MEET THE PEOPLE
Bhai Moeen
Rababi, Lahore
Bhai Moeen is a rababi of the Manawie clan, based near Data Darbar, Lahore. He was trained in the art of shabad kirtan by his father, Bhai Ghulam Muhammad Chand, who was one of the last rababis in Pakistan to have been brought up in pre-Partition Amritsar. His grandfather Bhai Sundar Gyani was the head musician at a Sikh shrine in Gurusar Satlani, near Amritsar, and his father’s younger cousin, the legendary Bhai Chand (aka Chiragh Din), was the last rababi to perform at the Golden Temple prior to Partition.
Pt. Tilak Ram
Resident of Pasianwala Chowk, Amritsar
Born in 1922, Pt. Tilak Ram is a lifelong resident of Pasianwala Chowk, the neighbourhood in which the rababis of Amritsar resided prior to Partition. Living just around the corner from the ‘Rababiwali Gali‘ i.e., the alley of the rababis, he witnessed an era in which religious diversity was normal in Amritsar, when the eminent rababis commanded great reputations among the locals for their musical prowess.
Ustad Badr-uz-Zaman
Musician & Author, Lahore
Ustad Badr-uz-Zaman (1940-2023) was a scholar and author as well as practicing musician who, in his youth, studied from the rababis (Bhai Nasira & Bhai Faiz Ali) who had recently migrated to Lahore from Amritsar after Partition. GOing on to study from Ustad Chhote Ghulam Ali Khan, he became a renowned vocalist and leading representative of the Kasur gharana of Punjab. His many books offer unparalleled insights into the music traditions of North India and the Punjab.
Kishan Singh Sian
Luthier, Nawanshahr
Sardar Kishan Singh Sian (1943-2020) was a luthier of Nawanshahr, Punjab, who specialised in the making of sarangis. He was a young child at the time of Partition and inherited the sentiment of regret, held by many elders, over the events of 1947. He was a witness to the decline in music that went hand-in-hand with the westward migration of the regions’ best musicians.
Ustad Murli Manohar
Musician, Amritsar
Ustad Murli Manohar is a Tabla maestro of Amritsar who represents a rare school of percussion that was once represented by the rababis of Amritsar. Through his father and teacher Ustad Bhajan Lal, he is connected to the lineage of Bhai Rakha, one of the famed rababi percussionists of the Golden Temple of the early twentieth century. He teaches music at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
Ustad Kulwinder Singh
Musician, Jalandhar
Ustad Kulwinder Singh, disciple of the legendary Tabla maestro Ustad Allah Rakha, is a musician and educator who works tirelessly to propagate Hindustani classical music across East Punjab. He offers free education to young children in often poor and rural environments in order not only to help them but raise the standard of the arts in the region.
Ustad Bhai Tahir Iqbal
Rababi, Lahore
Ustad Bhai Tahir Iqbal, resident of Model Town, Lahore, is the son of Master Feroz, one of the many rababis who migrated to Lahore at the time of Parition. Hailing from the Gaile clan of rababis, his ancestor Bhai Babak is remembered in Sikh history for his heroic rescuing of the daughter of the sixth Sikh guru, Guru Hargobind Sahib, after she was captured in a skirmish with a Mughal general. He is one of the prominent rababis working to keep the tradition of his ancestors alive in Lahore today, despite the lack of patronage and opportunity to do so.
Pola Mehar
Rababi, Lahore
Pola Mehar is a rababi of Katri Bawa, a neighbourhood of Lahore in which most rababis settled upon migrating from East Punjab around the time of Partition. He belongs to the Khadurie clan of rababis, whose ancestors Bhai Satta and Balwand famously served in the court of the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan. As one of the elder residents of the neighbourhood, he was familiar with some of the rababi lore passed down over the generations by his ancestors.
Ustad Mazhar Shaggan
Rababi, Lahore
Ustad Mazhar Shaggan belongs to the Gaile clan of rababis. His grandfather Bhai Lal Muhammad was one of Amritsar’s most renowned musicians of the early twentieth century, and father Ustad Ghulam Hassan Shaggan was one of Pakistans most renowned Hindustani vocalists. Today, he is one of the few rababis to keep the tradition of playing the rabab alive. His beautiful music features in the opening scene of our film.
Bhai Ijaz Ali
Rababi, Lahore
Bhai Ijaz Ali is a Tabla player who is related to the late Bhai Ghulam Muhammad Chand, the great rababi from whom he and his son inherited the art of shabad kirtan. Along with his son Mohsin he performs with both qawwali (Sufi sacred music) and shabad kirtan.
Muslim Shaggan
Rababi, Lahore
Muslim Shaggan, son of Ustad Mazhar Shaggan, is one of Pakistan’s leading classical vocalists of his generation. He inherited the art of Hindustani vocal music from his grandfather, the great Ustad Ghulam Hassan Shaggan. As well as Hindustani classical music, he is conscious to keep alive the tradition and values of shabad kirtan, as passed down to him by his elders.
Mohsin
Rababi, Lahore
Mohsin has been trained in shabad kirtan by the late Bhai Ghulam Muhammad Chand, one of the last rababis to have been trained in the art of shabad kirtan prior to Partition. He performs both shabad kirtan and qawwali (Sufi sacred music) with his father Bhai Ijaz Ali and his uncle Bhai Moeen.
Aqeel Tahir
Rababi, Lahore
Aqeel Tahir is the son of Ustad Bhai Tahir Iqbal. He is one of the few rababis of his generation who is keen to live up to the legacy of his ancestors by dedicating some of his energies to shabad kirtan performance. He teaches music along with his father at their music academy in Model Town, Lahore.
Abida Bibi
Rababan, Lahore
Abida Bibi is the daughter of Hamid Ali Bela (1925-2001), a famous rababi vocalist of the Khadurie clan who was born in Amritsar and was raised singing shabad kirtan but then subsequently earnt much acclaim in Pakistan as a singer of Sufi music. She lives in Katri Bawa, the neighbourhood of the rababis in old Lahore, and remembers much of what her elders told in relation to their time in Amritsar.