Bombay Cinema Qawwali: In Search of a Definition
Yousuf Saeed
While qawwali and Sufi music have become trendy as all over the world,
this humble song existed as everyone’s favourite throughout 20th
century India, especially as a staple of the en
tertainment industry and popular cinema. Though Bombay cinema is often
blamed for making the qawwali ghatiya or cheap, this project
proposes that in reality Indian cinema not only helped popularize the
qawwali but also transformed it from a sacred song to a mode of secular
entertainment, keeping it flexible and inclusive enough to be used as a
device of storytelling and emotional catharsis. How has the traditional
qawwali been altered or affected by Bombay cinema to make it the unique
cinema qawwali? Musically, the qawwali’s growth pattern was no
different from the evolution of Bombay film music in general. For
instance, as the technology of sound recording progressed in early
twentieth century, film music started using larger orchestras and
non-traditional instruments. To attract and impress their audiences,
Indian film industry relies on excess of everything, just like other forms
of popular culture. Thus, the humble harmonium, dholak, tablas, and
bansuri gave way to violins, cellos, piano, drum-kit, and guitars in the
film songs, including qawwali. The body language and costumes given to the
qawwals in the movies (whether in a dargah or a secular space) are often
what makes them the most typical ‘Muslim’ characters created
by Bombay film industry – a shiny achkan (robe) and velvety
crooked cap, lips red due to munching of paan (betelnut), a
flowing handkerchief in a hand, and a wicked smile. This is how actor Pran
acts in a qawwali ‘Jeena to hai usi ka’ from the film
Adhikar (1971) where he introduces himself as Banne Khan Bhopali,
a Muslim side-character on the lines of Soorma Bhopali of
Sholay (1975). This stereotype of Muslim community is further
exemplified in the movies through a qawwali performed at a Sufi shrine to
provide catharsis to a protagonist who goes through rough times in the
plot, often in movies informally known as the Muslim Socials that
dealt with stories of Indian Muslim families. But then, many other
situation types were also used as backdrop for a qawwali, not necessarily
all associated with a Muslim identity or a mystical/sacred context. In
many movies throughout 20th century, a cheerful qawwali was spontaneously
launched by men or women just to enjoy a special moment like a festival, a
picnic with friends or a mischievous dialogue between young men and women.
And despite the cultural and sectarian politics arising in Bombay cinema
in the recent decades, the qawwali and Sufi music continues to remain an
integral part of the movies even today. This project hopes to enlist and
analyze various examples of cinema qawwalis to see how they digress in
form and content from the traditional mystical qawwali and how they
affected the practice of the latter in turn, if at all.
Watch this space for the complete essay.