Delhi is set to get drenched in the soul of Sufi music. The national capital is hosting its first-ever concert, The Sufi Route on November 18 this year at the Qutub Minar. A host of prolific Sufi artistes such as AR Rahman, Nooran sisters, Fouzia, Kamna Prasad, Mukhtiar Ali, Hans Raj Hans, Konya Turkish Music Ensemble, Dhruv Sangari and Dervish dancers will perform together for the first time under one roof.
The Sufi Route, a concert for peace with a global flavour, will be a platform that also will bring together a combination of Sufi music, folk and poetry. It will feature 160 film tracks.
The event will blend together the two ancient and culturally rich roots of Sufi music – Turkish Tasawuf and Indian Sufism.
The event will be culminated by two time Grammy and Academy award musician AR Rahman who will perform the finale. While talking about his performance at The Sufi Route, Rahman said, “My performance will have all the Sufi songs such like Khwaja Mere Khwaja. We are also doing some new songs. There won’t be Jai Ho, Muqabla, Tere Bina or Tu Hi Re. There will be qawalis and some new stuff. We are trying to bring an interesting experience for you.”
Sufi music is considered as an expression of peace, freedom and diversity. Rahman hopes that through the concert, people get to witness a magnificent aura.
“The first qawali that I heard was from my pir saab was in 1988 before he passed away. When he used to sing Khwaja, there would be butterflies on his head and this is something that subtly represents angels. The aura used to be different and these things can only be felt and are unexplainable. My mom and I felt that. And I hope that through this concert, people get to experience the same aura that we felt,” he said.
The Sufi Route has been conceptualised and put together by Shital Bhatia of Friday Flimworks, Gagan Takyar of INvision Entertainment and Namrata Singh of Invloed Matrix.
While highlighting about the agenda of the concert, Gagan Takyar, co-owner and event organiser of INvision Entertainment said, “The idea of The Sufi Route came about because this genre of music deserves its share of limelight. Not many music lovers have heard the undiluted rhythms of Sufism that are truly soul-stirring. We are honoured and excited to bring about this congregation of amazing artists. It is a dream in the making.”
