Artistes are least bothered about politicians

One of Pakistan’s most respected musicians, Mitwa singer Shafqat Amanat Ali, talks about the music scenario in Pakistan, his next album, and his upcoming Bollywood songs.

Your first album, Tabeer, showcased the Patiala gharana side of you, that we hadn’t witnessed before. Will your next album also be on the same note?

When working on Tabeer, I was on a different trip. I didn’t want to come out with an album that would be like Fuzon’s music, or an album that would be dictated by the the masses. I wanted to do what I liked personally, and knew that people may not like it. But thankfully, it worked out well.

And this time, I’m going to give the people the kind of music that’s become my claim-to-fame, and yet retain my own style. It would be an upbeat album, but it would also fuse old melodies with new lyrics.

You experimented a lot with traditional folk in Tabeer. How was the reaction to that?
Yeah, no one wants to touch traditional folk, since people have sentimental affiliations to them. But I wanted to interpret folk songs, qawallis, Baba Bulleh Shah and Amir Khsurao’s words in my own way. And the fans understood what I was trying to do, and they spread the word. I got a lot of support from people of all ages, and I’d often get surprised that it reached to such a wide audience base. I’m really grateful to them.

You seem to be constantly trying to break out of stereotypes. First it was the pop-rock Fuzon image, now it’s an image of ‘serious songs’ that you are trying to shed.
(Laughs) That’s because people treat you like ‘bhed chaal’. If you become popular in a certain kind of number, everybody wants to give you similar numbers. But I want to be known as a versatile singer.

So in my next album, there will be youthful, thumri fusions and folk numbers reinterpreted. Even in Bollywood, I’ll sing all kinds of numbers in 2010 — a dhadaak song for Patiala House, a fun number for My Name Is Khan and a beautiful song for I Hate LoveStories.

How difficult has it been working with Indian composers after 26/11?
Yeah, since you are a citizen of the country, you can’t just carry on doing your work when politicians are fighting with each other. I couldn’t visit India to record songs for a long time because we weren’t given visas. But communications have gone to another level now. I’d communicate with the composers through email. For Tum Mile, Pritam sent me the track on email, I recorded my vocals here and sent them back.

Is the situation better now?
Yeah, because artistes are least bothered about what the politicians are doing. If artistes stop communicating because of politicians, that’s when it would be a real problem.

And how’s the music scenario in Pakistan at this time?
If you are living in a country where the security is a major issue, music sales are bound to get affected, because people are least interested in entertainment right now. Yet, musicians haven’t stopped making music, and they never will. We all know it’s just a matter of time before music starts selling again. People will realise that it’s actually entertainment that can help them stay calm.

You were part of a humanitarian song called Yeh hum nahin a while ago. Do you believe music can help bring about peace?
I do, and that’s why we gathered together to make Yeh hum nahin. The world thinks everyone in Pakistan is a religious extremist. We had to explain to the world that we aren’t we don’t support terrorism.

I believe music and lyrics should be critical about the situation in the country but it shouldn’t get political. Junoon supported political parties at one time and it reflected in their music, and that was wrong. Music should never have an agenda.

In fact, one of the songs, Who jaanta hai mere yaar in my next album is like that, and talks about humanity. The lyrics go, Mandirmasjid gir gaye, hota raha pehnawa, mazhab ka dikhawa, chupna hai bekaar, woh jaantahai mere yaar.

Any plans of forming another band?
(Laughs) No, I’m really happy working alone because dealing with the insecurities of four-five people is really difficult. Most of the time you have to do a balancing act to keep them happy.

Working alone is much better, since you don’t have to be limited by your band members’ limitations. You have a free hand and you can do things on your own will.

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