The highlight of Shafqat Ali Khan’s recent performance at a club in Noida was his rendition of “Tera ishq nachaya kar thaya thaya”. The rendition seemed straight from his heart as he sang to a packed audience even as winter chill was gripping. The young artist from Pakistan who belongs to the Shamcharasi Gharana that dates back to the Mughal era, is looking forward to the release of the music of Muzaffar Ali’s film Jaanisaar (earlier titled Raqs ) to be released early next year.
“It is a good time to talk about my work”, said the singer in an upbeat mood soon after an almost three hour performance, “I have sung one qawwali and another duet with Shreya Ghoshal in this film. The music shall soon be launched. I am grateful to Muzaffar saab for recognizing my talent. Yeh raqs shayad meri zindagi ka raqs ban jaye”. The film, a period drama set in 1857, was shot in Lucknow and is keenly awaited as cine lovers are still under the spell of Muzaffar Ali’s earlier offering Umrao Jaan .
So what was it that attracted Shafqat to Sufi music? “The idea that I could bind the kalaam to a raag and sing was fascinating to me,” he said, adding, “and the message of secularism, an intrinsic part of Sufism, made me want to stick to this genre. That is what Kabir and his like were all about”. To this effect, he was greatly inspired by his elder brother Latafat Ali Khan and Ustad Sharafat Ali Khan. He voiced his fondness for the singing of Abida Parveen and Shubha Mudgal and said that Sufi music is all about the purity of soul.
After the release of two of his albums, Kahu’n Aur Kya (Universal Music) and Ibadat-e-Ishq (Times Music), Shafqat is at present working on the third. “This one is based on ragas and thumri”, he said. What other genres of music appeal to you? “Raagdari, thumri, ghazals and film music are the kinds I have been experimenting with,” said Shafqat referring to his foray into Hindi film music with Dus Kahaniyaan , in 2007. “I have sung for Digest Writer , a Pakistani television drama,” he said, “and I personally like ‘Rabba mere haal da’, the title number.”
What about fusion music? “I have already experimented with several instruments including the piano, the flute, saxophone, as well as the guitar. Fusion just happens. It comes from within the soul. It is never planned. And that is what I like most about fusion,” he shared with us about his love for mixing genres to create a soulful piece. Till then, we wait to hear his voice in Jaanisaar .
