MUMBAI: Legends both, Ghulam Ali and Asha Bhosle will be heard in the same album after two decades in their latest soul-stirring album ‘Generations’ under the BIG music label. The two veterans are coming together after 25 years; their first album being Miraj-e-ghazal. ‘Generations’ is composed by Ghulam Ali’s son, Amir Ali, while the lyrics are by Ahmad Anees. However, the arrangements have been westernised or pepped up in order to give the songs a contemporary feel and make it appealing to the younger audience. The videos too have an interesting concept – something worth watching for.
At the launch, Ghulam Ali revealed, “I didn’t even know he (Aamir Ali) was composing; I was quite surprised when he told me that he was planning to take out an album – I helped and guided him with my suggestions on the album. I asked Aamir to record the songs first and then we took it to Ashaji for her opinion.”
The album has been recorded in Pakistan and both father and son worked on it for nearly five years. “Aamir expressed his wish to make an album, and obviously as a father I would not have let anything substandard release under his name.” said Ghulam Ali. But how much of it was his legendary father’s contribution? Aamir humbly retorts, “Out of 100 per cent on the album, my father has helped me 200 per cent”. However, there are bound to be some comparisons to the illustrious father.
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“There are absolutely no pressures – I am proud of being Ghulam Ali’s son,” insists Amir Ali.
Surprisingly, in spite of having classical music purist like Ghulam Ali and Asha Bhosle, the album has three remixes. Bhosle reasons, “Remixes with the original voices is much better in place of using the other singers – Before someone else remixes our songs and spoils the soul of the song, we thought we’ll do it ourselves aesthetically,” she added on a rather sarcastic note.
At the launch in Mumbai on Friday, the veteran singers spoke on varied issues like piracy and the current state of music, which is dominated by film music. Asha Bhosle even lashed at the radio stations, “The decision of radio stations to play only film music 9 to 6 is annoying. They should also include non-film music in this time slot.” Ghulam Ali expressed his support by saying “Radio should give space to all kind of music – I would urge media to support this.”
After lashing out at the radio stations, the versatile singer advised young singers on live performances. “One should perform ‘live’ only after having a good number of songs in their credit. There’s no point in singing songs which are done by someone else.” Point noted!
Pics by Mitesh Bhuvad
