Karwaan Group - Sufi Music

Wake Up To Your Sufi Experience

2009-11-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

Hello Delhi,

I will be performing live at the ITPO Trade Fair at Pragati Maidan on 20^th November 2009 (Friday). So if you are a Sufi Music fan and have loved my song – ‘Goonja Sa Hai Koi Ek Tara’ from Wake Up Sid movie, watch out for more of Sufi experience on 20^th November 2009 (6:00pm).

Block your calendars; see you there :)

Kavita

Ek Tara @ Wake Up Sid

2009-09-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

Ektara - Wake Up Sid

2009-09-03T09:13:00.000-07:00

We all have dreams as a child and as we grow up, few of those dreams either die as they confront real life, while others are given up for more practical and economic considerations. Sad, but true. Wish if life was all about living, loving and following one’s dreams. Karan Johar’s WAKE UP SID, which is all set to release on 2nd October 2009, highlights Siddharth Mehra (Ranbir Kapoor), a lazy, unmotivated slacker from Mumbai whose life undergoes a series of changes after taking his final year college exams. Sid is a cool guy and avoids responsibilities. His life revolves arounds friends, camera, car and his X-box 360. Ranbir (Sid) doesn’t know what to do next and has no plans for his future. He spends his time hanging out with friends, watching TV, eating, sleeping and dreaming. Sid feels people should not be serious about life and take it as it comes. I wish, everyone thinks like this, we would not need any meditation and spiritual gurus.

Anyways, the film, is a Mumbai-based romance about urban relationships and revolves around a good looking young guy (Ranbir Kapoor) who falls for an older and simple woman (Konkona Sen Sharma), a writer from Kolkata.

WAKE UP SID, is directed by Ayan Mukherji and stars Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma in the lead roles. Supporting cast includes Anupam Kher, Supriya Pathak, Namit Das, Shikha Talsania, Rahul Khanna (in a special appearance) and Rahul Pendkalkar. The music of the film has been composed by the celebrated trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and lyrics by Javed Akhtar.

My song Ek Tara is a melody number that explores the wandering nature of human mind, which travels many million miles everyday. The words, ‘Oh re manwa tu to bawra hai, tu kya sochta hai’ are beautifully written (and I hope I have sung them well too)… as they highlight the state of everyone’s mind. Overall the song is very catchy (not because it’s mine song) but because it relates to most of us at some point in our lives…

Wake Up… for life!

Yeh Mera India

2009-08-27T22:38:00.000-07:00

Yeh Mera India or YMI movie is hitting the theatres today. It’s a social movie and touches many topics in the societal context. Directed by N Chandra, the film focusses on minority rights, urban migration, reservation, corruption etc. 'Yeh Mera India' tries to explore the reality behind the myriad news reports that we see on the television and read in the newspapers everyday. Most of us tend to take it in a very normal sense, since the happenings are very far away from us. We hardly try to look behind the violence and atrocities that are taking place around us or find their root cause. This is where the movie steps in and tries to make us explore the real truth.

I have provided music, lyrics and sang for three (out of four) songs in the movie. All songs are thematic or situational.

First song of YMI 2009 music is “Bansuri”. The song begins with “Kabhi Socha Hai Ki Bansuri Ki Sur Me Itna Dard Kyoun Hai… Kabhi Socha Hai Ki Surkh Is Sarir Me Itna Ehsas Kyoun Hai…” The song begins with a slow-paced music but soon it turns in a vocal music.

“Dil Mandir” is next song in the movie. It is a purely devotional song and inspired by my Sufi style of singing. The song begins with “Dil Mandir Hai… Dil Mashjid Hai… Dil Mandir Hai… Dil Mashjid Hai… Dil Mandir Hai… Dil Mashjid Hai… Dil Mandir Hai… Dil Mashjid Hai… Dil Hi Rab Ka Ghar Hai…” It is one of my favorite songs and I hope Yeh Mera Audience likes it too…

“Aap Roothe Rahe” is another song which is folk based with slow paced music. The song also begins with a piano music and is a soft catch number…with excellent lyrics..

“More Naina” is last song of YMI. The song style is very much similar to “Aap Roothe Rahe” and is a romantic number.

My hope is that, YMI is liked by audience and moreso, if people enjoy the soft and vocal songs in the movie.

I look forward to your feedback. Do let me know, if you like these songs..

Cheers,

Kavita
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Kavita Seth's tribute to the victims of Mumbai Attacks .This Song was specially made for NDTV Lyrics written by Raaz Urf S.Goel.

2009-01-02T08:40:00.000-08:00

Kavita Seth performed at IIT Mood Indigo, Mumbai.

2009-01-02T08:36:00.001-08:00

Sufi Singer Kavita Seth performs at IIT Mumbai

2008-12-11T10:08:00.000-08:00

Need to finish the Extremism -- Kavita Seth on Mumbai Attacks

2008-12-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

After 26/11, I’m numb and I’m very depressed to see all the drama on TV. We see the people of India – so helpless. We don’t know what to do now. This is the mental State of every Mumbaikar.
But few things we have to find – what is the root cause of this kind of Terrorism? What they want? How much we care for our country, city, society, and colony.
It starts from home. People who belongs (specially gunned man) from neighbor country, who also attacked on Mumbai, New York, Lahore are poor, illiterate. The person or groups behind these people have mastermind, these are just like (Pyada) or Mohra. They can do anything for money.
But it is our -: every citizen of India -: individual duty to stand up and take care of his home from outsiders. For this we need honest, anti-corrupted, dedicated citizen, who can’t sell their self respect for some coins.
People are talking about attack on the neighbor country, but revenge is not the solution. We have to make the people alert and spread the message of peace not hatred.

Sufi is above all the religion. It reaches humanity, tolerance. I just want to spread the message of peace by Sufi sangeet to make people connect with love to God.

Sufism - The message of love
Sufism is love and affection. It is the cure for hatred and nothing more. Sufism is the path of faith and affirmation of unity. This is the incorruptible religion.
Sufism is, in it's essence, the way of love. Love is considered to be a spiritual alchemy by means of which the basic quality of a human being are transformed into higher ones.
Try to make your life a rose that speaks silently in the language of the heart.
THERE IS ONLY ONE RELIGION -- LOVE
THERE IS ONLY ONE LANGUAGE -- OF THE HEART
THERE IS ONLY ONE CAST -- HUMANITY
THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD.

Kavita Seth with Mahesh Bhatt

2008-03-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

DM releasing Sufiana Album at Lucknow

2008-03-15T23:44:00.000-07:00

Muzaffar Ali Releasing Sufiana Album in Delhi

2008-03-15T23:37:00.000-07:00

listen live at www.U-Tube.com

2008-02-21T22:04:00.000-08:00

listen live at www.U-Tube.com by search by sufi concert kavita seth

Mission Sufi

2008-01-10T22:12:00.000-08:00

In a world where even classical musicians’ offsprings are moving Westwards, Kavita Seth is on the mission to spread the mystical charm of Sufism. Her maiden album, Sufiana, has been raking in appreciation.

Kavita Seth is delighted that her Times Music album worked out so well both in content and its release. “We released the album at the 800-year-old Khaman Pir Ka Dargah in Lucknow at the hands of the actual maulanas there,” she says excitedly. “Before this I had multi-city concerts in India and abroad.”

Kavita reveals that Maulana Rumi, on whose verse the album is based on, was probably the most eminent poet in the Sufi school and remains the best-selling one over eight centuries. “The UNESCO has declared 2007 as the Year Of The Poet in memory of the 800th birth anniversary of the Maulana, and back home Muzaffar Ali is planning a film on him in Delhi,” she says. “Maulana Rumi wrote Persian ghazals and it is said that he loved playing the rabab and the flute.”

Kavita has read a lot of Rumi and is spellbound by his intensity. “I know Persian well as I used to work at the Iran Culture House many years ago. And I wanted to do this album for a good while. It is my great privilege that though I have been performing now for years my first-ever album is on this great poet’s work.”

Obviously needing a wider connect with the audience and listeners, Kavita felt the need for translating the treasury of in-depth thoughts and their expression into simple Hindi and Urdu. “Here again I was lucky,” smiles the lady. “I met Syed Ali, a poet who is himself not enamoured by worldly trappings in a dargah. He translated a lot of his songs for me and I have also included a beautiful original song of his in the album, which has been receiving a lot of appreciation. I have selected the tracks here based on the response I got while singing them in my concerts.”

As an example, she mentions a couplet in one of the songs,

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n “Hazaaron saal nargis aap be-noori pe roti hai

n Badi mushkil se hota hai deedaawar paida.”

(The woman lamented her misfortune for thousands of years

For it’s with great difficulty that a deliverer takes birth)

Kavita has herself composed the music, and Yaar mera has a special place in her heart among the tracks. But why did she have to sing a ‘me-too’ version of Damadam mast qalandar in the album? Kavita smiles and says that it was the music label that wanted this all-time popular track.

The singer-composer is known to film music buffs for her popular songs for Satish Kaushik’s Vaada (Maula) and Anurag Basu’s Gangster (Mujhe mat roko). So when will we hear her again in films? “When I get something as dear to me as these two songs,”she replies.

Till then, it is Mission Sufi.

The article appeared in Screen India on 4th Jan 2008

Connecting to Eternity

2008-01-06T22:01:00.000-08:00

CONNECTING TO ETERNITY: Sufi singer Kavita Seth of Mumbai's Karwaan group performs along with Irani artistes as part of a two-day cultural festival organised at Chowmahalla Palace on Friday. The event is being organised to showcase the palace as a centre of arts, crafts and culture.

Times of India, Saturday, 5th January 2008

The voice of spirituality

2007-12-17T22:24:00.000-08:00

Songstress Kavita Seth is of the opinion that, with so much substance in sufi poetry and music, its future is certainly bright

ANJALI SINGH

AFTER she was awarded as the Best Fresh Voice of 2005 by a private channel, it did not come as a surprise to her fans when Kavita Seth topped the honour by being named the most sensational singer the following year as well. A sufi singer par excellence, Kavita Seth is all set to take music to new heights.
In town recently Kavita took out time to chat with Lucknow Times about making sufi music popular in Bollywood, and why she feels there is a need for such music these days.
“Though I am trained in Hindustani and classical music, I used to sing ghazals and Punjabi folk songs for a while. Gradually through the feedback that I got, I realised that even though it was unconscious, I preferred to sing sufi kalams. So I began to research and study the famous Iranian sufi poet Maulana Rumi. The more I read about him the more sure I was destined to be a sufi singer,” says Kavita.
So how has her education in sufi poetry and subsequent training in sufi singing changed her as a person? “It automatically brings in the transformation from within. Prior to singing sufi songs I used think that I had achieved a lot in life. But once my journey through sufism began, I realised I had not even achieved even a fraction of what is called success in the true sense. Insaniyat se judna aur usse mohabbat karna – these words define accomplishment in its actual sense. These teachings, which Rumi’s verses also talk of, go a long way in life,” she concurs.

Blessed with a soulful but powerful voice, Kavita’s renditions have stood out in Bollywood as well, even amidst the many established voices within the industry. Her debut solo sufi number Maula in Satish Kaushik’s flick Vaada, which was what earned her the award of the Best Fresh Voice in 2005.

Appreciation followed for Mujhe mat roko, a sanguine sufi number in Mahesh Bhatt’s film Gangster as well, making her stand out in the film industry. “Sufi music has a great potential where film music is concerned. The masses identify with it like no other music. That’s why I feel a lot many music directors prefer to have two or more sufi numbers in their films now. I am currently working on sufi compositions for N Chandra’s latest, It’s Breaking News, and I am amazed at the lyrics being penned by poets like Wasim. They touch one’s soul. With so much substance in sufi poetry and music, the future is certainly bright for the medium.”

And what does her family have to say about Kavita being known as a sufi singer? “My biggest support comes from my husband Krishna. His encouragement has given me the strength to come so far and achieve so much in life. He is also my biggest fan and critic, as he advises me on most of my work, which helps me work on my mistakes. Usne kya laaj rakhi meri gumraahi ki, main bhatkun to bhatak kar bhi usee tak pahuchun,” she quotes, describing the depths she has delved into, where sufism is concerned.

But powerful rendition, unforgettable stage presence, and flawless pronunciation were not achieved overnight, as Kavita informs us. “When I began reading Rumi’s work, I had the option to sing the rubaiyees (couplets) in Hindi or Urdu. But I felt it would not be as soul-stirring as it sounded in Persian, the language it was originally written in. So I decided to learn Persian and got myself a tutor, Maulana Islami, in Mumbai who taught me the correct talaffuz (pronunciation). This training helped me give my songs that ethereal touch, which finds an instant connect with the audience.”

Going by the appreciation that her recently released album on sufi songs, released by Times Music, Kavita is on her way to finding that divine success she is destined for.

To read this story online: click here

Sufi Singing Sensation

2007-12-17T19:58:00.000-08:00

Kavita Sufi Singing Sensation Published in DELHI Plus.

Sufiana Released

2007-12-10T18:55:00.001-08:00

Kavita Seth Sufiana is released.

To purchase the album visit: www.timesmusic.com

Eternal Euphony

2007-12-09T23:15:00.000-08:00

Her journey to connect with the one, who reigns over the celestial kingdom, began at a time she was just learning to walk. And what could be a better way than Sufi music, which in itself is never just an entertainment, but more about spirituality. Sufi-Ghazal singer Kavita Seth has done just that. Kavita’s self-composed debut solo Sufi song ‘Maula’, starring Amisha Patel in Satish Kaushik’s film ‘Vaada’, got her nominated for the Best Fresh Voice of The Year at the Sahara Sangeet Awards 2005. And with this the industry was introduced to an emerging voice in Sufi music. “Sufi music is all about singing for the almighty (Khuda), and singing Sufi only facilitates the journey towards God,” says Kavita, amidst soul stirring Sufi music played at the background at her Vile Parle residence. Her next major break came in the form of Mahesh Bhatt’s blockbuster Gangster in 2006, with ‘Mujhe Mat Roko’. Written by Sayeed Quadri, a cry of pain and anguish was best brought out by Kavita through this song depicting the sorrow of a female longing to get close to her beloved.

Kavita, who has been trained in Hindustani and classical music, has a fresh voice, which is rather unique as compared to the other voices dominating the industry. “While training in Hindustani and classical music, I got inspired by the Sufi style of singing, because of its seraphic purity,” she states. Kavita has also been instrumental in forming two Sufi groups, ‘Maula’ and ‘Karavan’, with musicians on drum, guitar, duff, dholak, keyboard, violin, tabla, harmonium. Mother of two equally talented kids, Kavish and Kanishk, she traveled through the entire length and breadth of India, many times, enthralling the audience with her melodious renditions of Sufi, Geet, Ghazal and Folk. She has given live performances in a number of locations such as London, Birmingham, Scotland, Berlin, Olso, Stockholm and San Francisco.

Even today, not everyone can understand the lyrics or the spiritual significances of Sufi music. “In an attempt to spread this form of music, I try to seek a new dialogue with my audience each time I perform with my troupe,” says Kavita. She claims that Sufi music is more about spirituality, rather than entertainment, “Its powerful lyrics talk about reaching the divine by spreading love and harmony. With tension and turmoil all around today, the works of Sufi saints and mystics are more relevant than ever,” she avers. Ask her about the changes that this music has brought about within her, and she relates it to a maxim of Helen Keller, “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart.”

This talented singer, who is currently singing for renowned producer and director N Chandra’s forthcoming film ‘Breaking News’ likes to conclude by saying, “Music, including Sufi, helps in breaking down the narrow boundaries of cast, creed, religion and nationality. In return, giving you an awareness, and uplifting of consciousness, teaching you that there is no better way to reach closer to God then through music.”

Mumbai Mirror

Exploring spiritualism musically

2007-12-09T23:11:00.000-08:00

Spirituality took on a whole new meaning at the Lucknow Mahotsav when sufi singer Kavita Seth came down with her troupe to give Lucknow ki janta a feel of the ethereal world.

She captivated the audience with her soulful renditions of Maulana Rumi’s verses which the singer sang both in Urdu and Persian.

She began the performance with a couplet of Rumi describing his connection with the rabab as, Khuda ka naam bataya rabab ne mujhko, sada khuld sunaya Rabab ne mujhko. Yeh fark sunne mein hota hai tere mere beech, ki tu be dilli se sune aur mein gark ho ke sunoo.(In the strains of rabab I hear the voice of Allah, thats the difference between you hearing its music and my hearing it.)

Also accompanying her was an Iranian dance and music group who wowed all by their sufi songs in Persian. Nima on the daf, Mazdak Shaidi on the kamanche, Farbod on the guitar and Sahr on the flute the group enthralled those present at the venue.

But the highpoint of the evening was the presence of a Dervesh, a sufi dancer, who set the mood for a divine ambience twirling to the songs and music sung by Kavita and Sahr.

RK Mittal lit the inaugural lamp and DM Chandra Bhanu released Kavita Seth’s latest sufi album. Times of India

Kavita Rumi Concert

2007-12-06T19:14:00.000-08:00

Raqs-e-Aaftab

2007-08-27T01:18:00.000-07:00

Check out for the International Sufi Festival on 8th September 2007 in Mumbai.

For sponsorship and Media queries

Get in touch with Krishna: +91-98690-42011

International Sufi Festival

2007-08-22T03:10:00.001-07:00

Karwaan Group in association with Gitanjali Jewellers is coming up soon with "International Sufi Festival". This is the first time the concept of International Sufi Festival is being organized on a country wide basis. Watch this space for more information.

For details email here

Karwaan Group

Sounds of Iran

2007-06-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

Maula Group recently performed “Call Of the Mystic” a concert celebrating the International Year of Rumi. The performance at this concert was liked and cheered a lot. Read the following article pasted below from DNA Newspaper Edition After Hrs

DNA - After Hrs

Call of the Mystic’ promises a treat to Sufi music lovers in the city

While there is an electronica and alternative music scene that the city is fast getting exposed to, it also looks like there’s a growing penchant for mystical and traditional music as well. If you thought ‘Ruhaniyat’ was the only Sufi festival the city witnessed, here’s another one that plans to latch on to the city’s annual music festival list.

Organised by the Maula Group, ‘Call of the Mystic’ features Iranian and Indian Sufi musicians along with a few dancers at the Iskcon temple on June 10. “The festival is dedicated to the Sufi poet Rumi. We will be singing songs composed by poets such as Rumi and Bulleh Shah.

Read latest news at DNA

Though this is the first concert in the city, I’ve performed with Abida Parveen and have been touring extensively throughout Europe trying to spread this music and the philosophy behind it,” says Kavita Seth, who has also lent her voice for a couple of Bollywood tracks in films such as ‘Gangster’.