KARACHI: The late Ustad Rais Khan’s art of sitar playing was distinctly unique because he used to put all his heart and soul into it.

He would be totally immersed in his performance, especially while playing live. His son Suhel Rais Khan, who like his father plays sitar and sings as well, lives in India. When it was announced that Tehzeeb Foundation was organising his concert with the collaboration of, and at, the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) on Thursday evening, one expected a full house. And it was full.

Suhel addressing the audience said he’s going to use prerecorded tracks along with live music during his stay on stage. While it did keep the song limit to a likeable time, it took away some of the fun — not all of it — that one gets by virtue of improvisation of a singer. It made his singing, on occasion, seem as if he was lip-synching. Of course, he wasn’t. His singing was very good.

The artist started off by presenting a song Gori karat singhaar made famous by Bilqees Khanum. From the get-go, it was obvious that the audience was going to see and hear a tribute to classical numbers in a contemporary, if not modern, way. It was appreciated by the guests. He told them that the next few songs contained the sitar pieces originally played by his illustrious father. The series began with Tumhein yaad karte karte originally sung by Lata Mangeshkar and composed by Shankar-Jaikishan, followed by a bhajan Dayya re dayya (set to music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal), music director Naushad’s Dhoondo dhoondo re sajna and the 2005 hit Piyu bole sung by Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal for the film Parineeta. How could Suhel have ignored Mohammad Rafi? So he also sang the well-known and well-liked Madhuban mein Radhikha.

Then Suhel turned to a Pakistani song: Chithi zara sayyan ji ke naam by the inimitable Noor Jehan. He did do justice to the playful beat and catchy rhythm of the track, but, given his background, his pronunciation left a bit to be desired (zara was pronounced jara).

The artist was intelligent enough to know that his ‘different’ presentation might raise a few eyebrows, therefore before singing Begum Akhtar’s Hamri atarya pe, he addressed a discerning member in the hall telling him that he might not like it. The reception of the song suggested it was liked.

Earlier, CEO of Napa Junaid Zuberi delivered a short speech and Sharif Awan of Tehzeeb Foundation introduced the artists to the attendees. In between, a video focusing on Suhel Rais Khan with comments by the likes of Ustad Rashid Khan, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Hariharan, Anup Jalota, among others, was screened.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2025