The strains of their sarod have already mesmerised the Calcutta audience. On Saturday, it was their vocal renditions that created magic. At a concert organised by the Sidha real estate company to unveil their studio apartments in Rajarhat, Xanadu, brothers Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan for the first time gave the city a sample of their singing skills.

“All our concerts in Calcutta have been strictly classical. We don’t sing at such concerts. But we do often sing in experimental concerts, as we have this time,” explains Ayaan.

The brothers are definitely not new to vocals. “Our first album in fact was as singers. Our father Ustad Amjad Ali Khan had composed an album for children and Ayaan and I were among the many kids who sang for it,” remembers Amaan.

Later, as hosts of the popular television show Sa Re Ga Ma, the brothers got a scope to sing Bollywood numbers. “All our CDs, though they basically consist of sarod compositions, have us singing too. And it has been very well received. So, we thought of trying it on stage too. Vocals help the audience connect with the music better,” feels Amaan.

Like for sarod, training in vocals was from their father. “We learnt as kids. But are not trained vocalists,” explains Ayaan. “He would sing to explain the music to us,” Amaan adds. That interplay of sarod and vocals was visible in their performance, whether it be a Sufi rendition, The Blessing, based on Raga Bageshwari, or the Lonely Spirit, based on Raga Jog. Sometimes it is a full song, but often it is just a few refrains between long interludes of music. Not always are there bols, or lyrics, but just the taans of the raga.

On Saturday, Amaan’s full voice soared and dipped effortlessly, whereas Ayaan’s more husky voice, with a touch of the rustic, was as mesmerising. Despite niggling sound worries, the duo strummed up a storm, no less intense than the one that raged outside.

But the sarod remains the first love for both, and their “identity”. Both, however, are also open to singing offers.

“I wouldn’t go up on a stage and just sing, without the sarod. But I can do it in an album or for a film. It really depends on whether the offer excites me,” says Amaan. The brothers are also working on an album of their own. “It’s an Indipop album, and the focus is more on our singing. It should be out by the end of this year,” signs off Amaan.