Bollywood film Qala has a Bengaluru connect

Qala, directed by Anvita Dutt, features Babil Khan (son of the late Irrfan Khan) has a Bengaluru connect; singer-composer Iman Das sang two tracks for Qala.

An A-graded artiste of the All India Radio and Doordarshan, Iman, is also the founder of the Omkar Music Academy in Bengaluru. He talks about how he came to be a part of Qala, which has music composed by Amit Trivedi and Sagar Desai. “Sagar and I have been friends for years,” Iman says. “We wanted to collaborate on a film and when Qala, which is based on a musical came about, I was asked to sing for it.”

Iman, is also an author and has published the book, Reimagining One Nation,One Music.

Having performed across the globe as a Hindustani singer, Iman is not new to playback singing. He has lent his voice to Bengali films and serials including Shudhu Tomar Jonyo, Subarnolata and Amader Bari. “I enjoy singing on stage to a live audience, though films are also welcome as the reach is wider.”

Singing in a studio is a different experience, says Iman. “Whether you sing on stage or in a studio, as a singer, the timing and rhythm has to be impeccable.”

The poster of the film

Iman has also collaborated with some of the stalwarts from the music world for jugalbandis. Amit Kumar, Subroto Roy Chowdhury, the Flamenco band Konjaleo and L Subramaniam are some of the musicians he has worked with. Though he is open to experimenting with genres, Iman says his forte is classical music.

Qala is streaming on Netflix.