‘BOLLYWOOD HAS HIJACKED MUSIC’

Sufi singer Dhruv Sangari says that the music scene of India is controlled by the film industry

For the lovers of Sufi music, the voice of singer Dhruv Sangari is immediately identifiable for his rendition of Sufi songs. Ask him about his early inspiration and the Delhibased musician says, “I grew up near the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, and as a child, would visit the shrine. I had learnt classical music and was interested in qawwali, so in my early teens, I started learning that too.”

When one wonders the connect between his love for Sufi and Hindustani Classical music (in which, he has received an MA degree from Delhi University), Sangari says, “One has to get a degree in something, so I got it in music. There’s no subject called sufi music…Sufi is part of an old heritage and has to be learnt from an Ustad. At the Faculty of Music, even the teachers weren’t of great standard. Some students joined the course because unhe itne ghante yahan bitane hain. And think of music colleges abroad — there people would be jamming together to create something new. Even at the National College of Art, Lahore, you’ll be shocked to see the level of talent the students posses. But yahan pe, the sound has been hijacked by Bollywood,” says the disciple of Ustaad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Upset by the ‘industrial production of music’ in Bollywood, Sangari, says, “You’ve to deliver for another person, which is fine. But why do we end up loving people who don’t fit into the box? Someone like Atif Aslam, to be honest, vo bahut zyada sur mein nahi gaate, lekin kyunki unke gaane ke style mein kuch naya hai, logon ko lagta hai ki kashish hai isme.”

Differentiating Sufi music from popular music, he says, “Bollywood is situational, but Sufi music promotes oneness; it affects people on a deeper level...it can bring people together.”