Our visas are stamped without fuss: Raga Boyz

They belong to one of the most distinguished classical music gharanas, the Patiala Gharana which has trained some of the biggest legends of classical music. And now the trio of brothers Nayab Ali Khan, Inam Ali Khan and Wali Hmaid Ali Khan who are the ninth generation of the Pataiala gharana have left their home in Pakistan to make roadways into Bollywood, Indian music and global sounds.Inam speaks on behalf of his brothers.
Firstly the three of you are different kinds of musicians. How do you come together as band?
Yes, we brothers are very different kinds of singers. Inam is a 19-year old pure hardcore classical singer. Nayab sings semi-classical. They are carrying the family legacy forward while I am into a more global sound. You can call me the rockstar of the group (laughs). But all three of us have been trained by our father Ustad Hamid Ali Khan. We were given the same training. And when we are on stage we complement one another. We need one another to feel complete. Other bands have a problem because the individual members crave their own fan following. But we three brothers don’t wish to be known as individuals. But let me tell you, we quarrel a lot. We have a fan-following as a collective band.
There’s a lot of stress between India and Pakistan. How does it affect your frequent visits to India?
We don’t have to worry about whether we’ll board that flight to India or not.Out visas are stamped without fuss because our forefathers have won 2 Bharat Ratna awards and 5 Padma Bhushans. And this stress that you mention is caused by some Pakistani entertainers. There was the foreign-exchange issue with Ustad Rahet Fateh Ali Khan. There are mistakes made by Pakistani artistes and their managers. For that we all have to suffer. But like I said we’ve faced no problems. Our father is considered a living legend of music in Pakistan.So we are not treated as musical upstarts.
Do you feel welcome in India?
Whenever we come here we feel at home. There isn’t much difference between Pakistan and India. And the skills as musicians that we use there we use here also. India or Pakistan, the Patiala Gharana is what we are identified by. Our forefathers are buried in this country. When we come to sing on this land we feel we’re coming home. As for what the politicians do, the common man in India and Pakistan has nothing to do with it. I wish the visa problems between the two countries are solved , so there can be more mutual exchange visits between the two countries.
Are you now a frequent performer in India?
In February, we performed for the first time in Mumbai. This and a concert we staged in Houston in 2007 were the scariest live show for us, even scarier than when we performed at the Radio City Hall in NY City. We had never seen so many thousands of people together. Yeah, we were nervous. We’ve also performed in Chandigarh, Amritsar and Patiala. We performed in 12 cities in China. Can you imagine, Pakistani Raga-Rock in China. It was in all-Chinese crowd. They seemed to be having fun.We never felt the language of the music to be so universal.
You’ve just embarked on your Bollywood career?
Yes with a song Man Qunto Maula in the film Maximum. We recorded the song last month. When Sonu Sood heard the song he asked us for it. We were very sure that whenever we enter Bollywood it would be not because the entertainment industry in Pakistan is in the doldrums but because we like what we’re offered. Bollywood has taken over all the music channels in Pakistan. Every Pakistani artiste is so frustrated by the lack of opportunities that he craves to come to India for better prospects. We brothers were sure we’d come to Bollywood only when we were sure of what has been offered.
What do you feel about your colleagues from Pakistan in Mumbai, like Ali Zafar?
Ali is a very good singer. We had no clue he was an actor. We saw him act only when we came to India. He was recognized as an actor after Mere Brother Ki Dulhan.
What do you think of some of your contemporaries? Our father has taught us to appreciate good music from any part of the world. We can’t bear to hear mediocre musicians. Unfortunately we have those on both sides of the border. They’ve no talent. But they’re successful. I don’t know how! When they go live their weaknesses are on full display.
Whom are you referring to?
Both Indian and Pakistan artistes.
Atif Aslam?
(pauses) The youth run after him. That is a genre of singing that the young like. Here there’s Himesh Reshammiya. He is not a singer. But a good music director. His singing attracted youngsters initially. We can’t argue with success. But ask Lataji and the other musical legends about these successes of today. They’ll tell you they can’t follow what they’re singing. Even we three brothers have to sometimes compromise and sing what we don’t want to. In Pakistan, I had to sing a song for a television series. We couldn’t look in the producers’ eyes after singing it.
What do the Ragaboyz hope to achieve?
Our aim is to create a quality of music that has a future. We want to use the classical traditional and folk music of India and Pakistan. When we fuse classical elements into Rock and R & B we get the younger audiences excited. We want to make classical music accessible to youngsters without resorting to gimmicks such as contorting our faces while singing. You know, in our family we are trained in front of the mirror not to contort our faces while singing. Seene mein zor lagao mooh pe zor lagaane ki kya zaroorat hai? We feel the less trained a singer is, the more he resorts to external props and contortions. Sadly we don’t have too many young singers who are trained in classical music. And we can’t blame them entirely. The older generations have sometimes refused to pass on their legacy, or else the classical purists have insisted on keeping their style too complicated. No wonder we have overnight singing stars today.
Do you brothers aspire to act?
We have received acting offers. I’ve done television theatre and modeling in Pakistan. I got an acting offer from the producer of Page 3 three years ago. But our focus is music. Until we are sure that we’ve achieved what we set out as musicians we won’t move to acting. So many progenies of great singers achieved nothing. After Mehdi Haasan saab, his legacy is over. That’s a frightening dead end. We aren’t saying we have it in us to carry our distinguished family’s name forward. But at least we won’t spoil our family’s name. That we guarantee. It’s like a name that’s written with a pencil. We don’t want to sit with an eraser and do away with that name. It’s up to us whether we want to hold the pencil or the eraser in our hands.