MUMBAI: Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, sons of sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, had been missing from the classical music scenario for a while. The reason – the duo were to debut in a J P Dutta Hindi film alongside models Tupur and Tapur Chatterjee.

Ironically, the film has been put on hold for financial reasons, and the duo is back to performing, and resuming their work on an album and a book on classical musicians 

"I was asked not to take any concerts while we were shooting, which I did because I wanted to give my hundred per cent to the film - unfortunately, the period of shooting just kept getting extended and there were lot of concerts and projects that I had put on hold, so I just wanted to resume work on that before it became a bottleneck," reasons Ayaan Ali, the younger of the siblings.

The film seems to be at a grinding halt - as it's still unknown who is doing the music, despite having the two musicians on board. "We were being asked for it, but I don't know who is doing the music for the film," says Ayaan. The duo has been working on the film for the last one year, but still there is a lot to be worked on. "A lot of energy and effort has gone into the film and I hope people will get to watch this film," he adds 

Little has been known about the characters the two would be playing the film. Ayaan is not ready to give out anything more, but he does reveal that, "There is a lot of horse riding involved in the film - and I am not playing a musician - that would have been a bit too predictable,... he jokes.

Amaan and Ayaan will also be releasing two albums (individually) with their father Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, "One is a practical album with traditional ragas and then we are also working on a experimental album which will be more mainstream as we would like the newer audience to connect to the sarod," says Ayaan.

Writing their third…

In addition to their performances and reworking on held up projects, in the pipeline is their third book expected to be out by December 2009. The book features 50 most acclaimed classical artists. "We haven't interviewed any musicians for this book – it's our own perspective about what we feel about some of the best musicians and also talks about our personal rapport with at least the artistes with whom we have met." The duo also hopes the book will incite younger audience towards classical music. Their first two books were 'World of Amjad Ali Khan' (1995) and 'Abba- God's Greatest gift to us' (2002)

Ayaan will be celebrating his birthday by giving a performance. On 5 September, both Ayaan and Amaan will perform at the Kings Place in London. It's the first time I would be performing there,... says Ayaan, I think it is a great way to start a new year for yourself and do something what you love doing,... he says before signing off.