Hindustani vocalist Smita Bellur shares journey of breaking new ground, bridging music genres

The Hindu

05-05-2025

It would seem that the more the Hindustani classical-trained vocalist Smita Bellur's career progressed and her repertoire diversified, the narrower the common ground she shared with her contemporaries.
The singer, who was in Puducherry recently, spoke about her journey as a vocalist – early Hindustani training, the deep engagement with mysticism, and the convention-defying transition from a classically-trained musician to a sought-after Sufi singer. Of how small acts of rebellion as an aspiring singer and contrarian life choices culminated in her becoming the first accomplished woman singer to be accepted for tutelage by the Warsi Brothers, Qawwali exponents of the Delhi Gharana, whose lineage can be traced back to 13th century poet-singer Amir Khusro.
Originally from North Karnataka, but now settled in Mumbai for several years, Smita was here to perform the opening act of Adishakti's 11th Remembering Veenapani Festival, with an evening of Sufi genre in collaboration with SAZ, a trio of Rajasthani folk musicians.
And, 'Ilham', the Sufi-SAZ set too was distinct as it is unusual for an ensemble of folk musicians to serve accompaniment to a Sufi singer, though in a sense, it marked a reconnecting between interesecting music traditions.
'It is believed that both Hazrat Amir Khusro and Khwaja Garib Nawaz always used folk music as a route to get into the minds of lay listeners. Folk music was a great way to weave Sufi themes into everyday life situations. The best thing is that they did so not by disrupting the song structure to create anew, but by seamlessly integrating it with the folk culture'.
On her transition to a Qawwal, Smita recalls how, at a low point in life, she encountered the rendition of 'Allah Ho Allah' by the Warsi Brothers, who sustain the legacy of the Delhi Gharana — the only institution to acknowledge Qawwali as a legitimate form of music — as descendants of the disciples of Amir Khusro. Their version is not only slow but also references an incident that the Persian poet Rumi has written about... of Moses admonishing a shepherd for the hubris of praying that he would take loving care of God if he ever met him. After the repentant shepherd leaves, Moses hears God's voice explaining how he had given each one a unique way of gaining and expressing knowledge, and that one way of worshipping is not to be rated as being better than the other, she says.
The philosophical depth of the Rumi parable and the rendition left a deep imprint in the mind of a software professional caught up in the grind of everyday Bengaluru life. 'I realised that it was extraordinary for someone like me, who had been practising Hindustani music for a while, and used to a bit of spiritual orientation, to be so deeply affected by the music... and resolved that this was a genre I must delve into'.
She recalls how much of a rebellious step it was for someone hailing from a Kannadiga Brahmin family, who had spent years of rigorous training in Hindustani classical music, to make a switch to Sufi music tradition.
The Hindustani-to-Qawwali choice was regarded just as outrageous as foregoing a well-paying job for the singer who had trained for more than 25 years from gurus such as P.R. Bhagwat, late Pt. Arjunsa Nakod, briefly from late Pt. Rajabhau Sontakke and Shri Bhalachandra Nakod.
'After years of undergoing training in Hindustani classical under various gurus, and in different gharanas such as Kirana, Gwalior and Jaipur, switching to Qawwali was met with disbelief and opposition in the family circle, not to speak of the resistance to the idea of abandoning a lucrative career as an IT professional,' Smita said.
Her decision prevailed, and she moved to Mumbai in 2015-16 to explore pathways to becoming a traditional Sufi singer, a step which was 'more a response to an inner calling than a desire for commercial success'.
The city, which has attracted generations of aspiring cinema-theatre artistes, singers and dancers, offered a nourishing environment to explore new classical-to-lighter music genres, collaborate with different sets of musicians, and to discover more about her own skills.
The immersion for over two decades in khayal has reshaped her performances into a profound experience. It was also a means to access the diverse spiritual poetry of the subcontinent — across the Nirguni, Bhakti, Sufi, Veerashaiva and Haridasa traditions dating back to the 12th century. She has also explored ghazals, some of which engage with Sufi kalams.
The Qawwali, she says, is much more than what mainstream understanding makes of it as a performance by a group of people with harmonium, dholak, tabla and rhythmic hand-clapping.
Qawwali, as a form of Sufi music, derives from the term 'Qual' or utterance of the prophet. The rendition of a Sufiana kalam, or devout poetry, is a means to connect with the spiritual dimension of existence, she explained. Unlike lighter forms, such as the aashiqana (love of the amorous kind), the Qawwali in its truest essence is about 'ishq haqiqi' or love for the divine, she said.
'The traditional Qawwali presentation in the time of Amir Khusro was not just about singing verse... it would explore a gamut of classical forms such as qaol, qalbana, chota khyal, tarana, naqsh and gul... all those diverse forms would being presented at the sama mehfil in those times,' she said.
The Khayali gharana of Delhi is the only lineage to accept Qawwali as a legitimate classical genre. And, this is also why the Delhi Gharana trained Qawwal, is very much competent in forms within the Hindustani classical framework.
In the Indian subcontinent, Sufi music arrived and developed against the backdrop of Vedanta tradition, and the Bhakti stream. 'Interestingly, the Sufi music of the subcontinent has been imbued with Vedantic flavour. Over centuries of interaction, the musical expression of devout poetry has created this beautiful syncretic mosaic,' Smita said.
Sufism represents a lofty thought, rather than a set of doctrines. In fact, a Tamil composition like 'Kurai ondrum illai' — near synonymous with Carnatic stalwart M.S. Subbulakshmi — or the Kannada vachana 'Naanondu Kanasa Kande' of 12th century mystic Akka Mahadevi, echo Sufi thoughts about unconditional love for the divine, she said.
'This is something unique that needs to be celebrated... my academic pursuit has been to study the interweaving threads of the two religions... and better understand from where what influence was derived,' she added.