Sanjay Leela Bhansali On His First Non-Film Album Sukoon

Epic filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali who also  composes   the  music  for  his films,  is  all set to release his first independent non-film album.

Containing  12 Ghazals sung by various  artistes including Papon , Armaan Malik and Bhansali’s discovery Shreya Ghosal, the album  Sukoon is, in   the  filmmaker-composer’s words, his tribute to the Ghazals greats.

 Says  Sanjay Leela Bhansali ,  “I’ve grown up listening  to Begum Akhtar,  Mehdi Haasan,  Ghulam Ali and  Jagjit Singh. My album Sukoon is  a tribute to  all these Ghazal greats. And  yet the compositions and the style  of singing are not a copy  of these greats.  This is a young vibrant  attempt to  make the Ghazal accessible to the millennials. I hope I’ve  succeeded.”

Having heard the album I can  vouch for the uniqueness of the  sound. The Ghazal has  never sounded so  young! This is  how  one felt when  Jagjit Singh had  broken the mould and shattered all myths  about the Ghazal with his 1977 album The  Unforgettables.

Visionary  that he  is , Sanjay Leela Bhansali has  given a new impetus to the  Ghazals. The album  also introduces veteran singer Suresh Wadkar’s daughter Ananya. She has  a voice that makes you listen.

Says  Sanjay Leela Bhansali , “I grew up listening to  Lataji . For me she is  the  epitome  of  all that is  beautiful in this  universe. I search for a glimpse of her voice in  all my singers, be  it Shreya Ghosal or  Ananya Wadekar.”