Dear Bollywood, Stop Ruining Classic Qawwalis! Batti Gul Meter Chalu's Dekhte Dekhte Song Does No Justice to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Sochta Hu

Music has a way of speaking to our soul, at least good music does. So when Bollywood goes on to massacre these gems, it becomes pivotal to raise our voice against it. The second song release from Shahid Kapoor’s Batti Gul Meter Chalu has taken things too far. This recreation of the classic qawwali "Sochta Hu" by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is the latest addition to long list of "revamped" classics that has murdered the heart and soul of the song. Bollywood has been ticking the nerve of qawwali lovers by picking beautiful Qawwalis like "Rashke Kamar", "Nit Khair Manga", "Halka Halka Suroor" and now "Sochta Hu." But it is high time that this horrendous trend that disrespects the beauty of the genre comes to an end. Batti Gul Meter Chalu Song Dekhte Dekhte: Atif Aslam's Recreation of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Popular Qawwali Adds a Lovely Hue to Shahid Kapoor-Shraddha Kapoor's Romance - Watch Video.

Bollywood music has been known for its imagination and innovation when it comes to music, or its lack thereof. However, it is one thing to take an old 80s song and giving it a ‘remix’, by adding a vulgar rap and some EDM music to the background. Taking beautiful 26-minute long Sufi music and turning it into crass with the upbeat music is a huge disrespect to the art of Sufi Qawwali, which is already rare to find. Not many people may have initially known the work of the great Sufi singers, but Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan changed this with his lyrics that touched the heart of one and all, and his voice, which always spoke to the soul.

It is unforgivable to take his classic work and recreate it, even with singers like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan or Atif Aslam (in the most recent case. The Hindi music industry needs to understand that they need to be innovative enough to come up with original scores that can make a mark. At least hire talented people for the job instead of picking old songs, manipulating the music and simply replacing a few words in the lyrics.

Watch: Atif Aslam's Dekhte Dekhte Song From Batti Gul Meter Chalu Movie

It's not as if there is a lack of good musicians in the world. Thanks to the internet, we have been acquainted with original singers and composers. Give them a chance to create new music that will rejuvenate the soul, instead of destroying the classic songs that did not need to be touched.

Watch: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Sochta Hu

For the few who might argue that this revamped version makes the song available to a larger audience, here is what you need to understand. Music is too wide and too large for anyone to know and love every beautiful piece that was ever created. And not every genre is appreciated or even acknowledged by everyone. Everybody has a genre they love and enjoy while continuing to comfortably ignore the 1000 other genres that exist. I may know every word of Nusrat Sahab’s songs by heart, while never having heard a proper rap song.

The long stanzas, slow music and the heart touching shayaris make the qawwali a beautiful genre. This is something that cannot be appreciated by everyone, and that is okay. But butchering classics to make it more available for the masses is a disastrous trend that needs to be stopped. So dear Bollywood, please stop messing with the classics and maybe try creating original music instead of modifying it.

(Contributed by Freelance Writer)

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 21, 2018 02:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).