Ayaan Ali Bangash, Amrita Kak on recreating ‘Chhap Tilak’ and classical music reaching ‘peak of powers’
Ayaan Ali Bangash, Amrita Kak on recreating ‘Chhap Tilak’ and classical music reaching ‘peak of powers’
Every music aficionado has lived and loved ‘Chhap Tilak’, a Ghazal written and composed by 14th-century Sufi mystic Amir Khusro. Over the years, it has got many versions by notable Pakistani and Indian Qawwals, including Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mehnaz Begum, Abida Parveen, Sabri Brothers, and Bollywood interpretations by Lata Mangeshkar, and Asha Bhosle. Now, Panorama Music has released a rendition of the song that has been sung by Amrita Kak, with brothers Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash on the sarod.
The sufiyana kalam inspired by Khusrau’s devotion to his spiritual mentor, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya has resonated well with many artists because of its melody and mystical lyrics and it was a challenge for the trio to recreate the song with a fresh approach.
“It’s the song which has been sung by so many greats in recent times so it has been a very big challenge,” Ayaan Ali Bangash told Firstpost and added that Amrita being a classically trained singer added a whole different component, colour, and texture to the song.
For ecstatic Amrita, who started her singing career with ‘Just Chill’, a super hit song from the Salman Khan starrer ‘Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya’, the best thing about their version of ‘Chhap Tilak’ is that it has been done on sarod. “I think Chhap Tilak hasn’t been done on sarod before."
The rendition has been shot with all three artists at the picturesque Amer fort in Jaipur and has received love and appreciation from the likes of Salman Khan and Amitabh Bachchan on social media.
The lyrics of the song have the elements of both romance and devotion and have made innumerable eyes shed tears whenever they hear this soulful track. For Ayaan. the beautiful depiction of the role of gurus ( teachers) in the song is simply unparalleled.
Ayaan and his brother Amaan are known as the torch bearers of their father Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Sahab’s legacy. They are the most celebrated classical musicians from India and are the seventh-generation musicians belonging to a musical lineage that is referred to as the Senia Bangash school. In the last two decades, the Bangash Brothers have released multiple albums and have performed across the globe, including at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Smithsonian, and WOMAD festivals on many continents.
With a long association with classical music, they have only seen the industry grow stronger. “Classical music is frankly at the peak of its powers today,” said Ayaan.
From being an art form that had a very niche audience to moving to concert halls, the reach is wide now. “This art form was never meant for the public and was always associated with royalty and for intimate gatherings back in the day. However, with time, it moved to concert halls,” he said, giving examples of how classical music is played in the biggest of halls like the Royal Albert Hall in London and science city in Kolkata.
However, just like every industry, even the classical music industry has seen challenges in the recent past because of pandemics. But there is a silver lining to that too. “I think the whole concept of the digital event and online event took the momentum and it was an interesting period to explore the digital medium for concerts.”
But the sarod players shied away from playing at online concerts apart from participating in COVID relief funds because they feel that it's the craft that needs to be heard live. "Performing live is timeless and eternal.”
For Ayaan, being a song of Padma Vibhushan Ustad Amjad Ali Khan comes with a lot of responsibility but the one thing that remained with him throughout his musical journey is staying humble and calm.
“My father has always conveyed that you have to be a good human being first,” said Ayaan and remembered how his father always told him that the fragrance of the blessing is equally important to achieve bigger goals.
With a long career as a Sarod player, Ayaan and Amaan have collaborated with guitarist Derek Trucks, of the Allman Brothers Band, Guitarist Sharon Isbin, Chicago Philharmonic orchestra, and Avignon symphony orchestra among others, and established themselves as a duo, carrying forward their musical legacy in sync with both tradition and contemporary times.
They have recently won the Gold Medal at the Global Music Awards in LA for their new album Peace Worshippers. More recently. They have also joined Gwen Stefani, Jon Bon Jovi for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, and multi-GRAMMY Award-winning musician Joe Walsh’s Vetsaid Charity Concert in December 2020.
Talking about if the music industry has changed for good in recent times, Ayaan says that music releases have now taken a whole different dimension.
" We used to buy LPs or CDs as a gift and now it's awkward to hand over a Pendrive to someone but I am happy that some labels are again releasing vinyl," said Ayaan.
The only necessity nowadays is to keep reinventing yourself and keep walking with the pace of the changing times and that's what the music industry is doing.
Nivedita Sharma's work experience includes covering fashion weeks in Milan, Pakistan, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Dubai, and award functions like IIFA, and TOIFA.
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