Kashmiri music makes a foray into popular culture

If it was a beautifully-rendered ode to Kashmir one got to hear in Haminastu in 2016’s Fitoor with a rabab prelude, the sounds of the instrument wafted through Haider’s song Bismil as well. And this year, it’s the melodious voice of Vibha Saraf singing the Kashmiri couplet in Raazi’s Dilbaro that has brought along with it the sights and sounds of the Valley. 

Along with Bollywood composers, a number of independent artistes, too, are working towards taking the music/lyrics from Kashmir to various parts of the world. The Kashmiri and Urdu music, poetry and performance band, Alif, won the 8th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival for its music video Lalnawath this year. Making waves on the digital platform with her song Hukus Bukus is Bengaluru-based contemporary Kashmiri folk singer and live performer Aabha Hanjura. Her cover version of the Kashmiri folk song has garnered more than 1.5 million views, with feedback and comments coming in from as far as Europe and the US. Bengaluru-based rock band Parvaaz uses Kashmiri and Urdu poetry for their songs. While the Kashmiri voices are happy with the way things are shaping up musically, they agree that it’s still a long way to go for the music from the Valley to achieve mainstream status.

POPULARISING THE MUSIC

Aabha credits the artistes for taking the music of Kashmir to other parts of the country and the world. “We have been working for years to take the music and poetry of Kashmir to the people and that’s happening now. In fact, when I started my band Sufistication, the audience didn’t seem very enthusiastic to hear it. But now, when I sing Hukus Bukus at my concerts, listeners take the effort of learning the entire song and sing along with me. That’s really heartwarming,” she says. 
A lot of work has also gone into the documentation of Kashmiri music, and that’s one of the major factors that Mohammad Muneem Nazir, poet, singer-songwriter and co-founder of the live act, Alif, attributes to the music’s rising familiarity with the audience. 

“The artistes have started creating a database and started engaging the youth in Kashmiri music. Now, for the right reasons, a lot of people are exploring and experimenting with the genre and sharing it,” Mohammad says, adding that he did not expect his song Lalnawath to achieve such critical acclaim. “In the end, when it comes to music or poetry, it doesn’t matter where it came from, it matters where it takes you,” he says.

BOLLYWOOD’S CONTRIBUTION 

Hindi films have played an important role in popularising the music from Kashmir, but there is still a long way to go. With Raazi being set in the Valley, it gave a chance to music composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy to experiment with the instruments as well as the music. They collaborated with singer Vibha Saraf, who suggested the folk song Khanmaej Koor to them, which ultimately found its way to Dilbaro. Earlier, the trio had composed the extremely popular Bumbro for Mission Kashmir. 

In the days to come, one will get to hear Kashmiri tracks in movies such as Sajid Ali’s Laila Majnu and the Sanjay Dutt-starrer Torbaaz, by Alif. Mohammad tells us, “While we composed the song especially for Laila Majnu, the latter is a number we composed in 2004 which has been picked up for the movie.” With Bollywood being the loudest voice in the country, Aabha feels that the fact that commercial movies are also thinking about including this language is a welcome step. “This is a language which has not been represented in the mainstream and it needs to, so that people start relating to it. Eventually, a big platform like Hindi cinema will help in reaching the language farther but for it to have a bigger impact, artistes independently need to take it to the world stage,” she states.

STILL A LONG WAY

Like we mentioned earlier, there is still a long way to go before one can say that Kashmiri music/lyrics have become mainstream. Music composer and guitarist Ehsaan Noorani, who composed Dilbaro along with Shankar and Loy, feels that while the language is a barrier, “the music is simple, catchy and has the capacity to be popular”. Aabha seconds his opinion. She adds, “I think Kashmiri music is just about scratching the surface. People need to hear it independently, just the way Papon familiarised people with Assamese music or the way Raghu Dixit has done so much for Kannada music. Language should not be a barrier when it comes to enjoying good music as long as it speaks to you. Who understood what Despacito’s lyrics were, but the whole world was grooving to it!”