British Singer's Rendition Of Faiz Ghazal ‘Gulon Mein Rang Bhare’ Goes Viral

Tanya Wells: An old video of a British singer, Tanya Wells, cover of a ghazal written by Faiz Ahmed Faiz has resurfaced on social media after Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra shared it on Twitter. The London-based musician Tanya Wells shared a wonderful rendition of Gulon Mein Rang Bhare, which went viral in 2016.

Recently, Mahindra caught notice of the video of the ghazal immortalised by Maestro Mehdi Hassan.

“A five-year-old video by British artiste Tanya Wells but I heard it for the first time today. Kitni nazakat hai inki awaaz mein. It changed the quality of this morning...If this is what globalisation is, then bring it on…,” Mahindra tweeted.

A five year old video by British artiste Tanya Wells but I heard it for the first time today. Kitni nazakat hai inki awaaz mein. It changed the quality of this morning...If this is what globalisation is, then bring it on... pic.twitter.com/67XCZkujHf

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) June 21, 2021

In the past year, Wells gained popularity on the internet for her non-accented renditions of Hindustani music. Previously, she has sung compositions by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Nayyara Noor.

How did the British singer grow fond of Hindustani music?

Tanya Wells lived in India for a few years while attending school in the foothills of the Himalayas. Later, she returned to learn Indian classical music and has performed in a number of clubs and festivals on the Indian sub-continent. Wells claims that the sound of Urdu is similar to Hindi and she can pick up the sound because she is more familiar with Hindi.

During her days in school, she used to sing bhajans in various languages – such as Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit and Urdu. And that is where she developed a flair for singing in different languages.

The singer feels that learning to sing different music is a "joyful journey" and all about "pure expression". Yes, I imitate these singers, the way Mehdi Hassan changes his tone when singing a certain word just to bring out emotions, and it’s something I pay attention to. I study how he sings his expressions,” she told the Tribune.

“My interest in ghazals evolved rather recently when I visited India in 2012. I took singing lessons from Guruji Pandit Prabhakar Dhakde. He taught me beautiful Urdu compositions, ghazals and light classical music,” she said in the same interview.

In 2015, she performed a mash-up of the National song of the nation Vande Mataram for the Being Indian YouTube channel.