The Legacy (I)- Ustaad Amanat Ali Khan

Ustaad Amanat Ali Khan

“A sweeter voice than Amanat Ali Khan’s we are privileged to hear but once in a blue moon” 

 ~ A. Hamid, distinguished Pakistani Urdu novelist and short story writer

There’s a Chinese proverb which says- “Tiger father begets tiger son”. Today is Shafqat’s birthday and there couldn't be a  better day than today to pay a tribute to Ustaad Amanat Ali Khan, his father, and one of the greatest influences on his music.

My first brush with the Patiala Gharana singing happened years ago and I wasn't even aware of it. It was the 1980’s…a small hill cantonment tucked away in the mountain ranges in  north India.- a place where the only television everybody  loved to watch was PTV from across the border. There were some great stuff on air and the music was different and exciting. One of the many songs that I got to listen was the very famous“Ae mere watan Pyare watan” by Ustad Amanat Ali. I didn't know who he was back then, but the beautiful song and its beautiful rendition stayed with me.

Years later, it was his son’s singing that set me on a path of discovery of the music of this legend who took the Patiala Gharana tradition to new heights.

Born in 1931 in Patiala, India, Amanat Ali Khan was the eldest son of Ustad Akhtar Hussain and the grandson of Ustaad Ali Baksh, one of the founders of the great Patiala Gharana. Shafqat in an interview reveals that his father was a child who began talking rather late.Scientific research shows that some of the late talking children grow up to be exceptional minds with special abilities in areas that involve analytic skills. And music, after all , is nothing but the arrangement of the seven swars into countless permutations and combinations.

Amanat Ali debuted in the music world with a public performance along with his younger brother Fateh Ali Khan when he was barely into his teens and after that there was no looking back.

As I searched for some information on Ustaad Amanat Ali Khan I chanced upon an article on the band called RagaBoyz, which is formed by Amanat Ali’s grand nephews, the sons of his youngest brother Hamid Ali. It gave me some insight into the man and what his music meant to him. 

It describes an incident about how the Amanat- Fateh duo were on a flight from Dhaka to Kathmandu while their plane hit an area of severe turbulence. A scared and worried Fateh Ali was surprised to see a calm Ustad Amanat Ali humming to himself – he seemed to be almost in a trance. “Aren't you scared?” asked the younger brother. “Hush,”said the elder one. “Listen to what I just composed”. It was one of his very popular thumris, Kab Aaogey, in the Raag Bhairavi. 

I was beginning to get intrigued, when I found another article written by a friend of his, for a Pakistani daily in which among many other anecdotes, the writer, A. Hamid recalls a particular day with Amanat Ali…

“Amanat and I …sitting in a Government College hostel room … Amanat is dusting an old harmonium with his handkerchief. The instrument is untuned, but that does not deter Amanat from unravelling a raag in that beautiful voice of his. He loved the raag JaiJaivanti and he used to say that there were nights when he was able to physically invoke the presiding goddess of that divine raag.”

This spiritual connection that he had with his music comes through in another article published in the Gulf news in March 2003, written by Shoaib Hashmi, that reminiscences of Lahore in the 1960’s…

“In the Lahore of the sixties, Amanat Ali and Fateh Ali Khan sang their way into legend. Amanat Ali especially had a voice of such sweetness; a style of the delicacy of the tread of fairies; and to boot, he had a countenance of such beauty that when steeped in his music, he shone like an other-worldly being and you couldn't look him in the eyes” 

Though he was primarily a Khayaal singer his versatility is wonderfully showcased in the thumris, ghazals and the memorable patriotic songs that he has sung. A.Hamid remembers him as “handsome”, “a natty dresser” and “a man wit superb taste in literature”. The Pak Teahouse in Lahore often crops up in connection with Ustaad Amanat Ali- the traditional hangout for writers, intellectuals, and literary personalities. The Ustaad is said to have been especially fastidious about the correct rendering words, especially when he sang Ghazals, and would often discuss the exact pronunciation of words with the poets whose works he sang.

I love whatever I have had a chance to listen in his voice but I am particularly fond of his Ghazals. Here are some of my favorites

1) Bringing Ghalib to life… a soulful rendition of  “Ye na thee hamari Kismat...”

2) “Hothon pe kabhi unke mera naam hi aaye” - One of his best

3) “Aa mere pyaar ki khushboo”- Darbaari delight!

4) Hua so hua…

5) Yaar ko mainey, mujhe yaar ne sone na diya…

6) Ek Khalish ko Hasil-e-Umr-e-Rawan Rehne Diya

7) Mausam Badla Rut Gadrayi

8) Insha Ji Utho- Saving the best for the last. Some songs are just made for some singers...some singers, just for some songs!

In 1974 at the age of just 42, this legendary artist succumbed to complications of an appendicitis attack, leaving behind his music which continues to live on in the hearts of his admirers

"Are we not like two volumes of one book?"-wrote Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, in reference to the father – son relationship.

I hope that Shafqat will seriously consider re recording some of these gems… The Ghazals by Ustad Amaant Ali certainly deserve a second volume!

This is first in the series of posts on the beautiful legacy of music that is the Patiala Gharana- the tradition to which Shafqat Amanat Ali belongs.

The Underrated and the Lesser Heard…

It happens with ever singer and with each music album…a few songs associated with them often become so popular that they end up being synonymous with them and their success. But in the process there are some genuinely good ones that often get ignored or sidelined.

This is an attempt to bring to the fore some of Shafqat Amanat Ali’s songs, which in my opinion, deserve more of the limelight.

Sublime Devotion

"Ram Rai Hohe Baid Banwari"- A beautiful shabad by Bhagat Bhikanji reiterates my belief that the Bhakti  the Devotional genre is what Shafqat was born to sing. This was for an album in 2008 for which Jagjit Singh composed the music.

Riveting, Ramchand Pakistani

This award winning film, released in 2008, is a poignant tale of the inadvertent crossing over of a Pakistani man and his son into the Indian side of the border. The film was an Indo- Pak collaboration in more ways than one. The music of the film was given by the known Indian composer Debjyoti Mishra who got Shafqat to sing 2 songs for the film.The songs are penned by the famous Pakistani writer and poet Anwar Maqsood..

The songs also feature another favorite of mine Shubha Mudgal.

The first- “Phir wohi Raastey” conveys so beautifully the pain a child who is away from his home

“Kya Meri Muntzar Hai Ki Aaun Kabhi,

 Wo Mere Saath Udhti Patangein Meri,

Mere Haathon Ko Choomein Gi Aakar Kabhi”

Do they await, do they expect me to return…

Those kites that flew as high as my dreams…

Will I be able to feel them in my hands, ever again

And then you have “Allah Megh de” – yet another take on the very memorable folk song that has enthralled us in different forms

If there were any two voices that matched perfectly in terms of their power, their ability to be in sync with the emotions of the words that they sing, and their grip over the technicalities of the art of singing it has to be these two. Sheer bliss and joy… Can, but just pray that they come together to collaborate once again, very soon

Punjabi Pleasure

Punjabi music is often equated with loud, boisterous, crazy… And if I tell you that there are songs in Punjabi that are sweet and sentimental and slow…you would probably dismiss me disbelievingly.  Well then, you must listen to some of the songs Shafqat Amanat Ali has sung in Punjabi.

An album called Studio Amritsar composed by Gaurav Issar was released apparently in the 2004 and featured artists like Richa Sharma, Labh Janjua, Shahid Malliya and of course Shafqat.

Tere bagair Sajna… talks of the pain of separation, the life without the beloved

“Akhiyan ch ne udeekan, lab te sawaal hai.. In the eyes lies the wait on my lips the question…”

“Assa ho gayen ne leeraN.. Jeena Muhaal hai”- Without you I am in tatters, It is so hard to live on

Aa do Kadiyan…is the invitation to sit down and share a few heart to heart moments….

“Main Honwa, tu Hove,Te saada rab”- Let there just be you, me and Our God!

Listen to it here

Lang Aaja - Is a very popular traditional Punjabi folk song and Shafqat’s version features in an album on Indian Wedding songs by Music today..This is the only male version of the song that I have heard- slow paced that allows you to linger over and enjoy the words and the melody and he leaves his stamp of classical singing in this one, too. My other favorite version is by Surinder Kaur.

The Coke Studio Cheer!

Shafqat has featured in both the Pakistani and Indian editions of the highly acclaimed music show, Coke Studio. In the season 1 of the Indian Coke Studio besides some of his hits he sang a brand new number composed by Leslie Lewis called Tere Bin Dil Laage na is a happy kind of  song… in quite a different zone than the sad, Sufi, soulful territory that Shafqat commonly treads

Scaling New heights

"Paakida"  is from the album Arrk by Music Today which was labeled as a "Sufi Rock" collection and  featured artists like Zubeen Garg, Javed Ali and Chitra among others. This very high pitched, high energy number showcases Shafqat's powerful vocals and is guaranteed to get the spirits soaring to new highs of musical ecstasy

Twice over?

Tu Hi Tu is a song that was first heard in Zubeen Garg’s debut album, Zindagi that was released in 2007.  This song by Shafqat was later added onto the song list of Tabeer, his first solo album after his breakup with the Fuzon band. An interesting video was also produced for the song. But what I like most about the song is the very contemperory, modern feel of the song reflected both in the compostion and the lyrics…

Blissful Bollywood

Kaarvan comes, surprisingly, from the house of Sajid-Wajid. It is a track from a film called Hello and apparently was never used on screen. The film also didn't too well and the song, too sadly, never saw the success it deserved.

“Par To Lage Hain, Udte Nahi Hain

Jab Kuch Nahi Hai, Kyun Saji Hain Roshni

Shola Jaga Diya, Dekar Hawaa...

Aisa Jahaan Tera, Ab Bata De Tu Bata De Khuda...”

Beautiful words, written by Jalees Sherwani and at the cost of repeating myself- when a voice like Shafqat’s complains to God, He would have no choice but to listen!

Poore se zara se kam is a beautiful track from Mausam. This one is called the Band Mix did not appear in the released soundtrack. Even though I love the version by Rashid Khan used on screen but this version is excellent, too

And more

Each of the 3 albums by Shafqat has some songs which have connected and stayed with the listeners in a big way- Khamaj, Aankon ke Saagar, Khedeyan de naal, Darbari, Akhiyan have been massive hits. But each of the 3 albums also has some gems which deserved to be talked about and listened to more often…

Naina from Tabeer has to be one of the sweetest romantic numbers I have ever heard. Madhbanti from Saagar is The song for a lonely night, the composition of Naukar Tere, from Kyun Dooriyan is based on a folk, wedding song and the words are so simple, yet so profound, and Kaaga ja in Pahaari from the same album is soulful.

But it is an unplugged version of the last one that makes me fall in love again and again with the powerful voice that doesn't really need any musical instruments as props!