Qawwal Maestro and Bollywood Singer, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan takes a journey back through his life as he chats to BBC Asian Network’s Sonia Deol. This red button programme includes exclusive rare footage of Rahat performing with his uncle, the late great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and culminates with a rousing performance of his award winning Bollywood hit, ‘Tere Mast Mast Do Nain’, recorded during his recent tour.
BBC Asian Network’s ‘In Conversation’ event was filmed at the BBC Radio Theatre in London where Rahat revealed intimate memories of his time growing up with Nusrat alongside their extended family in Faisalabad, Pakistan and his emotional first experiences of Qawwali music.
Rahat tells the story of his transition from Qawwali to Bollywood music and how his future projects include going back to his roots with a double album of Qawwali music featuring the poetry of Mirza Ghalib and Allama Muhammad Iqbal.
Nusrat announced Rahat as his successor and first presented him to the world at a concert in Birmingham in the 80s. Watch exclusively as Rahat follows suit and introduces his son, Shah Zaman, during his UK tour at Symphony Hall, Birmingham.
Encouraged by Sonia and the audience, Rahat sings live during the ‘In Conversation’ event and there’s also footage of performances from his tour including hits ‘Afreen’, ‘Allah Ho’, ‘Mann Ki Lagan’, ‘Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji’ and ‘Mukh Tera Sohneya Sharab Nalon Changa Ae’ which was his first ever UK solo performance in 1985.
Mark Strippel, Head of Music and Live Events, BBC Asian Network, said: “We are proud to present Rahat’s first-ever appearance on BBC TV and profile his amazing journey from growing up in Faisalabad through to Bollywood stardom. He’s a very special Artist for our audience and the programme features some incredibly rare footage from his early performances with Nusrat.”
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is an award winning musician and singer, primarily singing Qawwali, devotional Sufi music, as well as ghazals, Bollywood songs and other light music and has toured extensively around the world.
Rahat became more popular in India and around the world through his Bollywood songs. His debut was with the hit song, ‘Mann Ki Lagan’ from the film Paap in 2004 and he has had a string of successful songs since then including the award winning ‘Sajda’ (My Name is Khan, 2010), ‘Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji’ (Ishqiya, 2010) and ‘Tere Mast Mast Do Nain’ (Dabangg, 2011).
Rahat regularly tops The Official Asian Download Chart as is currently top of the chart in a duet with Shreya Ghoshal with the track ‘Teri Meri’ from the Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor film Bodyguard.
This is the first Red Button programme from BBC Asian Network in Hindi-Urdu and is subtitled. The special programme is produced by Endboard Productions – Producer/Director team and brothers, Sunandan and Yugesh Walia.
See photos from Rahat Fateh Ali Khan In Conversation on the BBC Asian Network website.
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is available on BBC Red Button as per the following schedule:
Monday 3rd October:
Sky/Freesat: from 11.00am | Freeview: from 06.00am – 7.45pm and then from midnight | Virgin: from 11.00am
Tuesday 4th October:
Sky/Freesat: on all day | Freeview: from midnight – 7.45pm and then from 9.10pm | Virgin: on until 7.25pm, then from 8.15pm
Wednesday 5th October:
Sky/Freesat: on all day | Freeview: from midnight till 9.45pm and then from 11.00pm | Virgin: on all day
Thursday 6th October:
Sky/Freesat: on all day | Freeview: all day | Virgin: on all day
Friday 7th October:
Sky/Freesat: on all day | Freeview: from 1.10pm till 8.20pm | Virgin: on all day
Saturday 8th October:
Sky/Freesat: on all day | Freeview: from 9.45 till midnight | Virgin: on all day
Sunday 9th October:
Sky/Freesat: on until 04.00am on Monday| Freeview: from 1.10pm to 5.30pm | Virgin: on until 6.30pm
