Soaking In The Spiritual Ecstasy! How Bollywood Contributed In Bringing Sufi To The Masses

¡°Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.¡±

- Rumi

This is one quote that has been used in plenty. There are times when we often get moved and influenced by words of famous Sufi saints and writers. In simple language Sufi means pure and Sufi music is often defined as soulful music. Not a popular or mainstream music genre, the Sufi Qawwali influence in Bollywood had been simmering for the longest time until it took over completely and became a fad.

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To put things into perspective, if you go by the bookish definition of Sufism - ¡°Sufism is a way of life in which a deeper identity is discovered and lived. This deeper identity, beyond the already known personality, is in harmony with all that exists. This deeper identity, or essential self, has abilities of awareness, action, creativity and love that are far beyond the abilities of the superficial personality,¡± according to sufism.org.

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In context to cinema, the modern Sufi music does take the traditional intricacies into consideration before presenting it to the masses. It hangs tight on the fine line between completely commercializing it and still maintaining the spiritual ecstasy that Sufi music promises.

With popular names like Wadali Brothers, Abida Parveen, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Rabbi Shergill to name a few, representing this soulful genre, Sufi music has tremendously flourished over the years.

Personally, my first tryst with Sufi music was with retro hit Humein Toh Loot Liya Milke Husn Walon Ne. Played at every family function, I would often wonder what is it about this song that puts elders into a peaceful trance and makes them groove like nobody¡¯s watching. Their ethereal smiles started drawing me towards this genre.

Cut to new-age Bollywood films that actively took the onus of including soul-touching and spiritually moving music. If you recall, singer Kailash Kher stood out with his unique voice and his Allah Ke Bande track. This was still considered to have a very niche audience. The movie that featured this song didn¡¯t make a lot of noise but the song got rave reviews. He again hit the right nail in the head with Ya Rabba in Salaam-e-Ishq. This song was a perfect blend of pain and longing for love. At the same time he also mesmerized his fans with his song Teri Deewani.

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In the early 2000s, songs like Ya Ali from Gangster and Chaand Sifarish from Fanaa, started building up interest in many music lovers. The 2000s was a boom phase for Sufi and Qawwali genre where many filmmakers made it a practice to add gravitas to their movies¡¯ OST by including soulful numbers.

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Post 2005, there was a shower of such songs as this trend completely took over the commercial scene. Right from song Maula Mere Maula from Anwar (which obviously became more popular than the movie), Hrithik Roshan twirling in a trance on the song Khwaja Mere Khwaja from Jodha Akbar to SRK¡¯s emotional turmoil featured in the song Maula Mere Lele Meri Jaan in Chak De India!, there was a heavy surge in Sufi music.

People preferred swaying to these numbers than heart-thumping party songs.

Eventually, this trend almost started to fizzle out when AR Rahman completely changed the game with the song Kun Faya Kun in 2011. Imtiaz Ali¡¯s film Rockstar was laden with such amazing songs that each one of them was precious but it was this number that spoke to everyone¡¯s soul.

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They say Sufi music has a relaxing and meditative effect on the mind. The melody of the instruments and spiritual lyrics has the power to melt even the coldest of hearts. Kun Faya Kun was the perfect example of just that. Shot within the gilded walls of Delhi¡¯s Nizamuddin Dargah, this song is an honest praise to the almighty. It didn¡¯t stop here, we were then presented with many such soulful tracks including Mere Rashke Qamar from 2017 film Baadshaho and Bhar Do Jholi from 2015¡¯s Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

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While many are misguided about the facts, in no way does Sufi music advocate any particular religion or God. It aims at only promoting harmony and love among all religions without any boundaries and professes pure love for the creator, the supreme power.

The love for Sufi music isn¡¯t just limited to the home ground, the neighbouring and other middle-eastern countries, legendary singer of the West, Bob Dylan was also very influenced by this genre. In an interview with the Rolling Stone magazine, he had once said that he drew inspiration from Sufism. He even had a favourite Egyptian Sufi singer named Om Kalsoum.

Instead of opting the cultural divide route, it¡¯s vital we recognise this genre of music as something that is only about love for one another and divine love for our creator - a form of peace offering and a symbol of love passed on from generation to generation.