Revisiting Piya Basanti

Piya Basanti was launched at a time when the market was flooded with Bollywood music,and classical music-based albums had few takers. The album,with its classical flavour,vocals by Ustad Sultan Khan and Chitra,and tracks such as Piya basanti re,Koi pyar se,Shaam dhale and Rangeelo rut,however,grabbed mass imagination immediately. It went on to hit Gold on the charts and also won the International Viewers’ Choice award at the 2001 MTV Music Video Awards. Encouraged by the response,in 2005 the Piya Basanti Re team began to work on a sequel called Sehri Sehri. The album will be launched now,as Piya Basanti… Again,seven years after the recording was completed. The album is Ustad Khan’s first release after he died last November.

The album is a fusion of the rich,deep vocals of Ustad Khan and Chitra’s mellifluous voice in heady love songs. “My favourite track is Kab aoge,a composition in Raag Bhairavi about longing for your beloved. Another track that I love is Sehra sehra,with expressive lyrics about being lost and searching for love,” says Sabir Khan,Ustad Khan’s son and a sarangi player. He adds that even at the age of 63 when Ustad Khan recorded this album,he enjoyed singing the love songs. The album comprises five other tracks,which include two solos by Ustad Khan.

With touches of Sufi,Indian classical and even Western classical and jazz,music composer Sandesh Shandilya has mixed old and new in the tracks. “The audience has again reached a stage when they want to listen only to Bollywood music. Piya Basanti changed the trend 10 years ago. I hope it does the same again,” he says.