Adil Najam
One of the earliest posts we did at ATP was titled “Indians are laughing at Pakistanis.” It was about a comedians from Karachi – Rauf Lala, Irfan Malik, Ali Hasan and others – who were taking Indian audiences by storm in the hit Indian television show “The Great Indian Laughter Challenge.” 40 year old Rauf Lala from Pakistan went on to be voted the “Funniest Man in India”!
Today I heard from a former student telling me how a set of young Pakistani singers are winning Indian hearts in the ZeeTV hit show SaReGaMa Challenege 2007. Three Pakistanis reached the top-8 and one, Amanat Ali from Faisalabad, is now in the final three. The Super Final will be on the 13th of October and while the competition at this level is super tough, many are giving him better than even odds for winning.
I have caught the show occasionally, but had not seen any of the 2007 shows. I have a fondness for South Asian music in general and have always been amazed at the quality of the contestants in Indian music contests. There have been some phenomenal performers in these shows. Unlike many US reality contests (including early rounds of ‘American Idol’) where novelty can trump talent, the musical talent in Indian shows is nearly always phenomenal. So, while I had been skeptical about Kashif Memon making it to America’s Got Talent, this I had to see.
What I saw is actually very impressive. At the end of this performance of Mitwa, note the judges’ reactions at the end of the song. The superlatives they use are astounding, and obviously heartfelt.
If you look at his performances, he seems to excel as much at the ‘performance’ as at the singing. He sometimes improvises by putting his own or a judge’s name in the song and the confidence, charm and charisma he has on stage is certainly catching. Here is one example of this with the Soniya. Note Kareena Kapoor’s reaction.
Of course, the novelty of being from ‘across the border’ must have some role in the success of Amanat Ali and his compatriots. But it has also been a burden at times and because of their follies or other’s intentions inevitable controversies have also emerged. My own inclination is to ignore them for the time being. This is a young 19-year old from Faisalabad making it big – no, huge – in neighboring India. The pressures cannot be easy and, at least on the stage, he is carrying them well. This particular show (15th August) made for some needless controversy, but again, I thought that he not only carried a very difficult song (Aye meray piyarey watan) very well but his opening words weren’t bad either.
His real strength seems to be his classical singing training. It comes across in many of his performances, but in his rendition of this not-easy to sing Ghulam Ali ghazal (hungama hai kuon barpa):
Probably his other songs were better sung, but I got first hooked when I heard this song (janey kahan gaye woh din) which is one of my all time favorite songs from one of my all time favorite movies (Mera naam Joker):
And finally, here is one more great song, beautifully rendered. Tujh say naaraz nahi zindagi from the very momorable film Masoom.
I don’t know enough about the other two finalists to make any predictions, nor do I have any expertise in such things. But it should be obvious from the above that I have been very taken by Amanat Ali’s performances and have been watching his videos again and again. I know a good performer when I see one. And Amanat Ali is certainly that. I wish him well. I also wish that he the intense politics of our region will leave him alone and he will leave it alone too.
P.S. I had written this before the blast at Ajmer today. Our hearts and sympathies go out to all who lost their lives or are injured in the blast. As we have maintained earlier, violence is never a solution to anything and those who use violence to instill fear and create hatred must not be allowed to wreck the efforts of those who want to spread peace and goodwill. All violence, by anyone, anywhere, and for any reason must be condemned and rejected by all. It is in this spirit that we have decided to go ahead with this post which, we hope, has deeper meaning than just highlighting a really talented singer from Pakistan making his mark in India. May the oices of peace always overwhelm teh voices of violence
Hi,
I think I know Adil Najam, Any ways I have been following SRGMP2007 since its first episode and I had done whatever it takes to hep Amanat to win, He was declared number 1 in international voting but lost to Aneek Dhar in Indian voting. Amanat was 2nd runner up, Raja Hassan of India was 1st runner up. But most Indians touted that Amanat was way better then the winner and had he got some support form Pakistani voters he could have won easily. Now anouther version of the same programe is airing these days. This is called Sa Re Ha Ma Pa Little Champs, Children ageing between 7 to 14 are taking part form allover the world. A few very good Pakistani Kids are also taking part. They would need a lots of votes if we want them to win.
ss
Wah Amanat!
You are God gifted and graceful. Your voice is magical. I was in youtube.com searching for “Saregama” videos and came across yours. You are awesome. All the songs were very well sung and the perfect “Amanat” way. I am a big fan of Ghulam Ali ji and until this day I was thinking no one can sing his (Ghula Ali ji) ghazals. You have proved me wrong and rest of the world. You are an amazing singer. I wish you all the best!
Khuda Hafiz!
What really matters is the fact that he has been declared the winner by people who understand and respect music, the maha gurus and by all the mentors, not once but many times and if their comments mean anything, then he’s going to be hUGE STAR!!
Hi! Thanks for this article. Amanat Ali was not only loved by people from Pakistan or from India. Here in Bangladesh there were crazy fans of him like me. I have not followed the show from the beginning but fell in love with it when I happened to hear Amanat’s singng. He was wonderful and when I watched his previous performances on the net.. i was blown away. That guy’s been a winner since the 1st day. It’s a huge blow to the world that he lost but he got the most international votes which proves him to be the winner of the VISHAWAYUDH. The other 2 finalists got regional votes mainly. I wish Amanat all the best in his future and I am sure his fans will take him to the vey top!You rock Amanat:D!!