SUPPORTED BY

SAZ presents RANG-E-THAR… a rare and unmissable evening of vibrant root music
Rang-e-Thar takes us on a leisurely and colourful journey through the myriad flavours of traditional music from the deserts of western Rajasthan. Rare, melodious folk songs, to ecstatic spiritual and Sufi tunes, to robust dance grooves… on to lyrical and rhythmic new songs and tunes (a rarity inRajasthani folk traditions) written and composed by SAZ. This unusual performance is held together by a unique narrative, both informative and anecdotal, that thoroughly engages the audience by providing insights into the meanings of the songs, the lives of the artists, and their music.

Rang-e-Thar is presented by SAZ… masterful artists who emerge through a remarkable lineage, and are immersed a vast and varied musicality, successfully keeping their traditions alive in modern settings while retaining the innocence, charm and depth of their legacy.

SAZ
While the folk legacy in India is still alive and prolific, India’s race towards modernity, however, has resulted in a deep neglect of root traditions. There are artists, however, who continue and grow their traditions in the face of all odds – aiming to make a name for themselves, but more importantly, keep their traditions alive and evolve ways in which younger members of their community can learn to respect and actively engage with these traditions.
SAZ features Asin Khan, superb vocalist and a most proficient master of the Sindhi Sarangi; Sadiq Khan, arguably one of the finest dholak players Rajasthan has to offer in the folk tradition; Zakir
Khan, master of the khartal and wonderful support vocalist; Divya Bhatia, narrator and storyteller of this folk legacy, making sense of the complex realities, hopes and aspirations of these amazing
artists.

ASIN KHAN (Vocals; Sindhi Sarangi – strings)
Asin Langa is arguably the most proficient young master musician in the Sarangiya Langa community, hailing from the deserts of western Rajasthan. His vocals, deeply rooted in desert
traditions and spanning hundreds of years, include the recitation of praise poetry and the genealogy of Langa patrons, the Sindhi Sipahi. Asin specialises in playing the Sindhi Sarangi or folk Sarangi, an unusual, handmade traditional instrument played only by this community and one considered to be the only string instrument in the world having a sound quality that comes closest to the human voice.

The Sarangi was the instrument played for nobility and royalty. Asin’s vast repertoire includes folk instrumentation and Sufi poetry sung to both ancient and new/ improvised compositions and
arrangements.
He was only 10 years old when his father gave him the Sarangi and at the age of 11, he started playing with his father at weddings and a variety of other occasions at their patrons’ residences. He
has participated in many national and international festivals; in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru in India. He has also performed with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on tours in Russia, the USA, France, Germany, Norway, Spain, China, Canada, UK and Italy.

He is also a regular performer at Jodhpur RIFF, India’s leading roots music festival. He has been invited to perform alongside legendary artists such as L. Subramanium, Kavita Krishnamurthy and A.R. Rahman. He is also a highly sought-after musician on All India Radio. In addition to his solo work, he has toured with three collaborations developed by Jodhpur RIFF – the Brian Molley Quartet(Glasgow); Maru Tarang, his collaboration with Australian singer/ songwriter and blues guitarist Jeff Lang; Citadels of the Sun with leading Irish composer and musician Marty Coyle. With Maru Tarang, Asin has played at Celtic Connections in 2014, been part of the showcase at WOMEX 2014 in Spain, headlined at MOSHITO, Johannesburg in 2015 and been on three Australian tours from 2014-16.

With his group SAZ, he has toured extensively in India and more recently presented at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) and at the Mona Foma festival in Tasmania in 2024.
A finalist at the first ever Aga Khan Music Awards (AKMA) in 2019, Asin was a recipient of an AKMA award in 2022. He was also awarded the Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar in 2023, a national award from the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Government of India. Asin lives with his family in Badnava, a few hours away from Jodhpur.

SADIQ KHAN (Dholak – percussion)
Sadiq is one of the finest young Dholak players in Rajasthan. Hailing from the Langa community of traditional musicians, Sadiq has been playing since the age of 8 years and has played widely in India and abroad. Trained by his father and his uncle, the famous Rajasthani Dholak player Jaipu Khan, Sadiq has been part of SAZ since its inception in 2021. He has played extensively across India, in numerous festivals in Delhi, Jaipur, Roorkee, Chitrakoot, Kolkata and at the Jodhpur RIFF. He has also performed in festivals such as the Edinburgh Jazz Festival in the UK, Mona Foma in Tasmania, Australia. And has been on numerous tours in the USA, China, Mexico and Uganda. He lives with his
family in Jodhpur.

ZAKIR KHAN (Khartal – percussion)
Zakir is the son of the legendary master vocalist from the Langa community, Bundu Khan or ‘Kohinoor’ Khan Langa.
The khartal, essentially two pairs of unconnected, flat and smooth pieces of wood, is a rare percussive instrument played only by the Langa and Manganiyar communities of western Rajasthan.

Trained by the khartal maestro Aslam Khan Langa, Zakir mastered its intricacies and technique at an early age and is now a highly sought-after accompanist, a young master of the instrument. He has played with Fazal Qureshi, Hariharan, Grammy-winner Vikku Vinayakram, vocalist Sona Mohpatra, Sabir Khan, Asin Khan and performed extensively across India, including at prestigious events at theSangeet Natak Academi, Taj Utsav and Jodhpur RIFF. He has also travelled as an accompanist with senior folk and classical master musicians to Germany, Spain; Russia, Czech Republic and France (with ICCR), Hungary, China, Portugal, Denmark, Morocco, Italy and the USA.He lives with his family in Jodhpur.

DIVYA BHATIA (Narrator)
Divya is a highly respected theatre actor, and has had pivotal character roles in film and television. He has been working with the traditional musicians of Rajasthan for over 20 years, traveling through villages, working with them in situ and has developed numerous projects and collaborations with them. He is a key part of the SAZ ft. Sumitra project, creating the storyline of the complete set with the musicians, and writing and performing the text as the narrator, gluing the performance together.

Divya is an independent music and theatre producer. He is the festival director of Jodhpur RIFF, India’s leading international roots music festival. He is also visiting faculty for Applied Theatre at the Royal Central School for Speech and Drama, UK. Listed on IMDB, his film roles include those in Talvar, Paa and Delhi Belly and can be seen in television commercials. He is also the ‘father’ on the masthead of the Indian marriage portal www.selectshaadi.com and the lead male in its television commercial.