Artistes unite nations: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan

The word Raahatein roughly translates to “relief” in Urdu. And you realise that naming a music concert Raahatein, in which Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan would perform, was just perfect.

In Hyderabad for a performance at the Falaknuma, Khan says that he has always looked forward to performing here. “This is also one of my first commercial events in India after about five years, so it is indeed a very special moment for me,” he says. Khan’s life has been surrounded by sur, right from the young age of four when he started his journey with music. “Our family has a music legacy of over 600 years and I do not know anything else in life but music.

I am very lucky that my mentors were my uncle Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and my dear father Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan. Training with Ustad Nusrat was like being in a boxing ring with either Mohammed Ali Sahab or perhaps facing a fast bowler without a helmet. He was very strict for the right reasons but also very loving. As I was also his adopted son he wanted to put me through a process and that has shaped me into the person that I am today,” he said.

Khan who is famous for his qawwalis, is happy to be performing in a city that is equally famous for its qawwali bands. “I would love to collaborate with the local talent in Hyderabad. Qawwali is like the earth, something that never changes,” he said.

Pakistan and India have had a tumultuous relationship but the one thing that has always had a positive outcome is the relationship with artistes across borders. “Any artiste is universal and should not be kept within boundaries. And of course artistes keep the two nations united.”

Talking about his future projects, he says that there are a few collaborations planned. “Currently, there is a qawwali album in the making. I am also collaborating with some of my friends in the industry in India and abroad as well.”

So what if Khan wouldn’t have become a singer? Did he have any other plans? He laughed, “I can’t even think that I could have been anything else but a singer. If I was not a singer then I would have been perhaps a bathroom singer.”


 

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