MUMBAI: A prominent name not only in Pakistan, but also across India, Shafqat Amanat Ali has been associated with a band, and has gone at it alone. Having crooned award winning tracks in Bollywood like ‘Tere Naina’ from the film ‘My Name Is Khan’, Ali used to be an active part of the Sufi band Fuzön until 2006. After quitting the band, Ali concentrated more on his singles, and released songs like ‘Tabeer’ and ‘Kyun Dooriyan’.

According to Ali, although the Pakistani film music industry is thriving, band culture seems to be dying away. “We have new films and songs which come up almost every day. We also have new talented singers cropping up all over the place. However, the band culture in Pakistan is practically fading away. There are a few bands that are good, and are always releasing their music. But people prefer listening to film songs,” he said.

In March this year, Ali launched his third solo album titled ‘Muh Dikhai’ under Times Music. The album, which came five years after his last release ‘Kyun Dooriyaan’, took him almost five years to complete and initially had 16 songs. “Someone from my team told me to reduce the number of songs as a few of them were not very strong. With a heavy heart I had to do so. The mastering of the nine tracks, took me around four to five months,” he said of the album.

‘Muh Dikhai’ also has a few Punjabi numbers. Ali, on 24 July, released the music video for the track, ‘Dil Dharhaknay Ka Sabab’, which features famed Bollywood actor- Naseeruddin Shah. The track is a ghazal, written by an Urdu poet, Nasir Kazmi. Speaking about the track, the 50 year-old said that the lyrics have always been close to his heart, and that the original composition was recreated using simple musical instruments like the piano, cello and oboe.

Hailing from the ninth generation of Patiala Gharana, he has imbibed the teachings of the same in the singles that he releases. “Today the scene is such that contemporary music will pull you towards itself. But I have been brought up differently. I do not shy away from contemporary music, but I implement most of my learning through the independent projects I work on,” Ali explained.

However, when quizzed on what there is in store for him in terms of Bollywood projects, the ‘Dildaara’ singer remained tightlipped about it. All he revealed was that he has done a lot of interesting work, and is waiting for the films to release.