It has taken me long to write a piece on Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. I decided to separate it in four portions, first one highlighting him as a singer, then as a qawwal, then as a music composer and finally as an international artist. Another discourse is on his international contributions to music. The present one is a tribute to him as a singer.
Nusrat’s popularity skyrocketed in the 1990s. One of his accomplishments was that he served as a Visiting Artist in the Ethnomusicology department at the University of Washington, Seattle, in 1992-93. He released many albums and worked on the soundtracks of numerous films on an international level. He worked with Canadian musician Michael Brook on the albums ‘Mustt Mustt’ and ‘Night Song’. There exist mixed opinions about Nusrat being a versatile artist. Many feel that he was a good qawwal and also a very good music composer. Some feel his voice was thin and shrieking on higher notes. But all in all, God was extra kind to him. He made Pakistan proud whenever and wherever he went in the globe especially in India. He was an excellent person; kind, friendly, helping the poor and a good host to the never ending line of fans and visitors at his house.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan became popular among Indian filmgoers when his rendition was copied by Viju Shah. It was a dance number “Tu cheez bari hai mast mast” from the blockbuster film ‘Mohra’. The spiritual lyrics were replaced by commercial lyrics “Dum mast qalandar mast mast”. The Indian cinema fans were unhappy over this harangue. Actually Nusrat was first introduced by music composer Khayyam about thirteen years before the release of ‘Mohra’ in 1994. It was in the film ‘Nakhuda’ that pertained to the track “Haq Haq Ali” in this Dilip Naik’s movie about the inter-faith relationship between a young man and his mentor. Since the film did not do well on the box office, this introduction went unnoticed. It is reported that even before ‘Nakhuda’, Nusrat had already performed at the music party on the wedding of Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh on January 20, 1980.
Shortly before Nusrat’s death, he composed music for three Bollywood films, which included the film ‘Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya’, in which he also sang for “Koi Jaane Koi Na Jaane” onscreen with the lead pair, and “Zindagi Jhoom Kar”. He also composed music for the film ‘Kartoos’, where he sang “Ishq Da Rutba” and “Bahaa Na Aansoo”, alongside Udit Narayan. He died very shortly prior to the movie’s release. His final music composition for Bollywood was for the movie, ‘Kachche Dhaage’, where he sang the song “Iss Shaan-e-Karam Ka Kya Kehna”. The movie was released in 1999, two years after his death. It is notable that the two legendary singing sisters Asha and Lata sang his composed songs during his brief stint in Bollywood. He sang “Saya Bhi Sath Jab Chorr Jaye” for Sunny Deol’s movie ‘Dillagi’. The song was released in 1999, two years after Nusrat’s death. He sang “Dulhe ka sehra” from the Bollywood movie ‘Dharrkan’ which was released in 2000. Composer Rahman, who was a big fan of Khan, could not compose further songs with him. As a tribute, Rahman later released an album titled ‘Gurus of Peace’, which featured “Allah Hoo” by Nusrat. Rahman’s 2007 song “Tere Bina” was also composed as a tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.