Driving away mid-week blues with Shafqat Amanat Ali

Read my interview at: 

https://smallscreenaddict.blogspot.com/2021/03/i-can-connect-to-god-through-sufi.html

https://www.hindustantimes.com/music/i-can-connect-to-god-through-sufi/story-wtIgpMthH4Qh47zOVGUZbM.html
 

Sufi music has been popular with people who liked soft music while going on long drives. 

It has remained an all-time favourite of people especially after NDTV Imagine's programme Junoon: Kuchh kar dikhane ka. 

Of late, a genre called Sufi rock has taken birth. Pakistani, as well as Indian bands, are popularising it. 

Be it Jal, Strings, Abida Parveen, Allan Fakir, Kailash Kher, Rabbi Shergill or the latest Sufi sensation Shafqat Amanat Ali - Ustad Amanat Ali's son - all share one common factor in them - they all specialise in this genre. Shafqat Amanat Ali's Sufi rock cured me of all my day's blues on a rainy Wednesday evening. 

Braving heavy showers, like other Sufi lovers, I too managed to reach Siri Fort well in time for the concert. 

Let me confess this was my first live Sufi concert and probably my dream one, too! I had butterflies in my stomach as I took my place in the packed auditorium. The concert kicked off with an introduction to Shafqat and the launch of his latest album Tabeer. 

As the hall became dark, Shafqat with his band Fuzon, belted out my favourite numbers Mora Sayyan (Khamaj), Yeh Haunsla (Dor), and all songs from his latest album. Shafqat even went to the audience and invited three people from the audience who sang 'Yeh Haunsla' with him on the stage. He was also the voice, which enthralled listeners with 'Mitwa' from the movie Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. His album Tabeer was launched by Music Today through a three-city launch tour, in New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. 

One identifiable feature about his voice is that when he speaks on the mike, its barely audible, but at the same time, you would be shocked at the pitch that he sings in. After the formal launch of his new album, he transported the audience from the real world to his own world - the world of music. 

For two hours, we remained entranced as the music ebbed and flowed from soft numbers like Teray Bina, Khairheyan de naal, Mora sayyan, Ankhon ke sagar, naina to fast-paced rock numbers like Dum-ali-dum-ali.