Exclusive! Felt honoured to represent Rajasthan’s culture and tradition at the India Pavilion at Cannes: Mame Khan

From the sand dunes of Jaisalmer to the red carpet at Cannes,

Manganiyar singer Mame Khan

’s musical journey is an inspiring one. A resident of Satto, a village in Jaisalmer, Mame made history by becoming the first folk artiste to open the red carpet for an Indian contingent at the

75th edition of Cannes film festival

. Mame who hails from a family of musicians (his father Ustad Rana Khan was also a folk singer) did his first public show when he was just 12 years old, at India Gate in Delhi in front of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Since then Mame has lent his powerful voice to Bollywood films like Luck By Chance, No One Killed Jessica and ‘Sonchiriya. The 42-year-old artiste has also performed across the world.

At the inaugural ceremony of the India Pavilion at Cannes, Mame wore a traditional Rajasthani costume comprising a pink kurta with matching pajama, black shoes with embellishments, a heavily embroidered midnight blue jacket and a Rajasthani pagri. He says, “I was honoured to have walked the red carpet for the first time at this prestigious international film festival. It was a proud moment for me and my community that I was chosen to represent the culture and tradition Rajasthan has to offer through music and art.” Speaking exclusively to us from Cannes, Mame shares, “I have been to Cannes before as well - the first time was in 1999, I was too young to understand its importance. While walking the red carpet this time with legends like AR Rehman sir I understood the real significance of this festival.”

At the meet and greet, when Mame was asked to sing, he mesmerised the audiences with his rendition of Kesariya Balam. He shares, “As I began singing Ghoomar, I saw a smile on Deepika ji’s face and I requested her to dance. Soon other actresses like Urvashi ji (Rautela), Tamannah ji and Poojaji (Hegde) joined her.” Mame along with his fellow artists Hemant Dangi, Sawai Khan, Saddam Khan performed on Wednesday evening as well. Mame’s Kesariya Balam received a huge round of applause. On being a part of the fest, he further adds, “When I saw people celebrating Rajasthan’s folk music I felt immensely proud of my music -it has given me so much love, affection and recognition from people.” The 45-minute long performance also saw him perform other popular numbers like Ghoomar, Damadam mast kalandar, among others.