A divine connection

For him, sufi songs are a meditative therapy which takes its listeners’ on soul searching journey. Sufi stalwart Hans Raj Hans, a Padma Shri awardee for dedicating his life to sufism, has come a long way and has carved a place for himself in Bollywood.

“I was born in a small village, a mere 7 km away from Jalandhar, yet people found it difficult to reach us. To move from there and make a mark in Bollywood was tough and a slow process. It required a lot of perseverance and hard work. But the work you do from heart gets its due,” Hans says philosophically.

He is referred to as one of the musical treasures of India and is famous abroad since he has sung for movies like Bend It Like Beckham, Monsoon Wedding and Partition 1947. Dedicating 34 years of his life to sufism and pop, Hans has hits like Nit Khair Manga, Tere Ishq Nachaya, Heer, Mere Sahiba, Aaja Ve Mahi, Allah Hoo, Ghungat Chuk, Dama Dam Mast and many more to his hits. He feels that today’s generation has more opportunities and platforms to hone their talent.

“Today’s generation is very lucky to have so many platforms to showcase their talent and reach out to the masses. During my time, there were no reality shows and few had TVs at home. I started singing at a very young age and used to participate in singing competitions. There were only one or two music companies to record songs with HMV being the most popular. If you managed to cut Long Playing record with HMV, you were considered a great musician and a creative artist. I struggled a lot and it took time to get recognised. But today, singers get instant fame as it has become easy to make videos, be a producer of your album and launch it online,” Hans says.

It was radio that helped Hans reach the masses and won many hearts. “I am God-gifted. I am also blessed to have had amazing gurus who nurtured my talent. Sufi singers don’t think about name or fame. For me, singing is my first love and love is worship. It is a power that connects you with God. When we get the same love from our fans, it is our true wealth and blessing,” Hans says and believes that it is his strengths that brought him closer to his dream.

“I studied sufism and know its foundation. That brought confidence in me which is an important skill to have for a singer. My passion and love for sufi music that made me work very hard,” Hans shares and says that working with Nusret Fateh Ali Khan and AR Rahman was an amazing experience. “Both are saintly and humble. When I was working with Rahman in Nayak, I saw that he would wake up late at night and record his song after 1 am,” Hans recalls.

As a very down to earth singer himself, Hans, performed at The Sufi Route in Delhi and likes to keep things very traditional. “I like to stay true and original to the traditional sufi singing. I follow the ageold practice of reciting poetry through music compositions. Innovation and experimentation are usually done by the today’s youth,” Hans says.