Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's nephews take his legacy forward

(From left) Muazzam and Rizwan

While most Indian music aficionados consider Rahat Fateh Ali Khan as legendary Pakistani Sufi singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's only successor, his nephews Rizwan and Muazzam are also making a mark across the world. The Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali Group, which comprises the brothers (lead singers), five secondary vocalists, two harmonium players and a tabla player, performed at the recently concluded Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

To take their family's five-century-old legacy forward and shoulder the responsibility of being Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's nephews is no mean feat for the musician duo. "Nusrat saab's music was great. The expectations motivate us to work hard and keep up with his legacy," says Muazzam, as he talks about their greatest learning from their uncle-guru, Khan. "The fact that we can perform in front of a huge audience and impress them with our recitals is because of him. His teachings have helped us master the art of ghazals and qawwalis. Besides being an amazing artist, he was also an amazing teacher and person. Whatever we are today is because of his teachings."

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Though they perform different genres, their specialisation lies in qawwali and ghazals. "We also perform spiritual and contemporary music, and collaborate with musicians from across the world, but qawwalis and ghazals are our first love," says Rizwan.

While Rahat has explored Hindi film music and enjoys a huge fan base in India, the duo is also keen to do more work here. "We enjoyed visiting India a couple of years ago for a multi-city tour. We performed in seven cities, including Mumbai. It was an enriching experience as the audience in every city was warm," says Rizwan, adding that the duo counts Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ranjit Barot, Sivamani and L Subramaniyam among their favourite Indian musicians.

Expressing their wish to venture into Hindi film music, Muazzam says that they would love to collaborate with Indian composers. "Since Bollywood welcomes budding artistes warmly and gives them opportunities, we want to explore Hindi film music soon. In fact, Pritam da reached out to us and expressed an interest in getting us on board for his films. We are looking forward to working with him," he says.

Meanwhile, they are currently exploring the indie music space in India and working on an independent track with an Indian artist - they won't tell us who. "We are also in talks with a few music labels in India," says Muazzam.

Also Read: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan Backs Out Of Recording Fearing Pakistan Backlash

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates