His uncle, the late legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, took India by storm in the ‘90s. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, whose songs topped charts in Hindi films from Paap and Kalyug to Omkara, Namastey London, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom and Aaja Nachle, challenges that the day he gets to score for a Hindi film, he has enough of a repertoire to shower hits. But as of now, he has come out with his debut Indian album Charkha.

Excerpts from an interview:

Is Charkha a qawwali-based album?

Yes, but the packaging is contemporary. Charkha, the lead track is about love being a kudrati (divine) circle. It is a composition of my father Farukh. The rest of the songs are composed by me using verse from Sufi greats like Bulleshah and Shah Hussain as well as lyrics by Ahmed Anis, Anwar Jogi and myself.

Your musical heritage goes back several generations, and I believe it spans three countries.

My ancestor Moula Baksh, migrated to Jullundur in Punjab from Afghanistan. Later my family moved to Lyallpur in Pakistan. Even before him, music was there in my family. Later my grandfather Fateh Ali Khan and his brothers Mubarak Ali and Pir Daad were famous in their time and my late taaya Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, my father’s elder brother.

I was especially close to my taaya, who would take me along for his shows right from the time I was in school. I began learning music from the age of seven and I was nine when I first went before the public, at a concert that was a Shraddhanjali to my grandfather Fateh Ali Khan. My father did teach me, but I was always with my uncle on his shows around the world and for him, it was all about music 24/7. Just being with him was like a riyaaz by itself.

Any plans for doing more albums in India?

My next album will be a lighter and not a qawwali-based one.

Do you feel that traditional styles are losing out in the craze for Western music?

It is my responsibility that our music is preserved and that it is heard by our people as well as the West. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan took the pure qawwali successfully from the dargah to the world-famous auditoriums of New York and the rest of America and Europe. Our music has to be propagated. The mission must go on.

What difference do you see in the music scene in India and Pakistan?

In Sufi music, Pakistan is ahead of India, but by and large, music has not bloomed over there. It’s not as if we never had great musicians, but they were almost all from undivided India like Noorjehan, Farida Khanum, Roshanara Begum, Ghulam Ali and Mehdi Hasan. But there is no one great enough to take their place after they passed on.

In India, even small children sing because music is associated with religions. In orthodox Islam, music is not permitted and is considered deviant. So the successive governments over the decades have not encouraged the growth of music. But my uncle succeeded in changing a lot of things.

Your voice and style are a complete contrast from your uncle. Is that consciously done?

No, it’s a natural difference. But I try and emulate his delivery, which is a variation of the thumri.

We heard that your son is a prodigy of sorts.

(Smiles) Well, I began music at 7, he’s just four and can sing raags! He sings on his own and one has to actually tell him to rest his voice because he loves singing!

Did you enjoy singing for Hindi films?

I had a great time. I owe my Indian popularity to Mahesh Bhatt, who heard my songs Mann ki lagan and Jiya dhadak dhadak jaaye on the Net and contacted me and used them in Paap and Kalyug respectively.

From the rest, my special favourites are Vishal-Shekhar’s Jag soona soona laage from Om Shanti Om, because it is very close to my style of singing, and Vishal Bhardwaj’s Naina thug lenge from Omkara. And contrary to popular perception all my film songs have been composed by the music directors here.