list that will engage his listeners. “I don’t play for entertainment. With my music, I embark on a journey, taking the audience along with me,” he says. 

Bollywood on his mind

Having performed at Theatre de la Ville, Paris, and Budapest Festival, Nishat has also collaborated with artist sculptor Anish Kapoor in London in 2015. But if not a classical singer, Nishat says, he would have either been an actor or a director in Bollywood. In fact, he has composed music for Sudhir Mishra’s Yeh Saali Zindagi. 

“I am also coming up with an album which is called Jaan Meri, which is named after the title track of the album. 

Music for the masses 

Performing since the age of seven, Nishat was the youngest performer ever to play at All-India Radio at the age of thirteen. He is of the opinion that classical music should be for the masses, not classes. “Classical music was nurtured in courts, but this (or any good art) should be for the masses. I played at Gandhi Maidan, Patna, for some 20,000 people out of which 19, 550 were rickshaw-pullers and hotel staff. They liked it. I often perform at such concerts,” he says.

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