In the world of music, ghazals still have distinct position and singers, especially the likes of Jagjit Singh, Ghulam Ali, Pankaj Udhas, Mehdi Hassan and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan inspired millions around the world with their magic. Growing up in the late 80s and early 90s, listening to the hits of these maestros might have introduced many to the world of music. Those were the days the legendary ghazal singing duo Jagjit-Chitra Singh used to rule the world when ghazals were at the epitome of our music industry. The playlists of that era were very influential on them - Raaza Razaq and Imthiyas Beegum, who grew up to become ghazal singers. The two were introduced to ghazals at a very young age in two different parts of North Malabar in Kerala. Destiny played its part when these two musically inspired youngsters tied the knot, presenting to the world another ghazal couple, marking the beginning of a musical journey that would eventually result in forming Raaza and Beegom, the band. Formerly based in UAE, and now in Kerala, the couple currently performs around the country and abroad, especially to Saudi, Bahrain, and UAE, for live concerts.
The saying – anything that is short and pithy is revered as witty goes well with ghazals. Raaza says that this philosophy continues to pull them more and more into it. “Most of the ghazals are written in such a way that it is amazing that it can be moulded in any andaaz you want. So, whenever we sit together and compose something, we keep that in mind. You can speak the bitterest things in a very tender and subtle way. Let it be love, grief, ecstasy, happiness or haplessness, it can all be communicated effectively,” says Raaza
Though they were introduced to the world of ghazals by the songs of legendary singers, they don’t limit themselves to singing their songs only. Raaza and Imthiyas compose ghazals inspired by Nazm (a form of Urdu poetry) and have been performing in live concerts all around the world. “Our biggest break came when we released the song Omalaale, which was a hit and had over a million views on YouTube alone. The lyrics were written by a friend and we composed the music. Actually, when we started off as a band, we wanted to incorporate the works of many unknown artists and help them get the attention that they actually deserve. So apart from writing our own songs, we work together with less popular writers, musicians, and other artists so that they can be part of our projects too. It really makes us happy. At the end of the day, that is what matters than making a financial gain.”
The band Raaza and Beegom has completed almost four years but both of their musical journeys go back much before that. They both play the harmonium and admit that Malayalam ghazal maestro Umbayi had a great influence in shaping them. Well-versed in Hindustani music, the singers know how Urdu and Persian culture have influenced the art form. “The lyrics of a ghazal are beyond magical. Unlike other songs, ghazals give more importance to the emotion of the song. The West Asian culture has had its influence on the art form but in vernacular languages, I don’t know how much we can relate to that culture, but still, we had great ghazal songs in the past.”
The singer-couple opine that though our music industry is still film bound, independent music, in general, has grown much bigger than what it was 10 years ago. Raaza observes that the emergence of social media and independent music shows on TV has helped hundreds of artists like them to get a platform.
Raaza and Beegom are very busy with their schedule and would be doing a live concert in Dubai next month. After that, they will fly to Canada for another concert.
