Hindi film composers who introduced Wadali Brothers mourn loss of younger sibling

Mumbai: Leading composer Uttam Singh as well as music director Krsna Solo, who introduced the Wadali Brothers to Hindi cinema, mourned the passing of singer Pyarelal Wadali. The siblings' partnership ended as the younger of the two died in Amritsar at age 65 Friday.

Apart from performing on stage and judging TV reality shows, the Wadali Brothers had also sung for a few Hindi films, including Pinjar, Tanu Weds Manu and Mausam.

The Sufi lyrics that they chose for their songs drew from a gamut of poets, from Hazrat Amir Khusro and Bulle Shah to newcomer Sarabjit Sinha. It was this range that drew the likes of director Chandraprakash Dwivedi to experiment with them for Hindi cinema. In 2003, Dwivedi chose composer Uttam Singh for his magnum opus Pinjar, and suggested he try the Wadali Brothers.
Recounting his experience of working with them, Uttam Singh said to TOI, "I recall how they loved their food and drink. Before the recording, they were anxious for me to arrange Black Label in their hotel room, and I did. The recording itself spanned two and a half hours. I gave them a rough outline because it is very difficult to bind classical singers into a fixed format. I picked and chose the best mukhda and antara and deleted the rest. That is the iconic version we retained in the film.”

Their easygoing lifestyle rang alarm bells when the brothers were questioned by police for possessing live cartridges in 2011.

Music director Krsna Solo composed ‘Ai rangrez mere’ for them in the film ‘Tanu Weds Manu’. He said, “I simply cannot imagine the existence of the Wadali Brothers without Pyarelalji. They abstained from Bollywood music for decades because it's a limiting factor for untamed lionhearts that they were. But I was lucky to connect with them at once. We experienced a soul connection. My heart goes out to (his elder brother) Puran Chandji for the loss of his beloved brother.''
The rare teams of brothers who perform together display a certain chemistry that enhances the charm of their gayaki. A perfect example would be ghazal singers Ahmed Hussain and Mohammed Hussain of Jaipur. The siblings smile and nod at each other and at the accompanists, even the spectators, especially at the punchline of the she'r. This encourages musicians to perform better and engages the audience more.

Unlike them, the Wadalis did not exchange glances in each other's direction. Pyarelal once said, “We don't look at each other while singing together. We can sense each other in our hearts.”



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