Voice from beyond borders

Mitwa singer Shafqat Amanat Ali turns lyricist with his upcoming third solo album Muhdekhai. Plus, a slew of Bollywood numbers is in the works, he announces...

He started singing at the tender age of four and since then there has been no looking back. This Pakistani singer from Patiala Gharana made his presence felt in Bollywood with soulful melodies like Mitwa in Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna to the recent Mein Nai Jana Pardes from the movie Tevar. Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan is now set to release his solo album Muhdekhai.

Muhdekhai is Shafqat’s third solo album, the songs for which he had in mind a couple of years before its genesis. “The album started a couple of years ago when I began working on creating some new songs. But we didn’t know what the name would be till very recently. I had some compositions in mind and I started laying them out as soon as I embarked this album. Once I started writing, I got around 16 songs ready out of which, nine tracks took shape for the album and I knew the project was all set to go on record,” he elaborates.

The multi-faceted artiste has not only lent his voice to the songs, but has also composed and written several tracks in the process. “Except for Dil Dharhaknay Ka Sabab and Rang, all other tracks in the album have been written by me. In fact, I was even part of the music arrangement of the songs with the arranger since I had a specific idea in my mind on how I wanted a particular ghazal, for example to sound in its re-created avatar. It is a number, which is very close to my heart since it is my father late Ustad Amanat Ali Khan Saheb’s composition and I have always been fond of the poetry by Nasir Kazmi Saheb in this ghazal,” he adds.

The artiste known for his sonorous Sufi renditions, feels that Bollywood movies do distort the true essence of Sufi music at times. “It depends upon the composer and the lyricist and their understanding of the concept of Sufism,” he says.

The artiste was the lead singer of the band Fuzon till he decided to leave the troupe and concentrate on his solo career.

According to Shafqat, music knows no boundaries and will play a crucial role in improving Indo-Pak relationship. “Music has always been the bonding factor between the people of both the countries despite some really unfortunate situations on the political front. But music has always united the people of both the countries with musicians from both sides of the border always being loved by audiences in both India and Pakistan. Music is definitely a uniting force,” he puts forth.

“It has been an amazing journey filled with love and appreciation. It has been highly productive and I have done some really memorable work in India, which has been loved by audiences across the globe,” he affirms about the fruitful experiences in India so far.