Dream come true for Anita

Anita Singhvi, the Delhi based singer can’t seem to believe her luck – that she’s worked on an album of ghazals, the music for which has been composed by none other than the musical great, Khayyam.

“That’s why my album is called Zahe-Naseeb,” she smiles. What tilted the scales in her favour, says Khayyamsaab, is the fact that “she’s a great fan of Begum Akhtar. When I asked her to sing a few lines for me, she coincidentally sang those ghazals of the Begum, the music for which was composed by me. I was impressed by her base and earthy voice.”

The album includes ghazals by some contemporary shayars too, including Naqsh Lalpuri, Daag Dehlvi, Indira Verma and Vijay Akela.

Ask Khayyamsaab about the changing face of ghazals today and he says matter-of-factly, “If that’s happening, it’s good because we want more and more people to understand and appreciate this genre. It shouldn’t be restricted to a niche crowd only.”

When asked what brings out the best in him, he says, “The shairyi has to be good and inspirational, only then will my music be good. That’s how it works with me.”

The veteran composer who has some of the immortal songs from Bollywood to his credit, says, “People ask me for my favourites and I tell them that each one of my compositions is very dear to me. But when it comes to my pehchaan, I’d go for Razia Sultan and Umrao Jaan.” And what did he think of the music of the new Umrao Jaan? “I wouldn’t like to comment on that at all. All I’ll say is that there was so much promotion being done that over-dosage probably killed this film. People didn’t think it came up to their expectations.”

But what if someone tried to remix his music? “Yeh remixes bahut khatarnak cheez hai – it’s like murder in broad daylight. We composers are being murdered by them, and listeners must protest too,” he says.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com