When Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Anand Bakshi had an ‘ego clash’ during Kachche Dhaage: ‘Bakshi saab felt very bad’

In the late 1990s, with the indie music wave taking over the music scene in India and the increasing cultural exchange between India and Pakistan, legendary qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was starting to generate a new fan base in India amongst the younger generation. During this time, apart from launching new renditions of his widely popular songs, he started composing music for a few Hindi films and made music for Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya and Kachche Dhaage. In a recent interview, director Milan Luthria recalled how during the making of Kachche Dhaage, there was an “ego clash” between Nusrat Ali Khan and veteran lyric writer Anand Bakshi.

Speaking to Showsha, Milan recalled, “There was a bit of ego clash between Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Anand Bakshi, both were such great musical artistes.” Milan recalled that Anand Bakshi wanted Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to come over to his house to see him while Milan had suggested that Anand should come and see Nusrat at his hotel room. “Bakshi saab kept putting it off,” Milan recalled.

He then shared, “I went to Khan saab. He said ‘mulakat nahi ho rahi hai beta, gaana kaise banega?’ (We aren’t able to meet. How will we make the song?) I said it will happen in the next couple of days. He said it won’t and asked me to bring my car around. We got in the car and reached Anand Bakshi’s house. We rang the door bell and Bakshi saab was shocked that Nusrat saab was there. Bakshi saab felt very bad that he made such a big deal of this. After that, they became friends. The next day, Bakshi saab came to him and after that they started working smoothly together.”

It was shortly after composing music for a few Hindi films that Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan passed away in 1997. Many of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s qawwalis are still popular in India as a lot of Hindi films have recreated them in the last few years including songs like ‘Mere Rashke Qamar’, ‘Kinna Sona’, among others.