'Please make me reach the Top five' - Mussarat Abbas

Mussarat Abbas, the Pakistani contestant in SRGMP got the full attention of viewers when he sang the Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan song from Bandit Queen, Sanwre with perfection and ease. After that, with few more songs from the same genre, he proved beyond doubt that in this particular genre, none can beat him. Every mentor agreed that the Music Industry finally found another brilliant Sufiana singer.

Musarrat never got any formal singing training; it was more “learning through listening”. Used to singing unusual songs from Bollywood, Musarrat opines, “In Pakistan, you usually don’t sing such songs on shows, these are limited to just listening. It was during my first year in college that I seriously started taking interest in singing. During this year I also met Ghulam Ali Saab Ji. He was a big inspiration for me. After that I started practicing other classical based songs too with ghazals. It was during this period that I took a very short training from Ghulam Ali Ji.” And what did he have to say about this sufiana genre that he is now finding himself to be a master in, and getting so much appreciation from all music lovers. “I had tried singing these songs earlier too, as I found it was a genre that everyone appreciates in international level. But it was my mentor, who made me realize this is a talent I can actually be a master of, after I came to SRGMP. After that I have practiced a lot and worked really hard to see that I give my best in this genre.”

This very simple, shy and down to earth person from Pakistan feels it may be very difficult for him to win the contest. But he wants to go still higher up, maybe to top five. Because he never had any formal training, he feels getting selected and coming to this stage in SRGMP has as a matter of fact helped him a lot. “This whole journey till now has been a big learning experience for me. Coming to India and then doing so many promotional shows, the guidance from the mentors all these have helped me to grow as a singer and also has worked to brighten my career as a singer. When we came here we were not so good. But with passing time, now that I have reached top seven, I learnt a lot in the technical & esthetic aspect of my singing.”

If given a chance to select another Gharana except Rock, Musarrat feels he would have choosen Hit Squad. Musarrat is already getting many outside offers, but just now due to his contract with the show, he is unable to sign any outside project. When we asked him about his future plans, he said he may not go back to Pakistan just now after this show. He would stay back in India and try following a career in singing. For his fans he had just one request – "Please make me reach the top five. Thats very important for my singing career just now". Many of his fans may not be aware that Mussarat is a very good lyricist too, and also loves to compose. He has done so with many of his own written lyrics. And this is another field which he wants to explore in future.

Any message for his fans!! And he comes up with another “Sher” for them.

Khud hi ko Kar Buland Itna ke har takdeer se pehle,
Khuda khud Bande se poochhe ki bata teri raza kya hai.

Reporter: Barnali
Author: Barnali