Wedded to Sufi strains

However, when he started playing in a band called Fuzon in 2001, little did people know that he would soon go on to sing some of the best songs of Bollywood. His songs like Mitwa (Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna), Yeh Honsla (Dor), Tere Naina (My Name Is Khan) and Bin Tere (I Hate Luv Storys) have not just topped charts, but also left the music-lovers asking for more. Based in Lahore, the singer will be on a four-city tour in India (including Bangalore), organised by Routes 2 Roots, a Delhi-based non-profit organisation. 

“Though I have performed in Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi before, I will be performing in Bangalore for the first time,” he tells Metrolife. Extremely grateful to his fans in India, he says, “I am hoping for an extremely energetic crowd in Bangalore.”

Bollywood happened to Shafqat thanks to two of Fuzon’s songs that were used in the film Hyderabad Blues 2. “It was then that Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy offered Mitwa to me,” he explains. Would he like to sing the commercial Bollywood songs considering most of his songs are Sufi based? “Sufi music is commercial too and lots of people are singing it,” he answers. Why has Sufi music become so popular in India? “Sufism talks about humanity and peace. Maybe that’s why it’s popular with the people,” he reasons.

He loves many types of music, be it ghazals, Bollywood songs or non filmi music. “I just have an instinct to keep on learning music and it doesn’t stop,” he reveals. Ask him about his favourite tours and he says, “I recently finished the US tour with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Richa Sharma and Mahalaxmi Iyer. We toured cities like New Jersey, Chicago and San Francisco.

I was happy to be performing with such great talents and every concert was memorable,” he recalls.

“I would also love to sing in Italy again.” Switzerland and Australia are two places that he hasn’t been to and would love to perform at, if given a chance. He feels Mitwa is the most requested song by the crowd wherever he performs.

Shafqat has recorded a few more songs with composers like Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Salim-Suleiman and Vishal-Shekhar. He is also working on an album called Kyon Dooriyan. According to him, music is an important tool to promote peace and harmony between India and Pakistan.

 “A lot has happened to the two countries but music can bring them together,” he says. Catch Shafqat Amanat Ali live at the Chowdaiah Memorial Hall on August 24  at
7 pm.