I have never refused a song: Javed Ali

Javed Ali’s love for singing goes back to his childhood days when he used to listen to Ustad Ghulam Ali. “I knew very few Hindi songs, but I was attracted to ghazals,” says the singer, who has trained with his father Hamid Hussain, a well-known qawwali singer, as well as with Ghulam Ali himself.  

While he has done a number of shows in Sufi, retro and Bollywood, it’s the first time that Javed is doing a full-fledged ghazal show — Phir Wohi Sham. He will sing ghazals by Talat Mehmood, Jagjit Singh, Mehdi Hasan, Ghulam Ali and even his own. “I have selected ghazals which are close to my heart. I am sure that people will like this show; they haven’t heard me sing in this style before,” he says, adding that he plans to come up with an independent album of ghazals as well. 

Yes to challenge 

Even though he is trained in Hindustani Classical music, Javed has had no trouble singing songs with shades of Western music as well. “I don’t have a problem if the song is soulful and it comes from the heart,” he says, adding that he’s never had to say no to a song. “People are surprised when they realise that I have sung Tinku Jiya as they felt it was not my genre. As a musician, till the time I don’t try something, I don’t refuse it. I like challenging jobs. If I’m successful in that, then the satisfaction I feel is heartfelt,” he says.

On the single spree

Not only is the singer busy recording songs for music composers such as Pritam, Amit Trivedi, Sajid-Wajid and Ajay-Atul, he has also recorded singles, which will be out soon. “The first single that I did, Rangrezia, got a good response. The second one, Toh Yeh Subah Nahi, is also complete and should release by end of this month. Post that, I plan to bring out something in the semi-ghazal space,” reveals the singer. 

Phir Wohi Sham: A Bouquet of Ghazals by Javed Ali & Group at Tata Theatre, NCPA on February 16 at 6.30 pm.