‘Indian classical music is too complicated for AI to understand’

For sarod player Amaan Ali Bangash, Kolkata has always been a city close to his heart, a place where he loves performing. A regular in the city and one of India’s most beloved classical musicians, Amaan feels the Kolkata audience has grown more patient with performers over the years. “Kolkata has always had an evolved audience. Earlier, people were more vocal about what they liked or didn’t like. They have always respected musicians, but now there’s a bit more patience. No one scolds anyone anymore, which is great, especially for younger artistes. It’s like cricket - you can’t expect a century every day. There will be misses and that’s okay,” he told ‘Millennium Post’ during his visit to Kolkata for NAAD, a festival of dance and music organised by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Kolkata Kendra, in collaboration with the Shankar Ghosh Tabla Foundation.

Being the son of sarod legend Amjad Ali Khan comes with its own set of realisations and responsibilities. “He wasn’t just our father - he was our guru. By the time I was 11 or 12, I started to understand the weight of his legacy. There was no pressure, but a realization. You see his body of work and what he’s creating. But I enjoyed the journey and that’s the key. There’s no point in taking pressure. You have to love what you do. Even today, every time I play the sarod, I truly enjoy myself,” said Amaan, who represents the seventh generation of a musical tradition known as the Senia Bangash school.

In an era where AI is reshaping industries, music is no exception. With generative AI, songs can be composed in seconds and vocals can be replicated to sound like studio recordings. But Amaan firmly believes Indian classical music is too complicated for AI to understand. “AI can’t create an MF Husain or a Vincent Van Gogh. It can only mimic something similar. In the creative arts, even human beings can’t replicate the same piece identically even if it looks like the original one. So, for AI to understand the depth of Indian classical music? That’s just too complicated,” said Amaan, who recently teamed up with his brother Ayaan and folk legend Malini Awasthi for their Holi album ‘Colours and Celebrations’.