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KAILASH KHER: the Bollywood Sufi Rock Star

Presented by Indo-American Association at Wortham Theater Center - Brown Theater

July 24, 2009

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Indo-American Association presents KAILASH KHER: the Bollywood Sufi Rock Star,  Friday, July 24, in the Wortham Theater Center - Brown Theater.

Kailash Kher (born June 6 1976) is an Indian singer of popular sufi music. He has risen to fame with a series of hits.  He was born in a small village on 6 June 1976 in Meerut to a Kashmiri Pundit family, and spent most of his childhood in Delhi. He grew up listening to his father rendering Indian folk songs all day and started learning classical music from the age of twelve.  He was inspired by legendary Pakistani Sufi singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

After struggling in business, he took a shot at singing. After moving to Bollywood, the track Rabba Ishq Na Hove from the movie Andaaz was well received. In 2002, his song Allah ke Bande from relatively obscure movie Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II, made him a household name. The band Kailasa includes Mumbai musician-brothers Naresh & Paresh who were earlier associated with Bombay Black.

Kher has a uniquely soulful, raw, high-pitched voice. He sang a number of the songs in the bollywood flick Mangal Pandey: The Rising, in which he also had a cameo appearance. His other Bollywood appearances include the movie Corporate in the song 'O Sikander'. His song Teri Deewani from the album of the same name by his band Kailasa and especially the song Ya Rabba from the movie Salaam-e-Ishq is again on the way to become a record-seller. He originally hails from New Delhi, where he learned Hindustani classical music.

His recent venture into the Kannada film industry has proved a huge success. Special mention has to be made to his song "Hale patre" from the movie "Junglee" has proved an huge hit among the audience.In 2007, he participated in a concert tour in North America entitled "The Incredibles", also starring Asha Bhosle, Sonu Niigaam and Kunal Ganjawala.

A R Rahman says
 " I remember how I first heard of him. I had asked Mehboob, our lyricist, for a new voice that is earthy and strong, and he said, I have just the person for you. That voice can only be that of Kailash!' And he sent Kailash to meet me. The moment I heard him, I knew that here was a voice that was so wonderful, and which had its own unique space.... I want to say that Kailash Kher's voice has something that had been lacking a lot -- it had pure soul! Allah Ke Bande is one of my all time favorite songs."