Gig review/ Khusrau-Kabir - spiritual

By Narendra Kusnur 

Concert: Khusrau-Kabir

Artistes: Warsi Brothers, Chaar Yaar, AR Divine, Anurag Dhondiyaal, Devender Pal Singh

Genre: Bhakti/ Sufi music

Details: Nehru Centre, June 15

Rating: ****

The Nehru Centre auditorium was packed on Saturday night, as the Khusrau-Kabir concert featured an array of performers. An annual show organised by Banyan Tree Events, it attracted a knowledgeable crowd, unlike many fashionable shows where people only request Khusrau’s ‘Chaap Tilak’ and Kabir’s ‘Jheeni Chadariya’.

Both these poets have a vast repertoire, and there have been numerous attempts to highlight their work through concerts Jahan-e-Khusrau in Delhi, the multi-city Ruhaaniyat, the Kabir Festival and the folk-fusion event Paddy Fields, besides shows organised by Pancham Nishad and National Centre for the Performing Arts, among others.

Though Khusrau-Kabir has a more focused theme, there were occasional diversions too, with some musicians singing the works of Bulleh Shah or even their own compositions. Never mind, because what one got was four hours of scintillating music, with some short stage set-up changeover breaks thrown in.

While Delhi group Chaar Yaar and the Hyderabad-based Warsi Brothers were the main draws, the first three performers presented contemporary renditions of Khusrau and Kabir. Devender Pal Singh started the evening with three songs exclusively dedicated to Khusrau. The first song ‘Kahe Ko Byahi Bides’ talked about a woman’s feelings on leaving home after marriage – a popular version was in fact used by Khayyam and sung by Jagjit Kaur in the film Umrao Jaan.

Soft-spoken while addressing the audience, Singh has a pleasant singing voice, which was evident on ‘Bahut Din Beete Piya Ko Dekhe’ and the raag Yaman composition ‘Mohe Apne Hi Rang Mein’. The use of Amritanshu Dutta on slide guitar acted as an interesting variant.

Anurag Dhoundiyal pepped up the tempo, but the bass guitar seemed jarring. Their own composition ‘Harja Hai’ got a neat response. AR Divine, a group promoted but not featuring singer Kailash Kher, came in next. Comprising Abhishek Mukherjee and Rachit Agarwal on vocals (hence AR), this group seems to show plenty of promise.

They began with a modern version of Kabir’s ‘Naiharwa Humka Na Bhave’, before getting into a short, uptempo version of Khusrau’s ‘Chaap Tilak’, which sadly didn’t create the fervour it normally does when played at the end of a concert. Their rendition of Kabir’s ‘Jhini Chadariya’ had stretches in different raags like Kedar, Malkauns and Kaafi, and was the clear highlight of their performance. While the keyboard and guitar had a dominant role, the harmonium  was played with mastery.

Chaar Yaar, comprising vocalist Madan Gopal Singh, guitarist Deepak Castelino, sarod exponent Pritam Ghoshal and tabla player Amjad Khan, has played at this event before, and has a good following. With Singh explaining the compositions and adding his doses of humour, they began with Kabir’s ‘Sakhiyan’ and ‘Anand’. Their own composition ‘Ranjha Mera Jogi’ was followed by Khusrau’s ‘Main Toh Piya Se Naina Laga Aayi Re’.

The last piece was a Sufi medley that included Bulleh Shah’s ‘Thaiyya Thaiyya’. The unique thing about Chaar Yaar is the interaction between the guitar and sarod, with both Castelino and Ghoshal showing marvellous coordination and improvisation.

As is customary, Khusrau-Kabir ended with a qawwali set. The Warsi Brothers have loads of experience and though a section of the crowd had left because it was around 10.15 pm, there were plenty in the hall clapping and humming along with Khusrau’s ‘Man Kunto Maula’ (a manqabat dedicated to a saint) and ‘Mohe Apne Hi Rang Mein’. ‘Allah Hoo’, a dhikr (Sufi chant) popularised by the late Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, was a star attraction.

The good thing about such concerts, in comparison to general Sufi and bhakti music nights, is that they focus on specific poets or themes. A month ago, Pancham Nishad had organised Bhakti Ibadat, also at the Nehru Centre. That concert focused on female poets like Meera (presented by Aparna Kelkar), nirgun and sagun bhajans (by Bhuvanesh Komkali) and Sufi music (by Pooja Gaitonde).

While Komkali sang Kabir’s nirgun bhajans (which consider the divine as formless), Gaitonde rendered a short stretch of Khusrau’s poetry. It included ‘Kahe Ko Byahi Bides’ and ‘Ai Ri Sakhi More Piya Ghar Aaye’, set in an unplugged format, and she had announced she would conclude with ‘Aaj Rang Hai’, a qawwali which Khusrau dedicated to Nizamuddin Auliya.

However, someone in the audience requested her to sing ‘Chaap Tilak’, which like ‘Damadam Mast Qalandar’, is performed at every Sufi evening. The singer had to change accordingly.

It’s an interesting anecdote. In most cases, the singers stick to a similar set list. In this instance, Gaitonde was offering something different, but someone in the audience wanted the same old thing. There’s no doubt that ‘Chaap Tilak’ is a great song, but it’s been overdone. The same trend is seen at many ghazal concerts too, with people asking for the same numbers. Whether it’s the musician or the listener, one should be open to variety.