Jahan-e-Khusrau not in competition with Bollywood: Muzaffar Ali

The annual world sufi festival 'Jahan-e-Khusrau' is back with prominent international artists like Pakistani singer Abida Parveen and Mercan Dede from Montreal joining hands with Indian names to promise a feast to music connoisseurs, while also seeking out new audiences.

Calling it a celebration of mystics, filmmaker-painter Muzaffar Ali who has designed and directed the 12th edition of the three-day festival, which begins here on March 1 said participants of the event are not in competition with Bollywood.

'We are not trying to compete with Bollywood. Bollywood and Sufism are two different things. Jahan-e-Khusrau is the celebration of mystics. It is a platform where artists from various parts of the world come together to promote the unique culture that we share with each other,' says Ali.

'Allah Ke Bande' by Kailash Kher in the film 'Waisa Bhi Hota Hai - II', 'Ru ba ru' by Daler Mehndi in Vishal Bharadwaj's 'Maqbool' film , 'Khwaja Mere Khwaja' in 'Jodha Akbar' as well as 'Piya Haji Ali' in 'Fiza' both composed by AR Rahman, "Maula Mere" composed by Saleem-Sulaiman for Shahrukh starrer 'Chak De!India' are among a few modern Bollywood films that features sufi songs.

For Shafqat Ali Khan, well-known Pakistani sufi singer and the voice behind popular Bollywood numbers "Mitwa" from 'Kabhi Alvida ne Kehna' and 'Yeh Honsla' from 'Dor', Sufism is not just music but a message about humanism, where there is no place for hatred. 'Sufism is not music, but it is a thought. It is a message, were we talk about humanism. Poetry was written by Sufis and when Hazarat Amir Kushrau gave music to it then it become Sufi music. Sufism means loving humans you can't hate anyone in Sufism,' said Shafqat Ali Khan who hails from Lahore.

Singer Sonam Kalra says, 'India needs to realise there is so much more than just Bollywood music. The kind of music being made in Bollywood is good, but we tend to forget that India has a wealth of music.'

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