Filmi qawwali (. , ) is a form of

qawwali Qawwali is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing originating in the Indian subcontinent. Originally performed at Sufi shrines throughout the Indian subcontinent, it is famous throughout Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and has ...

music found in the

Lollywood Lollywood is Pakistan's film industry, which has served as the base for both Urdu- and Punjabi-language film production. Lahore has been the center of Pakistani cinema since independence in 1947. However, with the Urdu film hub largel ...

Dhallywood The Cinema of Bangladesh, locally known as Bangla cinema, is a diverse and vibrant entity, consisting of films produced across various regions in Bangladesh, each contributing its unique linguistic and cultural perspective. Beyond the dominan ...

, Tollywood, and

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

film industries. It represents a distinct subgenre of

film music A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

, although it usually bears little resemblance to traditional qawwali, which is the devotional music of the

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

s. One example of filmi qawwali is the song Pardah Hai Pardah sung by

Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and range of voice ...

, and composed by

Laxmikant–Pyarelal Laxmikant–Pyarelal were an Indian composer duo, consisting of Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar (1937–1998) and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (born 1940). In their career span stretching from 1963 to 1998, they composed music for about 750 movies, wo ...

in Indian film

Amar Akbar Anthony ''Amar Akbar Anthony'' is a 1977 Indian Hindi-language masala film directed and produced by Manmohan Desai and written by Kader Khan. Released in India on 27 May 1977, the film stars an ensemble cast of Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Amitabh Bac ...

(1977). Another example of filmi qawwali is the song "Qurbani Qurbani Qurbani" rendered by

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born Abhas Kumar Ganguly; ; 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer, musician and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of modern India ...

, Anwar and Aziz Nazan and composed by Kalyanji-Anandji for the Indian film Qurbani(1980). Within the subgenre of filmi qawwali, there exists a form of qawwali that is infused with modern and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

instruments, usually with

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

beats, called ''techno-qawwali''. An example of techno-qawwali is Kajra Re, a filmi song composed by

Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy () is an Indian musical trio consisting of Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa. They have composed music for over 50 soundtracks across five languages: Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi and English. Amongst ...

. A newer variation of the techno-qawwali based on the more dance oriented tracks is known as the "club qawwali". More tracks of this nature are being recorded and released.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997), also known by his initials NFAK, was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. Khan was primarily a singer of qawwali, a form of Sufi devot ...

and

A.R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...

have composed filmi qawwalis in the style of traditional qawwali. Examples include Arziyan (''

Delhi 6 ''Delhi-6'' is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Rakesh Omprakash Mehra. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan as an NRI who arrives in India with his ailing grandmother (played by Waheeda Rehman) and begins discovering his roots ...

''), Khwaja Mere Khwaja (''

Jodhaa Akbar ''Jodhaa Akbar'' is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language historical drama film directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. It stars Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the titular roles. Set in the 16th century, the film shows the fictional life and lo ...

'') and Kun Faya Kun ('' Rockstar''). Examples in the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Tollywood cinema include the song Remix Qawwali ('' Bindaas'') sung by

Neha Kakkar Neha Kakkar Singh (; née Kakkar; born 6 June 1988) is an Indian singer. She is the younger sister of playback singers Tony Kakkar and Sonu Kakkar. She began performing at a very early age at religious events. In 2005, she participated in the ...

and

Nakash Aziz Nakash Aziz (born 24 February 1985), also known as Nakash, is an Indian composer and singer. He has worked as an assistant to composer A. R. Rahman on films such as ''Highway (2014 Hindi film), Highway'', ''Raanjhanaa'', ''Rockstar (2011 film) ...

. In addition to this, the

cinema also includes qawwalis such as the song Tikatuli ('' Dhaka Attack'') sung by Motin Chowdhury.

Notable artists

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

One of

's famous Qawwali songs, "Tere Bin Nahin Lagda" ("I am restless without you"), appeared on two of his 1996 albums, ''Sorrows Vol. 69'' and ''Sangam'' (as "Tere Bin Nahin Lagda Dil"), the latter a collaborative album with Indian lyricist

Javed Akhtar Javed Akhtar (born 1945) is an Indian screenwriter, lyricist and poet. Known for his work in Hindi cinema, he has won five National Film Awards, and received the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2007, two of India's highest civili ...

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

recorded a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

called "Tere Bin Nahin Jeena" for '' Kachche Dhaage'' Composed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the ''Kachche Dhaage'' soundtrack album sold 3million units in India. British-Indian producer

Bally Sagoo Baljit Singh "Bally" Sagoo ( Punjabi: ਬਲਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਸੱਗੂ,) is a British-Indian record producer and DJ. Born in Delhi, India, Sagoo was raised in Birmingham, England. He entered the recording and entertainment industries ...

released a remix of "Tere Bin Nahin Lagda", which was later featured in the 2002 British film ''

Bend It Like Beckham ''Bend It Like Beckham'' is a 2002 Sports film, sports comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha from a screenplay by Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Guljit Bindra. The film stars Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anu ...

'', starring

Parminder Nagra Parminder Kaur Nagra (born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. She is known for portraying Jess Bhamra in the film ''Bend It Like Beckham'' (2002) and Dr. Neela Rasgotra in the NBC medical drama '' ER'' (2003–2009). Her other television r ...

and

Keira Knightley Keira Christina Knightley ( ; born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films and Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters, particularly Historical drama, period dramas, she has received List of awards and no ...

. A cover version called "Tere Bin" was recorded by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan with

Asees Kaur Asees Kaur (born 26 September 1988) is an Indian singer. She has participated in various singing reality shows including ''Indian Idol'' and'' Awaz Punjab Di''. In 2021, her song "Raatan Lambiyan" from '' Shershaah'', with Tanishk Bagchi, becam ...

for the 2018 Bollywood film ''

Simmba ''Simmba'' is a List of Bollywood films of 2018, 2018 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Rohit Shetty and produced by Rohit Shetty Picturez, Reliance Entertainment and Dharma Productions. The third installment of Shetty's Cop ...

'' Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's music had a big impact on

Bollywood music Hindi film songs, more formally known as Hindi Geet or Filmi songs and informally known as Bollywood music, are songs featured in Hindi films. Derived from the song-and-dance routines common in Indian films, Bollywood songs, along with da ...

, inspiring numerous Indian musicians working in

, especially during the 1990s. For example, he inspired

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

and

, both of whom he collaborated with. However, there were many instances of Indian

music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

s plagiarising Khan's music to produce hit

filmi Filmi () music soundtracks are music produced for India's mainstream motion picture industry and written and performed for Cinema of India, Indian cinema. In cinema, List of Indian film music directors, music directors make up the main body of c ...

songs.

Viju Shah Vijay Shah (born 5 June 1959), popularly known as Viju Shah, is an Indian composer in the Hindi film industry. He is the son of Kalyanji Virji Shah, one-half of the composer duo Kalyanji–Anandji. Shah has composed soundtracks for over 20 Hi ...

's hit song "Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast" in ''

Mohra ''Mohra'' () is a 1994 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film co-written, edited and directed by Rajiv Rai and produced by his father Gulshan Rai. It stars Naseeruddin Shah, Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Poonam Jhawer, Ra ...

'' (1994) was plagiarised from Khan's popular Qawwali song "

Dam Mast Qalandar ''Dama Dam Mast Qalandar'' () is a spiritual Sufi qawwali written in the honour of the most revered Sufi saint of Sindh, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (1177–1274) of Sehwan Sharif. The origins of the poem is unknown, since no recordings or written docu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Filmi qawwali Filmi Pakistani styles of music Bangladeshi styles of music Indian styles of music Hindi cinema Lollywood

Notable artists

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

See also

References