They say there is an almighty and when you call out to Him, you feel His presence. They are correct. When Wajahat Husain Badayuni and the Rizwan-Muazzam qawwals from Pakistan took the stage in the capital recently, their words reverberated and created a trance. With every note of Allah hoo, Dam mast kalandar and Chhap Tilak, they took the audience to another realm.
Qawwali is derived from Qaul (meaning the Prophet?s words) and is performed mainly as an act of worship in dargahs. It is also a principal form of Sufi sama (spiritual concert) in the Indian subcontinent, says Sufi vocalist Dhruv Sangari.
?Qawwali is an intangible living heritage of the Indian subcontinent,? says Manjari Chaturvedi, president, Sufi Kathak Foundation, which is trying to keep the art form alive through various initiatives. ?We focus on the current life of its practitioners who keep this tradition alive and yet have to struggle each day for their survival. We also hope to raise issues about the authentic form of qawwali and other perceived forms of this age-old tradition.?
From dargahs to international concerts and Bollywood, qawwali has, in the past 700 years, travelled a long way, taking the form of both devotion and entertainment. It has been an intrinsic part of Hindi films with songs like Teri mehfil mein qismat azmake hum bhi dekhenge in Mughal-e-Azam, Pardah hai pardah in Amar Akbar Anthony, Khwaja mere khwaja in Jodhaa Akbar and the more recent Kun faya kun in the film Rockstar. But are these qawwali songs in Bollywood films true to the original spiritual art form?
?The qawwalis used in Bollywood films can?t be called qawwalis. They can at best be called Sufi songs. Qawwalis are pure spiritual hymns? these songs are not qawwalis,? says Muazzam of Rizwan-Muazzam of Pakistan. The Rizwan-Muazzam is a qawwali group headed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan?s nephews, Rizwan and Muazzam.
?Gone are the days when qawwali was sung for divinity. With the genre entering Bollywood and reality shows, its value has come down. The cultural societies are putting in a lot of work but the way it was sung at shrines, the spirituality of it, is not something that we see these days,? says Wajahat Husain Badayuni, grand nephew of the illustrious qawwal, Jafar Husain Badayuni.
?Qawwali is the most common and dominant form of Sufi music used in Hindustani cinema,? says Tanimaa Mehra in her essay, Renditions of Qawwali And The Transition to Sufi Music in Hindustani Cinema. ?But with the development in cinema and changing taste of the audiences, there is a transition to extensive use of Sufi music. The high-pitched qawwali as a genre still exists but the soft and mellifluous present-day form of this genre has taken centrestage? the cinema industry has come out with its own definition of Sufi music and its various categories and these are used to sell music which sounds like Sufi to its audiences.?
Chaturvedi of Sufi Kathak Foundation agrees: ?With the present scenario of qawwali being part of Bollywood, the intrinsic nature of the traditional art form has faded away in this process. What the present generation knows is only a distorted image of real qawwali as sung in Bollywood. While most might be aware of this form of qawwali, a lack of foundation or a strong base about qawwali can be observed,? she says, adding, ?By using the imagery and metaphors used in qawwali, the Hindi film industry has managed to create a parallel identity of this form of music which may sound like the original 700-year-old living tradition, but does not conform to its spiritual meanings.?
With the passage of time, this traditional art form is now slowly on the verge of decline. With commercialism taking over traditionalism, qawwals now have to cater to the audience?s demands. ?The audience does not understand Persian or other compositions written in traditional languages, so qawwals don?t get the opportunity to perform these compositions,? says Yousuf Nizami, who represents the Nizami gharana of qawwals. ?Commercialism is taking over traditionalism.
It is very rare in today?s times that qawwals get to play their traditional khanqahi compositions in front of audiences. They have to cater to the demands of the audience,? he adds.
?Qawwali, as it was performed and the purpose for which it was performed as a mystical spiritual music form, seems to be heading for a dead end?. a more disturbing ?entertainment? version of it is taking shape, which is devoid of the soul of qawwali and that is an alarming situation. Money is a driving factor, too, for the performers do need to earn a living through the form?? says Chaturvedi, adding, ?Qawwali is a fading art form. Owing to its oral tradition, the compositions which have been passed on from generation to generation and stored within the familial heritage are slowly getting lost in the pages of history because the children of these traditional musicians do not find the practice of qawwali a lucrative option. If adequate measures are not taken, this art form will gradually fade in the pages of history. It needs to survive as it is and not as an entertainment option like we are looking at it today.?