With a disarming smile and an easy, friendly demeanour, Amaan Ali Khan endears you almost immediately. When t2oS met him for a special photo shoot and chat at ITC Royal Bengal on a lazy December afternoon, we were taken in by how grounded and easygoing he was. The shoot went off fuss-free, while the conversation flowed freely, almost like chatting with an old friend. Over cups of tea, he spoke about his journey, his spirituality, how the audience for classical music has evolved over the years, and his goals for 2025 — “I want to change my single status” being primary among them! Excerpts from the freewheeling conversation...

You seem to be quite spiritual. Tell us about your spiritual journey.

My whole journey has been very spiritual. I don’t believe in the rituals of religion; I only believe in spirituality. With my mother (Subhalakshmi Barua Khan) being a Hindu and father (Amjad Ali Khan) being a Muslim, I have learnt a lot. I have also been surrounded by students who were Sikhs, and grew up in a house with a domestic staff who is Christian... you see a lot of things happening around. And the only message, if I look back, you have to derive from religion and spirituality, is to be a good human being.

It’s more important to be a giver than a taker. What you don’t use you should give away, that’s what I feel. You have many clothes but are using only a few, so I feel there’s no point keeping them with you. Rather give it to somebody who needs it. You should give to people and try to help people without publicising it. I have seen people doing charity and showing the photos everywhere. Then you are doing zero... you are doing brand-building through it. Apna image achha kar rahe ho, woh nahin karna chahiye. I really detest it and if it has ever happened with me anytime unknowingly, I felt very embarassed about it. The idea is doing charity in the dark, not in the daytime. I have three mantras — to be humble, try not to hurt anyone intentionally, and be a giver.

What does happiness mean to you?

Seeing other people happy. When I see people laughing, smiling around me, I feel very happy about it. That gives me a sense of hope. I really feel they have also gone through a journey of happiness. You will never see a visually challenged person complaining. They always smile in a beautiful way, even not seeing the world. I think we have seen so much of the world, we can’t smile.

Your social media handles say that you are a fitness freak. What is your secret of keeping yourself fit and fine?

See, 80 per cent is diet and also keeping yourself away from stress. Stress is very dangerous. So, I think be stress-free as much as you can. Don’t think too much about the future, don’t crib about the past. Be in the moment you are in and accept the way life comes to you because that’s the only option you have.

So, coming to the fitness part, diet, mental health and workouts. Having good sleep is very important. People are having heart issues as they don’t sleep well. So, I want to tell all the youngsters to sleep well. Do your workouts and live a stress-free life. Sleep well so that you don’t have to depend on medicines.

Carrying the lineage of the Gwalior gharana, Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan, Amjad Ali Khan, it was natural to take music as a profession, but was it a compulsion or a spontaneous choice? Have you ever truly thought of it?

Now it’s too late to think of it. Ab kya karun, kahin ja nahin sakte. Paani ke beech mein phas gaya (laughs). Honestly, when I started I was not into music. I was not very excited to be a musician, rather I wanted to do a lot of things. I wanted to be a sportsperson, was in professional cricket till in my teens. I wanted to be a pilot or actor also. See, all these were aspirations of a child. It’s normal to have a vision, right? Then accept what life throws at you.

I saw the ambience of my house became really good when I used to practise in the evenings. My parents were smiling. You know, all kids are sharp, they know what is actually working in their favour. So kahin na kahin na chahte huye I started liking it. Arranged marriage wala concept, shaadi ke baad pyar ho gaya (laughs). I was always a very regimented person and more mechanical; my brother was more spiritual in terms of music. He did not do so much of riyaz initially, just opposite to me. But for me, when you are given an assignment, you should practise and prepare for it.

I can recall an incident. When I was 13 and Ayaan bhai was 11, Abba went for a show and there were a lot of senior musicians sitting in front. Abba became very ill suddenly, he got fever and after the concert he felt very unwell. I was so scared. I have a photographic memory of that incident because it felt like a jhapad in my head that something had happened to him.

That day I realised what music means to me. Either I would do it or not do it. I can’t be in the middle. That day I recognised a storm coming. Before that I had never had such a feeling. Then I started riyaz very hard, six-seven hours a day, and till today I do that. I do my riyaz for four-five hours before a concert.

I do practise because I am a very nervous person. I don’t believe in the concept that people have heard me and they will have faith in me. What is gone, is finished, dead, it does not exist any more for me, except some faint memory that how it went. So, better be prepared and give your best. Every concert for me is my first show. The fear I had in my first concert, I still have it today. It is very important to have that fear in mind.

So you do not get complacent?

That’s the only way of growing.

If you start feeling that you are bored and better than others, the problem starts. Already you are on the downslide. So, if you have the feeling that I am the best amongst all, that’s the beginning of your fall. When people fall, they don’t even realise that they were suffering from the disease (that) started, maybe, 20 year ago... when they felt their superiority.

When ego comes, it completely eats you up, it’s like termite.

When was your first concert?

Physically or emotionally? Those are two different things...

Both?

Physically, I normally just took the stage, that was nothing to do with the sarod. I just sat down, played the taans Abba taught me and continued with it. It was just like a Sanskrit test in school. I think emotionally, I was involved with sarod maybe when I was 15 or 16.

I played my first solo with Zakir saab (Zakir Hussain. Amaan was visibly disturbed by the news of Hussain being critically ill. Hussain passed away hours after our interview with Amaan). He was 46-47 then, the concert was in Mumbai. There were many other tabla players who did not agree to play with me. He was the only one who said I will play with this kid. That gave me a lot of confidence. In any profession, an elder person should act like an elder person. An elder person becomes respectable only when one behaves like an elder one. Elder people have to show the path to the younger ones as Zakirji did that day. If they show tantrums or ego, they actually become the smaller person, with a narrow heart. You have to be a giver to the youngsters so that they can start respecting you. People never respect a person who snatches, they respect the one who gives.

Coming to your family, do you feel any competition with your brother (Ayaan Ali Khan)?

To be honest, for me, I don’t think it exists. It’s all your hard work that becomes you. So it’s all stupidity to think about any other person’s work, brother, sister, children of any great people... whoever. My brother has to do his own hard work and he would get as he did. At the end of the day, he is my brother, my best friend. I have to do my hard work for my performance.

In any field, the audience is not stupid. For example, when you decide to go a restaurant you are aware of the fact which restaurant is good. So the audience will also check the quality of the artiste. It is not a question of being brothers. If you have to be a truly good artiste, you have to keep practising and practising. Suddenly, one day you will explode.

It’s all about good music and you would never be able to explain or analyse people’s choice like what actually they would listen to. There are many artistes with big titles like Padma Shri or so, but the hall is never filled when they play. One of my friends once told me that the biggest thing in our profession is ki hall bhar jaye, tickets sale ho jaye. It’s very important to get people’s love. There have been many great artistes in the past, but Bhagwan ne jiske upar hath rakha, unka sab kuch ho gaya. Not only in music, even in acting... they become stars by people’s love.

Coming to the “hall bhar jaye” part, who fills the auditorium? What’s the age group?

That’s also up to you. If you play boring music, seniors will give effort to understand, but ultimately it is a concert, it is very different from what you play in your house. It is not a test. If you are in a public forum, you should be responsible for everybody present in the hall. It’s about your own choices, you have to think of people’s likes and dislikes. You have to get everybody clapping for you. That is how you will run a profession. If you have to show your skill only, invite people to your house and enjoy music there. That’s a different form of music.

If you are in the forefront, it becomes like commercial cinema and art cinema. Ultimately you have to sell your tickets. I am not saying to forget the purity of the music. I am just saying that keep the purity of the music, keep it alive, keep the discipline, but have the freedom to flirt within it. Make such music that everybody can enjoy. Thankfully, in my shows a lot of youngsters come, middle-aged people and senior people come as well. Senior audiences for me is Abba’s grace actually.

I believe in karma and I feel this is the result of some good karma, that I am his son. That’s how I explain these things. So my point is not getting an opportunity is sad, but getting an opportunity and missing it is a crime. In both acting and music, maybe in every field, there have been people with least opportunities who became big, and many people, especially offspring of great artistes, with lot of opportunities who fail to deliver. I don’t want to be that person.

How have you seen the audience tastes evolve over the years?

Patience thoda kam toh ho gaya; the younger generation is very choosy. I have seen Ayaan bhai’s kids, they are very sure of what they don’t want. They don’t have time to waste or misuse. Forget them. Think of ourselves. How much time we give to the Reels? We can’t even watch a full Reel of a few seconds if we don’t like it. So how can we expect patience from youngsters?! So, today, I think it’s more about playing short pieces, and keeping it interactive... conversation with the audience.

I recently played in a concert in London, it was almost like storytelling. I played two-three ragas and tried to create a story with it. As I played Desh, I performed some compositions created by my father in different ages, and wanted to show how Amjad Ali Khan saab changed himself, his style, over time. That’s a kind of storytelling. The most important thing is improvisation. See, improvisation dies with the artiste, because that’s the DNA, but the compositions stay with the world.

The compositions are the biggest proof of the artiste’s depth of knowledge about a raga. Suppose the raga Shree, in Ravi Shankarji’s hand or Ustad Ali Akbar Khan or Shiv uncle (Shiv Kumar Sharma), Amjad Ali Khan saab, the approach is distinctly different from each other. Actually, compositions define the artiste. In fact, it is very good research if a youngster wants to do it. I was also doing research on raga Gauri, just with the interest of playing it on sarod, and I found everyone is different. Lastly, Abba suggested a person for a proper structure and it helped me. It is a kind of a case study.

So, coming to the point, the audience is changing, and that’s a good thing, but the idea is to involve more youngsters. There are many organisations who promote artistes in different colleges. They should promote the next generation artistes there as they have the impact to attract the new generation. Promotion of Indian classical music is a great thing but promoting with a strategy to influence the young population with the music is very essential. Young artistes with a vibe of the new wave, new technology, fresh approach will create a blast. Even our older generation has grown up and became popular in this way. Abba had many concerts in the IITs. But now there is also a problem due to lack of unity amongst musicians and the basic insecurity they suffer from. These are affecting the concert structure too. Being insecure is actually giving people a message that I am not capable of doing it. But, in my opinion, it should not be the case, kabilityat agar hain aapke andar, toh kameyabi aapko dhund lega.

Have you ever felt any difference between national and international audiences?

Nothing much. National audiences are a little impatient and emotional. If they do not like it, they comment or leave the programme in the middle. International people I feel are more calm. In the Western world, people go through appreciation classes. They learn how to appreciate people’s hard work even if you do not like it. It feels horrible when an artiste sees that people are leaving the concert midway.

You are participating in music of different genres. What are the albums coming up in 2025?

So we are doing an album with Malini Awasthi. Also doing a collaboration with three UK-based guitarists. Also, we are making music for a popular water brand, and the theme music of hotels. But, personally, I don’t feel very enthusiastic about fusion concerts. I have done it before and found these (kinds of)music more noisy, which I don’t like.

My feeling is the lesser the number of musicians seen on the stage, the purity of the music stays. Too many people becomes noise; I am very old-school that way. And I also don’t believe in plugging-in. I feel the culture of plugging-in is increasing nowadays. I believe in acoustic sound, which is called Naad Brahma and is found in the sea sankha.

Are you interested in music direction in Bollywood?

If it comes, I will think and accept, but otherwise I cannot agree with Bollywood’s trend analysis of hits and flops. Someone is doing well, people will say it is success and when the same person is not being able to meet public expectation, he’s labelled a flop; somehow I get very disturbed with this.

If someone approaches me, who is interested in our kind of music, I will definitely think it over. Directors like Sanjay Leela Bhansali or Ashutosh Gowariker, who admire the concept of music being music, are really to be appreciated. Raagdari and the quality of music is very important. If something based on raga and based on our culture comes, definitely I will do it.

Have you ever thought about acting in films?

Ab toh umar nikal gaya hain. If anyone asks, why not?! But koi puchhta hi nahin hain (laughs). I got some offers from Bengal, but for the roles I was being approached, I told that I would be unable to do it. Rather I will lose my musical career as well (laughs). Jokes apart, I am open to it. If a good offer comes, I will do it. At the end of the day it’s all creativity.

Twelve years back, I did a film for J.P. Dutta. I learnt horseriding for that. Tapur and Tupur (Chatterjee), Sagarika Ghatge, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and many eminent artistes were there. Eighty per cent of the shooting was done. After Umrao Jaan he was doing it in a big way. But don’t know what happened to J.P. Dutta after that. He became quiet about the movie. We were also in touch with his family, it was a nice relationship, but the movie got stuck.

I think when something does not happen it is also a blessing. Pain gives a kind of happiness when you look back. You become very sensitive if you go through such a journey. You have to go through a journey of lots of ups and downs and then you arrive as a person. The soul gets cleansed, a good sense of humour comes, you know, aadmi khil jata hain. The people who did not face such a journey, I think their lives are very boring. Once you just let go, open the doors, you will be just floating then; it just eradicates fear, confusion and uncertainty.

People say creativity comes through a lot of pain...

People go and start drinking to celebrate the pain (laugh). Ranbir Kapoor became a rockstar (in Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar) after losing his love.

Talking about Ranbir Kapoor, we want to ask you in his father Rishi Kapoor’s style, ‘kya apne kabhi kisi se pyar kiya’?

Pyar toh hona chahiye na. Yes, obviously, I was in love. But you see in this world the strongest pain of your life is layered with smile after some time. For example, someone loses a very near and dear one, but, at the same time, after reading a joke he or she will smile, right? So yes, I have been in a relationship and got fooled also (laughs). But now I can laugh at it. I believe in karma; it does not spare anyone. If I do wrong karma, I have to face it. Similarly other people who do it, they will get stuck for sure. After sometime they can’t progress in life.

So how many break-ups did you face?

Aisa thodi na hota hain (laughs). But yes, I have been in three-four relationships over time. But I am very sensitive towards women. So, I feel if you are not sure of getting married to a particular girl, the name should not be in a public space. If you are a public person and the relationship does not work, the name will be chasing the girl even if she gets married to some other person. I just don’t want that.

I had an engagement maybe 11-12 years back, but it did not mature. Everybody was upset at that time, but now I feel that incident helped me to get established in my life. I learnt to survive with my family happily. And also a successful marriage can bring happiness to life. The partner should be very understanding and create a comfort space so that even if you are in a room and not talking to each other, you should feel attached. Actually, I don’t want to regret anything. I can wait for the right time and the right person. God has given me everything so this is not happening maybe I am not prepared for this, or this is not the correct time for me. Divinity and divine does not want you to go through pain. It is all our free will that makes us take a decision and face the outcome.

Are you open to an arranged marriage?

Not at all, I left that (laughs). My biodata was in the matrimonial sites. People ask me what do you do? I said playing sarod and they say yes, but what else do you do?! They do not think it could be a profession, and I get demoralised (laughs). I found all these very commercial and stupid. People even asked me that if your hands get injured what will you do?! Just imagine, someone asking Sachin Tendulkar or Zaheer Khan the same question, yaar, what kind of a question is this?! I feel someone came to buy me with a full checklist (laughs).

It is always better to wait for the right person, because respect in a relationship is very important. Things will happen to you, you have to be patient, that’s my story.

Coming to the lighter things in life, what do you like watching on screen?

I like to watch funny things than dark things. I used to watch Crime Patrol, but after a while I had a feeling that I would be killed (laughs). So I stopped watching them. Now I am fond of The Kapil Sharma Show.

What film did you like recently?

Oh, I liked Animal! You watched Sholay? Amjad Khan’s presence as Gabbar Singh in the movie was a total of 11 minutes screen time — think of his impact! In Animal, Bobby Deol was there for six minutes and he stole the frame! Also Ranbir and Rashmika (Mandanna) shared the screen most of the time. Credit kaun le gaya? Tripti (Dimri)... (laughs)

What’s your Calcutta must-dos?

Going to Park street after the concert or any engagements. Oh, I love having biryani in different places in the city... Bengali cuisine as well. I get many invitations from my relatives’ houses and usually have pabda machh, chitol machh, mishti (laughs). I love to go to Kalighat and some dargas. But Calcutta traffic is becoming very busy nowadays; it takes a lot of time to reach from one place to the other.

Who is your favourite singer apart from in your own genre?

That must be Kumar Sanu. Ab tere bin jee lenge hum, zehr zindagi ka pee lenge hu... who will tell the words of your heart apart from him? Seedha dil se nikalta hain (laughs). And I like Sonu Nigam also.