About
Chaar Yaar (the four friends) is a Sufi-music ensemble formed in 2004, led by the composer, vocalist, poet and film theorist Madan Gopal Singh, with guitarist Deepak Castelino, sarod player Pritam Ghosal and a percussionist. The ensemble gives musical voice to the mystic poetry of the Sufi and bhakti traditions, from Baba Farid and Rumi to Bulle Shah, Shah Hussain and Kabir.
Chaar Yaar came into existence in 2004, when three professional musicians joined the singer, poet and cinema scholar Madan Gopal Singh, son of the Punjabi poet Harbhajan Singh, who had long performed Sufi poetry. Taking their name from the phrase Allah, Mohammad and Chaar Yaar, the ensemble has traversed the Sufi and mystic canon, from the 12th- and 13th-century verse of Baba Farid and Rumi onward, performing across India and the world, at festivals, universities and sacred-music gatherings, and bringing a scholar's depth and a mystic's spirit to the stage.
The artistry
At the centre of Chaar Yaar is Madan Gopal Singh's erudite, expressive voice and his deep engagement, as scholar and singer, with Sufi and mystic verse across Punjabi, Urdu and Persian. Around it, guitar and banjo, sarod and percussion create an intimate, transnational chamber-Sufi sound that has carried these texts, and their message of love, humility and dissent, to audiences across the world.
[Atlas Perspective] Chaar Yaar is a rare combination of scholarship, artistry and spirit, one of India's most respected Sufi ensembles. For festivals, cultural-diplomacy initiatives and literary-spiritual events, they are an outstanding, differentiated choice.
Chaar Yaar has been among the most intellectually serious and moving interpreters of Sufi and mystic poetry in contemporary India, carrying the syncretic message of Baba Farid, Bulle Shah, Kabir and others to national and international audiences. The ensemble bridges scholarship and performance, sustaining a living, socially resonant reading of the Sufi tradition.