Sufi musician Dhruv Sangari shares his opinion on films over-commercialising the form. By Ankita Jain
The essence of Sufi music that talks of peace, love and brotherhood found itself resonating in the hearts of audience gathered at Azad Bhawan auditorium. It was an evening of sublime poetry of Sufi saints titled Jashn-e-Mohabbat presented by Roots 2 Roots. Rooh, the Sufi ensemble lead by Dhruv Sangari, established nearly a decade ago focused on popular compositions by veterans leaving the audience spellbound.
The programme began withNazr-e-karam, a composition in Raat Bhahar, whose lyrics talked of the purity of a noble heart was a delightful symphony of the higher swara sthanas laced with more melody than pace, the harmonium by Salaamat Ali lending an authentic Sufi signature to it. While the strength of Dhruv gave an authority to the song, it was equally in place because of Salaamat’s intermittent vocals bringing it some softness.
This was followed by Chaap Tilak Sabi Cheeni, an Amir Khusro composition that’s considered a must in Sufi concerts. The lines revolving around how a mere glance from the king made her his bride, dedicating her existence to him is laced with beautiful poetry. He sang in his authentic Sufi style the bhakti poetry of great Sufi saints. “I believe in singing freely in composition written in Farsi, Urdu, Arabic, Punjabi and Hindvi Sufi by poet saints such as Melvana Rumi, Hafez, Bulle Shah, Meera, Kabir, Baba Farid and Amir Khusro,” said Dhruv.
His rendition was accompanied by an audiovisual on the journey of Sufism, the age old Ganga Jamuni tradition thereby symbolising the convergence of cultures and spirituality. Specially selected stills of Sufi shrines and destination were also featured as part of the concert. Dhruv’s musical pieces were integrated by a kathak performance to represent the encompassing spirit of Sufism.
“This is one of my rare performances where we have tried to present the journey of Sufism through various art forms integrated together,” he said.
Very academically involved and qualified in Sufism, Dhruv is of an opinion that ethnology as a subject needs to get out of its love for demagogues and anything larger than life. “Most of the research on Sufi music in the country barely has an engagement with our culture. There’s no link between a scholar and a practitioner. Preserving the culture for posterity is as important as giving a standing ovation to a performance,” the musician stated.
The fact that the Sufi crowd is always welcome to widen its essence to many untapped quarters is one reason, they are fine with its commercialisation in films. “Any composition with the words, maula, ishq, karam is being thought as Sufi for a crowd that’s unabashedly consumeristic. The musicality of Kun Faya Kun, Khwaja Mere Khwaja is questionable, but there’s every chance that it’ll tap the sub-conscious side of a music lover to understand it better. It is a more user-friendly medium to spread messages of love, peace and humanity of Sufi,” Dhruv articulated, saying even if the context is a problem, that the trend is positive enough.
