Singer Bismil Is Taking Mehfils to New Places and Audiences, With Plenty of Shayaris In the Mix

From a billboard in Times Square in New York City to audiences in North America, vocalist Bismil has carved out a place for himself by modernizing traditional performances known as mehfils, where poetry, music and dance combine. At his mehfils, Bismil performs occasionally with a live band and also assumes his place on a chair, book in hand and reads out shayaris to audiences.

It seems like each element of Bismil’s mehfils are to keep an audience engaged or at least satiated with some kind of entertainment, and all of this very much aligns with the core idea of the atmosphere that mehfils have been conducted in for centuries. Outside of the tours, Bismil has also been steadily building up his studio game, releasing his version of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s “Kali Kali Zulfon Ke Phande,” plus a sort of mashup of “Tumhe Dillagi” and “Halka Halka Suroor.” It helps that Bollywood soundtracks too have dipped back into qawwalis and ghazals over time, which Bismil often posts cover versions of, to his YouTube channel.

In an interview with Rolling Stone India, Bismil takes about taking his mehfils to India and North America, retaining the essence of such performance formats and what’s next. Excerpts:

What has the journey been like to bring in younger, modern audiences for mehfils? Especially around the world now, not just in India?

Sufi as a genre of music has the power to bring people together and naturally, audiences of all age groups relate to the soulful lyrics and enjoy its calming energy… I firmly believe I’m the chosen one to have had the privilege to be the frontrunner in making mehfils more mainstream in India. On a personal level, I feel more accomplished when music lovers from different age groups come together and blend in the energy of soulful music. What’s even more gratifying is that we have been able to do this not just in our country but across the globe as well.

In that sense, what was an important takeaway or experience you gained from your U.S. and Canada tour?

Performing in the U.S. and Canada was truly a dream come true. Each day of our trip and each performance was a surreal experience. And of course, there’s been nothing more gratifying than watching my video being played at Times Square, a moment neither of us could have envisioned at the beginning of our journey.

As an artist, we all dream of performing in the biggest countries across the globe and fortunately I had the privilege to make this dream a reality. One of my biggest takeaways from that trip and the journey till date has been to continue to believe in my art and my talent and alongside giving it my all. I strongly believe that as an artist if you are 100 percent faithful to your art and give it your all, you do reap the benefits of your hard work.

Mehfils also have such a long-running history and legacy to them, as a performance format. In that sense, what kind of change did you want to make to this, while retaining the essence?

Indeed mehfils as a medium of performance have a very rich history and legacy attached to it. Now performing such an art form brings along some pressure since the challenge is to continue the legacy while also making it relevant for the new-age audience. We, as a team, took it as an opportunity to experiment and create a fusion wherein we amalgamate Western music with the traditional art form. Now that I reflect upon it, it’s amusing to see how we made it possible. If you closely observe our performance you will realize how we have infused modern rhythming methods of music with traditional Sufi artforms. A more evident change is of course using both traditional and Western instruments to create the perfect musical blend.

Your shayaris on stage are usually about love, friendships and family, right? What is your writing inspiration and process like?

As an artist, I am deeply inspired by the legends of the industry like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Jaun Elia, Gulzaar Saah and many more. It is their legendary work that inclined me towards doing shayaris and poetry.

Furthermore, I believe shayari and poetry are the best medium to express a wide spectrum of emotions and experiences we have undergone in our personal lives. And as a natural course of life, we all experience a gamut of emotions in friendships, love and with family. Leveraging the extensive potential of this art form, we are able to offer a voice to our experiences which consequently becomes relatable for everyone.

You have released a few singles so far. How and when do you usually decide you have to record and release a song, even if it’s a new version of an existing classic?

Being an artist, you happen to try your hands on different art forms from time to time. For me, I have always been keen on creating longer compositions while writing poetry or shayari. Fortunately, I’ve received a positive response for my work so far.

I’m so grateful that both of these covers [“Kali Kali Zulfon Ke Phande,” “Tumhe Dillagi”] received tremendous love from people. I feel we should not look for that one perfect moment to do something new instead do what we want and make that moment perfect. Keeping this philosophy in mind, we are currently working on making fresh music that we intend to bring forth for the audience very soon. I’m really looking forward to this and I hope people will continue to give our music the same love and warmth they’ve showered on us till now.

What’s coming up next through 2023?

2023 has been a phenomenal year for us so far. We have ticked off major goals and turned our dreams into reality. I’m so grateful to all my fans and supporters for taking us to great heights. The goal for the second half of the year is to continue this streak while also bringing forth some fresh work, some good music for our fans. We are consciously taking the decision to take a step back from shows and focus our energies into curating some soulful compositions for all the music lovers around. The team is working with full force on this goal and I can’t wait for you all to listen to our new singles.

Bismil performs at Gachibowli Stadium, Hyderabad on August 26th. Get more details here.