Saso Ki Mal, Sano Pali

By DHNS, *For that spiritual touch!* - Deccan Herald - Bangalore, India // Friday, September 24, 2010

Adil Hussaini draws his inspiration from the works of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He sings almost all of Nusrat’s songs and sounds a bit like him as well.

Adil Hussaini more than just entertained the audience at an evening of sufi music in the City recently when he sang compositions of famous musicians and a few of his own tunes as well.

Even though it was a working day, it didn’t deter people from attending the concert. The hall was packed with people who had come for a spiritual upliftment of sorts and didn’t leave disappointed at all.

“To choose sufi music and to excel in it and find success is an achievement in itself,” Adil told Metrolife.

The handful of songs that Adil performed were on themes as varied as love, joy, sorrow... Among the pieces he sang were Saso Ki Mal, Sano Pali which means waiting for one’s beloved. He also performed Nusrat’s Afri Afri which topped the international charts a few years ago.

“He sung and modified a sufi song to suit modern tastes that’s how Afri Afri became a hit. And it’s one of my favourites,” says Adil. It was a devotional song that was given a commercial feel.

Again Piyare Piyare was not only lively but revolved around love as well. What love can do to a human being was the crux of the song. “It’s sung in Rajasthani style. It’s spontaneous, one that is unplanned,” says Adil.

And Adil thinks that his performance wouldn’t be complete without invoking divine blessings, so he dedicated Allahu Allahu to Allah, “we all seek Allah’s blessings and call upon him only in distress but he’s with us always, all around us,” he explains.

That the crowd thoroughly enjoyed the performance was evident from their cheering.

“The evening was indeed spiritually fulfiling. It does well in lifting a weary soul. And I think songs like these do give one a break from the hectic pace of work,” says Shalini, a music lover.

Adil has performed with well-known musicians such as Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Taufiq Qureshi, Ustad Sultan Khan, Louise Banks and Strings... to mention a few.

Adil didn’t forget to add, “I got my first break here in Bangalore in 2003 when I sang at the Bangalore Habba. There was no looking back since,” he sums up.