Jan 28, 2005 03:32 PM
10687 Views
(Updated Jul 13, 2005 06:13 PM)
When I first saw this number on Channel V, I dismissed him as another Sardar trying to make his name like Daler Mehndi because I had never ever seen him before. And I don?t know much about him even now. Then I saw a brief glimpse of him in an interview on a news channel and learned that the song is creating waves around India. I decided to listen it attentively and I was shocked when I heard it again ? how could I have missed it.
The song ?Bulla ki jaana maen koun? as I researched later had been originally composed by Baba Bulleh Shah has been re sung by Rabbi Shergil. Rabbi has remixed this song in a pop-sufi combo sort of style. This is basically a Sufi song and its first para goes something like this.
Na maen momin vich maseet aan Nor a believer inside the mosque am I
Na maen vich kufar diyan reet aan Nor a pagan disciple of false rites
Na maen paakaan vich paleet aan Not the pure amongst the impure
Na maen moosa na pharaun Neither Moses, nor the Pharoh
Bulla! ki jaana maen kaun Bulleh! to me, I am not known
It?s a typical Sufi song which believes in no religion other than humanity.
The song swings beautifully between high pitch and low pitch backed by an amazing video. Rabbi is seen to roam around with a guitar in the streets, in the markets, on the beach and in the wild. He looks at the people passing by, he looks at people who peep without expression into the camera, and he goes on to say:
Na maen arabi na lahori Not an Arab, nor Lahori
Na maen hindi shehar nagauri Neither Hindi, nor Nagauri
Na hindu na turak peshawri Hindu, Turk (Muslim), nor Peshawari
Na maen rehnda vich nadaun Nor do I live in Nadaun
Bulla, ki jaana maen kaun Bulleh! to me, I am not known
The translation of the somewhat indecipherable lyrics flashes on to the screen as he sings it. The video has come out spectacularly, though the style is not novel but has complimented the song as if this style was tailor made for it. Rabbi has a wonderful soulful voice which touches you right at the heart. This song and the video have been a great relief from those pathetic, run of the mill remixes being served to the public depicting all those barely clad, ?ready to drop all clothes in a wink? kind of Punjabi girls, where you wonder whether sometime in the near future one could do away with other forms of pornography completely.
I think with this song Rabbi has launched himself into an orbit miles above the rest. Is he India?s own Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in the making? Only the time will tell.
