Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash: One hour on the stage reflects the other 23 off it

A Grammy win, a rock collaboration and a musical ode to India’s tigers – that’s how sarod maestros Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash sum up the first two months of what they call an already “blessed year.” As their soundscape expands across genres, they remain anchored to one belief – legacy must be earned. In the basement of their Delhi home, surrounded by posters of their father, sarod virtuoso Amjad Ali Khan, the duo speak less about accolades and more about responsibility. “It has already been a blessed year for Ayaan and me. I believe that one’s resume should keep growing, but there is no need to talk about your resume. My father has always taught us one thing – don’t brag. Don’t milk it. Let it go,” says Amaan. Addressing the Grammy win, Ayaan adds, “The audiobook, titled Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, celebrates compassion, humility, kindness and oneness, which is so needed in the world. So, it was really a blessing that it won the Grammy.”

‘We wanted to celebrate the tigers and the resilience of frontline workers in forests’
Marking their association with WWF-India as their Goodwill Ambassadors, the sarod maestros have released a seven-track album Celebrating Our Tigers. Ayaan says, “This was entirely a passion-driven project. I have to give credit to my twins, Abeer and Zohaan, who are now 13. Their growing interest in wildlife shaped the idea.” Amaan adds that their journeys into the jungle began with a desire to draw children closer to nature. “Living in Delhi, you see a lot of kids getting into cars and watches. I’ve always told them to be close to nature. Not realising that being a wildlife enthusiast was an expensive affair (laughs).”
About the album, which took about 10 months to develop, Ayaan notes, “We wanted to celebrate every terrain, every reserve. From Sundarbans and Pench to Ranthambore, each region is identified with its folk music.”

‘For an artiste, engaging the audience is very important’
For the brother duo, experimentation should be organic. Ayaan says, “There is
a lot of appetite for interesting collaborations. You need to know how much is too much and how little is too little.”Echoing Ayaan’s thought, Amaan says, “My father always says, ‘don’t be the best, be the most loved person.’ Once the audience connects with you, they start accepting you in different forms that you’re experimenting with.”
For them there’s a difference between performing and engaging. “On the stage, one is an entertainer. But it is important to be an engager. Engaging the audience is very important; the idea is that the audience becomes your best friend. That cut-off – that I am this, you are that – that doesn’t work,” shares Amaan.
After nearly four decades of performing, the emotional bond runs deep. “People have grown up listening to you. Many have heard my father and even my grandfather. There is an emotional connection with the music. But at the end of the day, what matters is what you do up there. You have to deliver, with gratitude and humility. All kinds of things are happening today. Immersive gatherings are popular today, and so is bhajan rock. We may be a part of a bhajan clubbing experience too. People are loving these formats globally, and we must respect that.”

‘Today, the music room is not a physical space anymore’
In classical music tradition, where lineage is sacred, the idea of who truly qualifies as a disciple, one who trains under a guru in person, or one who learns from afar in spirit, remains a deeply layered debate.
In the context of the recent remark by Anoushka Shankar, where she mentioned that Rishab Rikhiram Sharma was not her father’s last or youngest disciple, Amaan says, “There are two forms of disciples. One is like Ekalavya, who never formally learnt from Dronacharya, yet he was a disciple. Then there was Arjuna, who learnt directly from him. Both were great warriors. So there are two kinds of disciples, one in the spiritual sense and one in the physical sense. Both honour the guru in their own way.” To this, Ayaan adds, “My father has many spiritual disciples. They may not always take his name, but they play his music. And at some level, that itself is the highest form of salutation and respect, to carry forward his music.” About the guru-shishya parampara, Amaan says, “I don’t believe in the guru-shishya format anymore. This is a new
India. Students see everything today, what you eat, or what you post. So, I see them as younger friends. Aao, suno, seekho.” Ayaan adds his thoughts, “Today, the music room is not a physical space anymore, it is where the guru is essentially.”
Ayaan observes, “Students today have access to immense content. Earlier, one cassette could change a life. Now there are thousands of references. Technically, performers today are very strong across fields. No one is doing a bad job today. Who connects, that’s in the hands of the almighty, is what makes the difference.”

‘Family is above music’
For us, family comes first, say Bangash brothers. Amaan, who used to love going out, finds comfort at home. He says, “For me, family is above music. Conversations about music happen naturally within that familial space. I value being home, working, and spending quality time with Amma, Abba, bhai, and bachche. That’s the truth of life. I am comfortable in my space.” Ayaan adds, “When we perform the Sarod Quintet with the children, the whole family travels together. That’s a blessing. They’ve already performed at venues like the Kennedy Centre and Wigmore Hall and received so much love. I tell them to practise and stay humble. They also contribute creatively. Their exposure to different genres keeps us updated. My father knows about many pop groups, like BTS, because of them.”

On their collaboration with Yungblud and Gorillaz
For some, imagining the sarod alongside rock beats might once have seemed unlikely. But today, the appetite for fresh sounds has grown among both musicians and listeners. Performing with rock artiste Yungblud recently was equally spontaneous, shares Ayaan, “Dominic (Richard Harrison) was requesting that we have a whole rehearsal one day before. But that couldn’t happen. So we just got on a call, and he told us, ‘We’re going to have fun. We’re going to kill it.’ It was wonderful to see this kind of audience in Mumbai celebrating rock. We were thrilled. We have always tried to push the envelope for sarod and classical music into new avenues, but without much planning. This just happened. So it was wonderful to perform that one track with him.”
There is more on the horizon, including The Mountain, by Gorillaz. “It’s a great honour to be a part of the same track as Asha Bhosle ji. It needed the Gorillaz to get us with Asha ji together,” shares Ayaan.

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