Passing on the baton - Page 7

Amaan and Ayaan, known popularly as the Bangash brothers, have recently renamed themselves Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan. The name change is partly due to numerology, but Ayaan adds, 'Bangash is misspelt most of the time, and besides, people already know us as the sons of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.'

The idea of his sons settling down seems to sit well with their father, "It is very important that they find like-minded partners and as a parent I have given them all freedom to choose their partners." Does that mean that there is no bride hunting for the two? "Not a mad search, but a search on the sly is on," laughs the proud Ustad.

Talking about their recent performances, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan said he made a recent tour to Geneva for a performance and he was surprised by the number of successful Indians there. "It was definitely a most wonderful thing, but NRIs seem to be bent on constructing concrete structures for the sake of their religions. All this is creating boundaries between people. Be it a book that one reads or a holy scripture, one shouldn't follow the words or the message blindly. That's one thing that I have always told my sons," he says.

Ayaan adds, "Abba has not just been our guru but our source of inspiration also. We have always been given a free hand in whatever we do. After we did our first album, Reincarnation, which has a lot of electrical lounge music, Abba got to see the final sample and was happy with the fact that we kept the ragas in place in all our tracks."

This is the first album by the two brothers where they have incorporated ragas, sung by themselves, in their tracks. The album was on the music charts for 16 weeks. The duo is now busy with new ventures, including TV spots.

Asked whether they are in demand because of their famous father, Aman laughs, "if so, I feel honoured, but Abba gives a fair chance to both of us whenever we perform. We are three individual performers, but sometimes audiences see us as one package and we love it." But it is Ustad Amjad Ali Khan who has the last word. "It is the music that matters, not who is playing."