Conversing with him is almost like listening to his ghazal rendition. So soothing and refreshing, and at times giving out the pain that is sweet as well. It was some 10 years back that Shahabaz Aman broke into the music scene. Since then the ghazal scene in Kerala has been blessed with his inimitable voice. Hundreds of mehfils, six albums and music direction have happened since then. The journey has now reached Ranjith’s ‘Indian Rupee’ which will reach theatres in a couple of days.
‘Indian Rupee’
“I happened to meet Ranjith at Varikkassery Mana, on the last day of the shooting of ‘Chandrotsavam’. He sat through my concert held on the sidelines of V K Sreeraman’s book release. There started our close bonding.” Initially, no songs were planned for ‘Indian Rupee’. Now it has three songs and a repeat version of the song
‘Ee puzhayum’.
Of the lot, the song ‘Pokayayi virunnukaara..’ landed in ‘Indian Rupee’ quite accidentally. Shahabaz had composed and recorded it for Priyanandan’s ‘Ithu Mandarappoovalla’ long back. The movie didn’t happen and with the latter’s permission Ranjith used the melody sung by G Venugopal and Asha Menon
(of ‘Aaradyam parayum...’-fame) in
‘Indian Rupee’.
Though he has done music direction for movies before (songs of ‘Pakal Nakshathrangal’ and one song in ‘Paradeshi’), Shahabaz, indeed, has high hopes about ‘Indian Rupee’. “The songs have my character in them.
I would be extremely happy if my music reaches out to maximum listeners,” says Shahabaz.
And he adds with all innocence, “If people take notice of these songs, I hope they will start looking for my albums. For, I am really very sad that my albums have not reached out to many.”
In search of recognition
Shahabaz earnestly wishes that his albums get noticed. His works are ‘Ashiyana-the new generation Malabari songs’, ‘The Soul of Anamika In Black and White’, ‘Neeyum Nilaavum’, ‘June Mazhayil’, ‘Sahayathrike’, ‘Alakalkku’ and ‘Sajinee’. “The Soul of Anamika in Black and White’ is a work I am very proud of. It was more of a music collage, the first such attempt. The concept and design were different, but it didn’t get its due,” Shahabaz says.
‘Sahayathrike’ had the soulful lyrics of ONV and ‘June Mazhayil’ of Rafeeq Ahamed. In ‘Alakalkku’, Shahabaz had set to tune the poems of Kamala Das, Sachidanandan, Kadammanitta,Vinayachandran, Rosemary, Rafeeq Ahamed, Mohanakrishnan, Anilkumar and Serina. “We had Kamala Das listen to the song through phone. Her immediate reply was, “Beautiful! Nee..evideyaayirunnu mone...? (Son, where were you?). Alas! I could never meet her,”
Shahabaz says.
Flashback
There was this period when Shahabaz was Rafeeq. A native of Kunnummal in Malappuram, who was crazy about football, painting and music, but had to take up religious learning, as per the dictum of the elders. “I missed all the whims, fancies and the romantic facets of adolescence. May be, that pain and yearning have crept into my songs and my voice.” Back then, the main venues for music programmes were marriages. “I still remember that we used to look at the person who brought the mike with wonder. There were people like Abbas and Bappan
(Saidalavi) who used to sing popular songs. I listened to them with surprise, thinking how my neighbours could sing so well...”
In 1989, his life took a new course, thanks to his friend Faisal, who introduced him to the world of drama troupes. “He knew that I write, paint, love football and can sing”. The orchestra - the Ringostur Club - which played for the play, swept him off his feet. It was there that he saw a harmonium for the first time. “It was love at first sight. Gafoor Bhai, who played accordion, placed my hands on them and showed me how to play it, some 2-3 times. He became my guru and wedded me permanently to
the instrument,” Shahabaz
says with glee in his voice.
When he was not an announcer in the drama troupes, Rafeeq was seen with his harmonium. At times he got a chance to sing. “Though I moved around with the troupe, I never shared my musical aspirations with anyone.” Also, he made art works for the firms runs by his family (HB Arts, Chitra Arts and Chamayam Arts). From the number plates of vehicles to portraits of actors, they did it all. He was also a part of Nithya Artist Commune, led by artist Dayanand.
Later he got involved with Reshmi Film Society, through Madhu Janardanan. He got exposed to world classics and when that merged with his talent in painting, the result was his first and only painting exhibition, ‘The Soul of Anamika in Black and White’ held at Kozhikode Art Gallery in 1999. (Shahabaz had met Anamika one fine day and love happened. They got married after 10 years and now has a four year old son - Alan Rumi).
The birth of Shahabaz Aman
Shahabaz soon forayed into ganamela troupes. In fact, he was much sought after to sing Hariharan’s songs and remember troupes like Pavizham, Eastern Orchestra and Base Melody Tracks in this context. That was also the time when ghazal concerts were getting popular. His friends felt it was high time he held a concert. It was for the big launch in 2000 that he became Shahabaz Aman. “Rafeeq had got shortened to become Rafi. And when there is a music legend of the same name, I thought it better to change the name as I didn’t want it look like a publicity stunt.”
Why Shahabaz Aman, meaning ‘most peaceful’? “We had decided to give that name to my brother’s son, when he had one. But, it so happened that my brother happened to meet a stranger, who predicted that he would have a son after marriage and he should be named Haroon Rasheed. He did have a son and was named Haroon. Thus, there were no takers for Shahabaz Aman. So, I took it myself!,” he says with a laugh.
His concerns
“The ghazal concerts are much in demand in the Middle East. Here, it has been taken over by mega shows, but you get invitations to sing at weddings. But, while public concerts are democratic, these concerts are a bit less so.
Because there you have
to sing as per the demand of the guests, which I am not
very comfortable with.”
He is little worried that he has sung in just a few films- ‘Chandupottu’ (‘Chandukodanjoru..’), ‘Chocoloate’ (‘Isttamalle...’), ‘Oruvan’ (‘Kuyilukale...’) and ‘Pakal Nakshthrangal’ (‘Anuragamaayi...’). “I am a singer who does no PR work.” But he has had his share of bad luck as well. There are a few songs which I recorded. But when those movies came out, I found other singers crooning the same.”
And he echoes his concern about reality shows as well. “I am not against any shows, but I am unhappy with how these shows are conceived. A contestant is made to sing a song exactly like the original. A talent is judged on the base of that. How can you find new talents based on that format?”
Talking about Malayalam ghazals, Shahabaz calls for an open discussion attended by musicians and poets to arrive at a consensus on the characteristics of the genre. “I think a five-day camp would be able to evolve a format for
Malayalam ghazals.”
Future projects
‘Balyakala Sakhi’, ‘Shutter’ and Ranjan Pramod’s new film. He is excited about ‘KEF 1126’, a Malayalam Sufi rock album. “Something like blues! It is named after the number of the jeep by which we used to travel for the football matches.”