Manjari wants Bollywood to help promote ghazals

Hindustani vocalist Manjari says the Hindi film industry can play a huge role in promoting ghazals, a poetic form of music.

The Mumbai-based South Indian playback singer has worked on several songs in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.

“Bollywood can definitely help promote ghazals. Like the way Sufi songs are getting popular through the films, ghazals can be too. We have had legendary singers like Jagjit Singh who popularised film ghazals, Mehdi Hassan saab and even Ghulam Ali,” Manjari said.

The 29-year-old singer was introduced into the world of film music by composer Ilaiyaraaja at the age of 17. She then went on to sing in many films, and twice won the Kerala State Film Award for best female singer.

“We need an awareness among people regarding ghazals. They need to get more interested in it and understand the style of the poetry. Today, there are so many poets coming up with excellent work. We need to encourage that,” she said.

Manjari was conferred the Sahir and Adeeb Award for her contribution to Urdu literature and for promoting the genre of ghazals. She is the only Indian to receive the award this year, apart from being the youngest recipient of the honour.

“It is a great honour for me to get this award. I have been promoting ghazals and I am very happy that the work has been acknowledged. I have a show called Khayal about ghazals which airs in South India. I would like to take it forward in the future,” she added.

The Sahir and Adeeb Award was previously given to eminent personalities such as Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, B R Chopra, Shabana Azmi and Sharmila Tagore among others.