‘Art is a way of sensitising and humanising people’: Muzaffar Ali

Tell us something about your autobiography.

It’s about my journey through art, the various places that have enriched me, and the various people who have been part of my artistic pursuit. It goes from Lucknow to Aligarh to Kolkata to Mumbai. I am keeping a track of my intellectual and spiritual evolution through this narrative. While it is easy to say that you are a filmmaker, an artist, a social worker, an author etc, there’s a method in the madness. What comes out of what and how things are interconnected is what I have tried to explain in this book.

Zikr: In The Light and Shade of Time by Muzaffar Ali (Source: Penguin Random House)

It has a rather interesting title. What does it signify?

Literally, this book is a zikr of people and things. Reflecting on the title, it has got something intriguing about it that we initially don’t think would stick to our heads but it does.

Jahan-E-Khusrau has played a crucial role in the Sufi music movement in the country. How did it start?

I started it in 2001. I found a very beautiful ruin in Delhi and thought this is the place where we can celebrate the sound of the soul. I realised that Delhi, at its bottom, is a city of saints. On the surface, it has got a lot of other dimensions, but the soul of the city is mystical. In this journey, Amir Khusrau was an important character who celebrated the culture and music of India. He celebrated the voice of surrender. I found all these things and decided to make a global festival out of it where people from different parts of the world could come and unite and sing in the spirit. The book, too, gives you an interesting insight into this aspect of my journey.

How different was this year’s event?

This year, we organised it in Jaipur, Rajasthan. It is one of the few cities where you find a lot of focus and attention being given to tourism. It’s a city of culture and crafts. There’s a celebration of diversity in Jaipur because of which there’s a resonance between its essence and Jahan-E-Khusrau. We called it ‘Colour of Unity’ and we took interesting legends from there and turned them into an opera, like Mumal, which is a legend of the desert. Desert has a lot of commonalities as it doesn’t see any boundaries and connects Sindh, Rajasthan and Gujarat seamlessly. It has a culture of its own and there’s a mystery and mystique in the whole music and the approach of the bards and how legends are carried. That is the feeling I am trying to recreate.

The artist is the eldest son of Raja Syed Sajid Husain Ali, the ruling prince of the principality of Kotwara in Awadh (Source: PR handout)

Talking about reviving art, you have also undertaken several works to foster the traditional handicrafts of Awadh. Tell us about that. 

For me, what people can do with their hands is really inspiring. It inspires me to see people work and create beauty with their hands. That’s what I have been putting in my films, too. All the films I have made have been either reflecting on situations where people have to move to big cities from their villages or celebrating what they have done with their hands. Craft has been a very important part of my life and I have gotten inspiration from my own films. The films drew me towards craft and vice versa. It’s a cycle and it has been an enriching journey as I have been able to connect with the people of my soil. At the same time, I am interested in any form of craft in any way. Craft is as important to me as films. But being an artist, I resonate with the craftsperson, their efforts and the creation of beauty.

Is that what led to the birth of the ‘House of Kotwara’, your fashion house?

Yes! When my film Zooni got held up in 1990, I thought that filmmaking is a difficult kind of game. When you think deeply with your heart, people think that the film is not commercial. They don’t want you to think too much with your heart as they believe, ‘Isme toh humaare paise doob jayenge‘. I thought if that’s the case, I should do something that can make people look beautiful. This way, I not only empower the people of my village but also make people look beautiful. I found it easy and inspiring to do.

Be it through your films or your paintings, you have embraced art in its many forms. What do you think makes art important?

Art is, basically, a way of sensitising and humanising people. If you cannot achieve that through art, it’s useless.

Similarly, how crucial is artistic freedom, without any fears of suppression?

Freedom of art is as important as freedom of man. A man has to feel free in society to express himself not just through art but in any way. It’s about feeling a sense of freedom and breathing fresh air and not feeling he is suppressed by the society and system.

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