Parvaaz is a Bengaluru rock band that sets Urdu and Kashmiri poetry to slow, heavy, psychedelic rock. The name means "flight". Khalid Ahamed and Kashif Iqbal formed the band in 2010 while in college, and for more than fifteen years Parvaaz has preferred seven-minute songs to radio edits. Their third album, Na Gul Na Gulistan, came out in December 2025, six years after Kun.

This guide covers the band's history, every main release and where to start. We reviewed the new album separately: Parvaaz — Na Gul Na Gulistan review.

Titles, dates, track counts and tracklists come from Apple Music India (artist id 1164466456), checked on 28 October 2026. History comes from Wikipedia and from the interviews quoted in our review. We don't quote stream counts.

The records at a glance

  • Behosh — EP, 5 tracks (Wikipedia dates it 2012; Apple lists 12 June 2013)
  • Khufiya Dastaan — single, 2013
  • Baran — debut album, 8 tracks, August 2014
  • Shaad and Color White — singles, 2017
  • Vodka Diaries — soundtrack EP with Sandesh Shandilya and Harry Anand, 2018
  • Zubaan (Equals Sessions) — single with Gazi Khan, 2019
  • Kun — second album, 9 tracks, October 2019
  • Na Gul Na Gulistan — third album, 8 tracks, 5 December 2025, under exclusive licence to AWAL

Wikipedia also lists Transitions (2016), a feature-length live album with two new songs, "Shaad" and "Colour White", which were released as singles the next year. It isn't on Apple Music India.

A short history

Ahamed and Iqbal started the band in college with Neil Simon on bass, Adarsh Deokota on rhythm guitar and Somarashi Bhattacharjee on drums. That line-up won a string of college competitions in 2010. Drummer Sachin Banandur, from the Bangalore band Insane, joined soon after. Their first single, "Dil Khush", came out in 2011, and the band toured festivals on it. Simon left during a recording session that year and was replaced by Fidel D'Souza from the jazz band Bourbon Street.

The band grew out of Bengaluru's live circuit, the same rooms that produced Swarathma, Thermal and a Quarter and The Lost Symbols. In 2015 Baran won the Toto Funds the Arts award for music.

Co-founder Kashif Iqbal left in 2021. Bharath Kashyap joined on lead guitar the same year, so the line-up since 2021 is Khalid Ahamed (vocals), Bharath Kashyap (guitar), Fidel D'Souza (bass) and Sachin Banandur (drums). The band runs as a private limited company and pays its members salaries from gig earnings.

Behosh (EP)

Five tracks, and long ones:

  1. Behosh (feat. Jerome Mascarenhas)
  2. Marika
  3. Itne Arsay Ke Baad.
  4. Dil Khush (feat. Neil Simon Abel)
  5. Lolmatlai

"Dil Khush", the 2011 debut single, runs past eight minutes here. "Behosh" is the better first listen: six minutes of riff circling before the vocal lifts it, which is the Parvaaz method in miniature.

Khufiya Dastaan (2013)

The single between the EP and the album. A good way into the band if eight-minute songs are a hard sell.

Baran (2014)

The debut album, released independently in August 2014. It was recorded and mixed at Nathaniel Production House in Bangalore with engineer Jason Zachariah. Eight tracks:

  1. Beparwah
  2. Ab Ki Yeh Subah
  3. Gul Gulshan
  4. Roz Roz
  5. Baran
  6. Ghaib
  7. Fitnah
  8. Ziyankar

The title track runs 13:28. Rolling Stone India said it showed the band's "moody and progressive leaning sound". Guests include Sanjeev Naik of Swarathma on violin ("Ab Ki Yeh Subah"), saxophonist Seth Molloy ("Fitnah" and "Ziyankar"), and guitarists Ramanan Chandramouli of Blushing Satellite and Michael Anthony Dias of Mad Orange Fireworks.

Beparwah

The opener and the obvious first song: a slow build to a soaring chorus.

Baran

The centrepiece. Thirteen minutes, and the clearest case for why this band is heard best in full.

Ziyankar

The closer, with Molloy's saxophone. Nearly nine minutes.

Kun (2019)

The second album. Nine tracks:

  1. Kun
  2. Harf
  3. Mushq-E-Gul
  4. Soye Ja.
  5. Shabaan
  6. Zindaano
  7. Katyi Rov
  8. Mastaan
  9. Dasht-Ba-Dasht

Kun is shorter per song than Baran, but still built for listening in order: a 1:44 opening, then longer pieces that peak with "Katyi Rov" (8:04) and "Dasht-Ba-Dasht" (7:06). It was the last album with Kashif Iqbal.

Na Gul Na Gulistan (2025)

The title is Urdu for "neither flower nor garden". Released 5 December 2025, eight tracks, about 37 minutes:

  1. Hu
  2. Talafi
  3. Dogma
  4. Faani
  5. Kauaʻi ʻōʻō
  6. Zor-o-Zar
  7. Khwab Gah
  8. Na Gul Na Gulistan

The band told interviewers the pandemic shut everything down for about two years and finding a new guitarist took time. The title track started as a melody Ahamed sent from Kashmir during the pandemic. "Kauaʻi ʻōʻō" is built around the last recorded call of an extinct Hawaiian bird and came out as a single in November 2025, followed by the two-track "Na Gul Na Gulistan" single. Turkish musicians Ömer Göktepeliler (tambur) and Şükrü Tırkış (clarinet) guest. Read our review for the track-by-track.

What Parvaaz sounds like

Their reference points are psychedelic and progressive rock, not the Indian indie-pop that dominates streaming. The band names Pink Floyd as its biggest influence, with Radiohead in the mix. Songs take their time, guitars are layered rather than shredded, and the vocals often sound more like recitation than pop melody. As they put it: "If it was in English, we'd be called wannabes."

If you know Indian Ocean, the patience will feel familiar, but Parvaaz is darker and more guitar-led. They also sit in the Indian psychedelic rock story and next to the Sufi rock acts who draw on the same poetic tradition.

Where to start

  1. "Khufiya Dastaan" or "Beparwah" to learn the sound.
  2. Baran in full, including the 13-minute title track.
  3. Kun, then our Na Gul Na Gulistan review and the new album.

FAQ

Where is Parvaaz from? Bengaluru. The band formed there in 2010.

Who is in Parvaaz? Since 2021: Khalid Ahamed, Bharath Kashyap, Fidel D'Souza and Sachin Banandur. Co-founder Kashif Iqbal left in 2021.

What language does Parvaaz sing in? Mainly Urdu/Hindustani and Kashmiri.

How many albums has Parvaaz released? Three studio albums: Baran (2014), Kun (2019) and Na Gul Na Gulistan (2025), plus the Behosh EP and the live album Transitions.

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