Sufi singer Zila Khan promises more classical notes in her next album

By Banasree Purkayastha - The Financial Express - India
Sunday, May 21, 2006

Zila Khan has just returned from Pakistan and she is
waxing eloquent about the reception accorded to her
there. Home to the genre of Sufi music, Pakistan has
its own Sufi queens — Farida Khanum, Nayyara Noor,
Tina Sani — but “that adds to the warmth of the
welcome”, she says.

“I had a live performance in Lahore, which was
appreciated by the audience. I sang in Iqbal’s home,
which is like a shrine for a Sufi singer,” says the
singer whose rendering of Sufi compositions has made
her famous. Khan was a member of the delegation that
went to Pakistan for the release of Taj Mahal.

“It is only when you visit that side of the border
that you realise how similar the two cultures are. Our
sense of humour is the same. We have similar tastes in
food. There is so much that brings us together,” says
Khan, lamenting that cultural exchanges have been held
to ransom by political pulls.

“We are open to their artists coming to India and
performing. We have had Shafqat Ali Khan, Raahat Ali
and Waaris Ali with the pop band Strings, all
performing in different cities in India. In contrast
the number of Indian artistes going across the border
is few,” she adds.

Khan has been flying in and out of the country giving
performances in not only the sub-continent but also
Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston
where expatriates hanker for music from back home,
whether it is Hindi film songs, Sufi music or Indi
pop. Talking about the increasing acceptance of Sufi
music, made more popular as Bollywood embraced it, she
says, “Sufi music is easier to understand and the
listener can identify with the words which has a
rustic feeling to them.” The popularity of her album
Ishq Ki Naayee Baahar is a case in point. It has
traces of Sufi, folk and semi-claasical music, she
says.

However, Khan’s first love continues to be classical
music. Admitting that classical music can only be
appreciated by the select few who understand the
nuances of a raag, Khan says that “classical music is
a nasha (addiction) for her. That’s where I find my
inspiration,” she says, adding that her next album
would be closer to the classical music format.