The Sabri Brothers were a musical band from Pakistan who were performers of Sufi qawwali music and were closely connected to the Chishti Order. They are considered one of the greatest Sufi qawwali singers of all times. The Sabri Brothers were led by Ghulam Farid Sabri and his brother Maqbool Ahmed Sabri. They are often referred to as Shahenshah-e-Qawwali and are also known as the roving ambassadors of Pakistan. The band was initially founded by Maqbool Ahmed Sabri at the age of 11 years and was known as Bacha Qawwal Party. His elder brothe,r Ghulam Farid Sabri joined after insistence from their father. He became the leader of the group and the band soon became known as the Sabri Brothers. They were the first-ever qawwali artists to perform qawwali in the United States and other Western countries; they were also the first-ever Asian artists to perform at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1975.
Syed Abdullah Shah Qadri, known popularly as BabaBulleh Shah and Bulleya, was a 17th-century Punjabi revolutionary philosopher, reformist and Sufi poet, universally regarded as the "Father of Punjabi Enlightenment". He spoke against powerful religious, political and social institutions. He lived and was buried in Kasur.
Abida Parveen is a Pakistani singer, composer and musician of Sufi music. She is also a painter and entrepreneur. Parveen is one of the highest paid singers in Pakistan. Her singing and music has earned her many accolades, and she has been dubbed as the 'Queen of Sufi music'.
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is a Pakistani singer, primarily of qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music. Khan is one of the biggest and highest paid singers in Pakistan. He is the nephew of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, son of Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan and grandson of Qawwali singer Fateh Ali Khan. In addition to Qawwali, he also performs ghazals and other light music. He is also popular as a playback singer in Hindi cinema and the Pakistan film industry.
Karsh Kale is an Indian-American musician born in England. Known primarily for his experimental tabla playing within electronic music contexts, Kale's career has seen him take on roles of an Indian classical tabla player, singer, songwriter, film and TV score composer and DJ. He is considered a pioneer of the Asian Underground genre, bringing elements of Indian music to Electronica and Dance. His career highlights include touring as the supergroup Tabla Beat Science, 6 solo studio records from 1999, the seminal 2005 album "Breathing Under Water" with Anoushka Shankar, scoring and production for the 2019 Bollywood smash hit "Gully Boy", curating 6 acclaimed songs for the Indian Coke Studio in 2012, amongst many others. Kale is also popular for his eclectic collaborations with Sting, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Sultan Khan, U2, Norah Jones, Yoko Ono, and Herbie Hancock to name a few.
Jugni is an age-old narrative device used in Punjabi folk music. It is the traditional music of the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent.
Shweta Pandit is an Indian singer and actress from Bollywood. She is the grand-niece of Indian classical vocalist and Padma Vibhushan awardee, Pandit Jasraj. She has also recorded popular songs for various Telugu and Tamil film songs and many other Indian languages.
The Wadali Brothers – Puranchand Wadali and Pyarelal Wadali – are Sufi singers and musicians from Guru Ki Wadali in the Amritsar District in Punjab, India. Pyarelal Wadali, the younger of the two died on 4 March 2018 at the age of 75 due to cardiac arrest at the Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Amritsar.
Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan is a Pakistani pop and classical singer, songwriter, and composer belonging to the Patiala Gharana tradition of music. He was the lead vocalist of the Pakistani pop rock band Fuzön until 2006 and is a prominent playback singer in the Indian film industry and Pakistani television industry. The youngest son of noted classical vocalist Ustad Amanat Ali Khan, Ali started his musical training at the age of four under the tutelage of his uncle, Ustad Bade Fateh Ali Khan, who was widely regarded as the foremost exponent of Hindustani classical music in Pakistan.
Gaana is a genre of Tamil music, which is sung in the Madras Bashai dialect of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is rap-like "collection of rhythms, beats and sensibilities native to the Madras people." It evolved over the past two centuries, with influences ranging from the siddhars of ancient Tamilakam to rural Tamil folk music to Tamil sufi mystics. Its popularity rose when it was brought to the music of the mainstream Tamil film industry. Contemporary gaana bands are bringing the genre to new audiences while using it for social activism, especially against caste discrimination.
Javed Ali is an Indian playback singer who predominantly sings in Hindi. He has also sung in various Indian languages including Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
Anwesshaa is an Indian singer and composer in Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Tamil, Marathi and other Indian languages. She first appeared in the reality show Amul STAR Voice of India, Chhote Ustaad at the age of 13.
Ustad Muhammad Juman was a Sindhi musician and classical singer from Pakistan, whose impact on Sindhi music is still pervasive.
Shazia Manzoor is a Pakistani playback and folk singer. She is known for her song, "Chann Meray Makhna".
Zila Khan is an Indian Sufi singer and actor. She sings classical and semi-classical musical forms and performs in the tradition of Imdadkhani gharana. She has acted in Bajirao Mastani a film by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and also actively acts in theatrical plays like Gauhar. She is a playback singer for Bollywood films and advertisements. Zila stands for Freedom in Education and Gender Equality. She is a composer and music director. Zila also produced and directed a documentary called Spirit To Soul on her father Ustad Vilayat Khan.
"Bulleya" is a song by the Pakistani sufi rock band Junoon, released in 1999. It is the first track from the band's fifth album, Parvaaz (1999), recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London and released on EMI Records. The song is a famous kafi written by the sufi saint Bulleh Shah. Bulleh Shah is famous for his spiritual and metaphysical poetry, and Bullah Ki Jaana is one of his well-known poems. The song is composed and produced by lead guitarist and founder of the band Salman Ahmad. It is the lead single on the album, the song uses blending of rock guitars and bluesy vocals with eastern elements like the use of tablas, raga-inspired melodies and traditional Pakistani folk music.
Ek Bura Aadmi is an unreleased Hindi thriller film directed by Ishraq Shah and produced by Surendra Rajiv and Zenaida Mastura. This is a work of fiction inspired by real-life stories of well-known criminals turned politicians from the North Indian states of UP and Bihar. The film is a realistic portrayal of power politics where money and muscle play very prominent roles. The film was to be released on 26 July 2013. The film features Arunoday Singh, Kitu Gidwani, Raghuveer Yadav and Yashpal Sharma as main characters.
Surriya Khanum also spelled as Suraiya Khanum is a veteran Pakistani folk and classical singer from the Punjab. She is also known for her soulful performances and singing Sufi music on Pakistan Television and other TV channels.
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is a Pakistani singer, who has sung several songs in Pakistan and India, including the Pakistani film and drama industries, as well as Coke Studio and Bollywood. He is a well-known Qawwali singer, and has also sung many national songs and ghazals.
