Excerpts from the forthcoming book
Qawwali in Bombay Cinema
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
entertainment 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.
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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.
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In 1935, the singer Jaddan Bai (the mother of actress Nargis) emerged as
the first woman music director in Indian cinema by composing for the
film Talash-e Haq, in which she sang a qawwali “Rasool-e Khuda O Kamli wale” among other songs whose recordings are not available. Since
1930s was also the time when India’s freedom struggle and Gandhian
reformation were at their peak, many movies and their songs carried
patriotic messages for the masses. In fact, one of the first qawwalis
whose decent quality recording is available,
Bhari hai aag matwale teri botal ke paani mein from
Brandy ki Botal (1939), exhorts against liquor consumption and
praises the Congress for eliminating alcohol from India. It even has a
message for both Hindus and Muslims to replace liquor in their bottles
with:
Hinduon tum apni botalon mein Ganga ka jal rakhna
Aur musalmanon tumhare jam hon Zamzam ke paani mein.
(Hindus, please keep the holy water of Ganges in your bottles,
And Muslims, your cups should have the Zamzam water.)
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A strange fact about the
career of the sensational artist Shakila Bano Bhopali is that the film
industry used her appearance and name as a qawwal but not her voice. Her
qawwali in Ustadon ke Ustad (1963) depends on her acting,
adayen and teasing gestures (some close-ups especially crafted
for the camera), but the voice is provided by Asha Bhosle. Same is the
case with Harfan Maula (1976), Dastak (1970), and
Jaan-e Wafa (1990), where she is introduced as Shakila Bano
Bhopali but someone else, usually Asha or Lata Mangeshkar, sings her
song. In Shraddhanjali (1981) Shakila appears as a wedding singer
performing the famous bidayi (daughter’s departing) song
Sayyan doli leke aye tere dvar, but the voice is apparently Shoba
Gurtu’s. A probable reason for this is that her voice was rather
rustic and folkish and not as refined as that of the seasoned playback
singers. The industry loved her looks and the alluring gestures, but her
voice didn’t fit her beauty, at least cinematically. On the other
hand, the movies used the voice as well as the presence of traditional
male qawwals like Jani Babu, Aziz Nazan, Isamil Azad or Yusuf Azad
precisely for their rustic and uncouth voice, to contrast with the
refined playback singers. But as one can observe, being male and rustic
is fine, whereas a woman has to be ‘pleasing’ both in her
voice as well as looks.
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The illustrated book Qawwali in Bombay Cinema by Yousuf Saeed is in the process of publication.