Madonna, Kylie, Pink Floyd, New Kids, Daft Punk, Metallica, Asha Bhosle and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan are all happily lying in my ipod’s music library albeit in different playlists! Who is is this last chap, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan aka RFAK aka The Voice From Heaven?
Having recently performed to a capacity crowd of 12,000 at London’s O2 Centre, Ustad (Maestro) Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is a Sufi qawaali singer from Paksitan who trained under his uncle the legendary superstar Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. I had the privilege of attending the RFAK concert in Glasgow at the Royal Concert Hall and it was a dreamy evening indeed. RFAK became a household name and emerged from his late uncle’s shadow after performing hit after hit for Bollywood heroes crooning towards their leading ladies. If there is a RFAK song in a Bollywood production it will be a guaranteed hit.
His voice has transcended geopolitics and rivalries demonstrating the enormous power and goodwill music and poetry can unleash – he was even invited to 10 Downing Street and has had tributed paid to him in Parliament!
RFAK effortlessly switches from Urdu to Punjabi from Bollywood to qawaali. I am a fan of his Bollywood songs, however, his true talent and ability is enjoyed though his qawaali performance and certainly for the Scottish crowd, myself included, the classic qawaali songs got the biggest cheers. We were sorry when the performance ended.
Ustad RFAK deserves his standing ovations and place in people’s heart; he has earned it. Youtube him to hear some songs.
Bubbly
The Chatterjis Blog 
Leave a Reply