Sufi at heart

She is known for her expressive and creative presentation of music that keeps her audience mesmerised. Sufi singer Zila Khan, who recently made her screen debut with Bajirao Mastani and stage debut with Gauhar, talks to us about her newfound love for acting, working with Sanjay Leela Bansali, becoming the first woman Ustad and more.

Zila started her musical career very late — she was almost 28 years old when she gave her first solo stage performance. “My formal 14-hours-a-day training started when I was 12 years old, but I chose to perform late. I became a mother at 24 and took a break from professional singing to spend time with my child. I had done a few shows with my father when I was young, but he was very particular about my riyaaz. My first concert was in Toronto in 1981 at Dr. Azra Raza’s house, where my father also sang with me and we treasure that recording and photographs,” she shares and adds, “For me career, success, performances and tours are not an ‘ambition’, they are an experience of ‘sharing’ with my audience.” Though her father was a renowned sitar maestro, Zila’s soul chose singing. She is drawn to music that is honest, straight, speaks from the heart and communicates. “The rhythmic beats, lyrics and masti in Sufi singing lets my inner child jump with a supreme joy,” the Ustad Maa says and adds, “I am as much an Ustad as I am a student of life.”

She goes on, “I have grown up with the greatest intellects of the world from all stratas of life and have learnt that it is important for one to grow in music and knowledge, but it is as important to not let the ‘now’ slip away. I like living in simple ways so that I don’t miss out on life.”

When it comes to acting, Zila’s screen time as Deepika Padukone’s mother in Bajirao Mastani might have been short but it captured the audience’s attention in all the right ways. With her play Gauhar she is all set to charm the audience yet again with not just soul-stirring Hindustani bandish numbers but also with her histrionic prowess. “The credit for my acting goes to my directors who see my acting potential. When they have that kind of faith in my acting abilities, I just go with the flow — trusting their judgment and expertise,” shares the daughter of sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan. She continues, “Acting in films is very different from acting in theatre. Both need different skills and my singing adds to the mix as a third skill. I love pushing my boundaries and I am grateful for all the opportunities that are coming my way.”

The confidence and support of your team is very essential for a good performance, the singer affirms and says, “Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s confidence in me convinced me to play the character I did in Bajirao Mastani. His detailing, vision and approach to cinema is not a secret — he wants the best in everything and his showing confidence in me is both humbling and encouraging.”

Asked if she had any apprehensions or if there were any prohibitions on her to act, she answers, “My experience from having been a stage artiste for 30 years now, along with my enthusiasm to always expand my skill-set helps me to do new things.”

As far as prohibitions and challenges go, the singer’s father had taught her music like she were a son but changing the mindset of the rest of the people around was a big challenge. Zila shares, “By making me a formal student in the ‘gandabandhan’ ceremony in front of the world, my father made it easy for me, but the rest of it was the usual that every successful artiste goes through, especially women. India empowers me — today, my country gives me more respect and love than any woman Sufi singer in the world (or for that matter any male Sufi singer too) and I hold my audience all over the world very dear. It’s a relationship of utmost love and respect and a lot of fun.”

Zila’s musical heritage spans seven generations of legendary classical musicians and five generations of recorded music. She is also the first woman singer from her gharana. “I feel I am blessed with a good combination — the ability to be a successful performer and the ability to communicate with my audience without missing the essence of the music and poetry sung, thus ensuring that they come along on my journey. But with my online videos called The Fez Project, I’m reviving the traditional kind of Sufi songs and ghazal singing. The Noor Jahan, Farida Khanum, Iqbal Bano kind of ghazal singing is something which needs to be heard, enjoyed and passed on to the youth,” she feels.

Talking about Gauhar, where she essays the role of the older avatar of the protagonist by the same name as well as Malka Jaan, she says, “Bringing the story of a great artist such as Gauhar Jaan to the public was my biggest incentive to do this play. As a classical singer, I do a lot to revive and preserve classical music. I teach 300 or so students through my UstadGah classes. Also, Gauhar Jaan’s character has the same dynamism that I have grown up with — with my father (Ustad Vilayat Khan) himself being ever so regal and dynamic in every which way. Every stage actor faces some stress before every show, but Lillete Dubey helped me along every step of the way. There is a lot to learn from her expertise and long standing experience in the theatre world.”