A new twist to Amir Khusro’s ‘Chaap tilak’

During the Mughal period, music in the north India showed Persian influences. It is said that Amir Khusro, who was a great artiste during the reign of Allauddin Khilji, created several new raags, taals, musical instruments and genres like qual, qalbana, khayal and tarana. The Dilli gharana of Hindustani music traces its origin to Amir Khusro, and to the Qawwal-Bachcha branch of Miyan Achpal. Those were the days of Hindu-Muslim cultural synthesis. It was Amir Khusro, who started the tradition of celebrating the festival of Basant by singing raag Basant, dressed in yellow attire, which is still prevalent at the dargah of Nizamuddin Chishti.

Mystical lyrics

Khusro also wrote a number of kalams, dohe, ghazal, qata, nazm, and Rubaiyat. His poetry was an earnest urge to connect with his Pir-o-Murshid, Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia. ‘Chhap tilak sab cheeni, mose naina milai ke’, is one of his well-known kalams, which depicts his devotion and the joy of uniting with the Almighty. Due to its mystical lyrics, the poem has been sung at many concerts. Qawwals such as Zafar Hussain Badayuni, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Nizami Brothers and singers including Abida Parveen, Farida Khanum and Reshma include this piece quite often in their repertoire.

Panorama Music’s latest album ‘Chaap tilak’ brings together two sarod artistes and a singer. Shot at the picturesque Amer Fort in Jaipur, the album features Amrita Kak singing the famous Khusro kalam to the accompaniment of sarod by Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan Bangash.

The panoramic view of the city and the famous fort, with the camera capturing the architectural splendour, make for a perfect background for the performers, dressed in regal costumes. One only wished that the singer could have brought forth the emotional depth of the verse.

Amrita has sung chartbuster film songs but this kind of poetry needs special training and temperament. The young brothers Amaan and Ayaan belong to the illustrious legacy of their grandfather Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan and father Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. Therefore, the first thing that comes to mind is what transpired in this idea.

Amaan replies, “ For a long time, we were thinking of doing something musically together. One day we met at the studio, tried recording this song, and felt happy about the outcome. Although it’s really challenging to work on old and popular compositions sung by celebrated names such as Reshma and Farida Khanum, we tried to render it as haziri ( respect ) in our own way.”

Blend of raags

The brothers have chosen soothing raags such as Yaman, Bihag, and the shades of Kalyan that enhance Amrita’s rendition, and the ambience created by the director, including the last shot that shows just the sarod on a swing.

Ayaan says, “Every raag has its own colour and character.

We explored raag Yaman, and brought Bihag into it because both have the same swars, with the difference in chalan (gait).”

When asked whether this imaginative and creative approach comes from their classical training, Amaan says, “of course it does, but we also want to engage those who do not prefer listening to dhrupad or khayal, but still like to enjoy the different shades of raags in old compositions.”

Amaan and Ayaan reiterate that this is their first experiment together, and that they are planning to put together old compositions like Jugni, and bring them out as an album, apart from presenting their solo and duet classical sarod concerts.

The Delhi-based reviewer writes on classical music.