The surprise package of the recentlyconcluded Jahan-E-Khusrau musical festival was easily Daler Mehndi, who broughtDelhi’s music lovers to their feet with his impassioned singing. That AbidaParveen ran out to hug him is testament to how moving his performance was, butthe truth is, it is surprising only to people who don’t know him and hismusical background. As he points out, Sufism is in his blood. He grew uplistening to the hymns of the Guru Granth Sahib sung, and the principle thatruns through those hymns, the merging of one’s soul with god, is what bindshim to the other singers and listeners at this festival. The fact that he is aclassically trained singer is also due to this early grounding in Sikh religiousmusic, which lays great emphasis on raga sangeet.
He was nervous before he went on, and he had barely had any rehearsal time.Muzaffar Ali had been asking him to sing for five years, and Mehndi hadn’tmustered the courage to sing. But, having decided that it was time, he gave iteverything, and chose to present a repertoire that was, as he puts it, straightfrom the heart, and not within the often-heard genre of Sufi music.
But he is careful not to put his pop image aside completely. Though he wants tobe recognised as a serious singer, he is quite happy to be known as the Badshahof pop, famous at home and abroad for the numbers that get people dancing. As hesays, "an artist wants to move through different genres".
It so happens that there is a big Bollywood hit in the making, composed for aSubhash Ghai film that is due very soon, but what has him excited is that he’sin talks with a few companies to produce an album of his Sufi music. For thegenre-bending performer, that too will be a step in the right direction, towardsgod.
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This article originally appeared in Delhi City Limits, March 31, 2006
