Singer Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan chats with K Bhardwaj on the warm response he has always received in India, his music in Satyagraha and Yaariyan and lesser-known facets of his life
Tell us about your association with Aaj Tak’s new show Sureeli Baat.
I was the first singer who shot the pilot episode of this show. It was more of a formal talk earlier. But when the show finally got approved and I came to shoot it last week, I was quite excited. It was fun shooting for it as I shared many lesser-known facts about my life.
You childhood influences on your music...
My childhood was a little different. There was a lot of hard work involved as I had to study along with doing endless hours of riyaz for my music, as per the tradition of our gharana. My biggest influences were my father Ustad Amanat Ali Khan Saheb, my brother Asad Amanat Ali and my uncle Ustad Fateh Ali Khan Saheb. Apart from them, I heard a lot of music as part of my training so every good song or singer influenced me in some way.
Tell us about your riyaz now.
The way I was trained, riyaz meant doing four sessions a day every two hours. So that is what riyaz means to me even today. But now with my work and travel schedules I am unable to follow it. I do it whenever possible or even when I am working on a composition it turns into a riyaz.
On the response from the Indian audience...
It has always been very warm and welcoming. They have given me a lot of love and respect even when I was not a part of Bollywood. They appreciated my songs Aankhon Ke Sagar, Khamaj, Tere Bina, Akhiyan and made them big even before I had started singing for Bollywood.
Are you singing for lollywoodIJ
Yes I am doing that whenever an opportunity arises. I have recently sung a song called Jerha Vi for a new movie which is releasing soon called Main Hoon Shahid Afridi. It is becoming very popular in Pakistan and is already a chartbuster.
A few Indian musicians (like Abhijeet Bhattacharya) oppose when Pakistan-based artists come and sing here. How do you reactIJ
I respect Abhijeet Bhattacharya as a singer. But his notion that Indian artistes are not welcomed in Pakistan is not true because all of them have come and performed and have been really appreciated. Pakistan loves Indian singers and music and be it Kailash Kher, Alka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu or Jagjit Singh, they have all performed and seen the euphoric audience reaction. So I would not agree with him.
What was your reaction when you first got a Bollywood offerIJ
Initially I said no to a few offers in Bollywood and on hindsight I feel I rejected them for right reasons. But my first two tracks in Bollywood were my existing tracks from the album Sagar called Khamaj and Tere Bina which were used by Nagesh Kukunoor in Hyderabad Blues 2. Mitwa was my first dubbed track for Bollywood with Shankar-Ehsaan-loy. Since then there has been no looking back.
Do you think music can help bridge the gap between two countriesIJ
Music is the only thing that works in today’s world to bring some semblance of peace and sanity. It creates a bond between people worldwide by transcending barriers of religion, language and race to bring people onto a common platform.
Your forthcoming projects...
My forthcoming songs are for movies like Satyagraha, Viacom and T-Series co-production Yaariyan and various others are in the pipeline. I am also doing some exciting collaborations with some of the best talent in India and abroad. Apart from this, I am working on my next album which should hopefully release later this year.
Have Indian singers influenced youIJ
Yes. Kishore Kumar and Manna Dey, and the some songs by singers like Hemant Kumar.
Would you like to form a band againIJ
No. I am not looking forward to forming another band at all. I perform with my regular group of musicians who are my band. In India since Bollywood is the dominant factor, independent music does get overshadowed. But one can see it coming up once again.
Apart from music, share some interesting facets of your life.
I am interested in cricket, watching movies and photography.
