Ali goes from sufi to jazz with three singles
This week, Pakistani actor Ali Zafar released the first of three singles, titled Rockstar. 'Main hoon rockstar, mujhe roz hota hai pyaar...' he croons, is a spoof on his own life as an actor.
It’s a rock ‘n’ roll number with Urdu lyrics. Hrithik Roshan, Adnan Sami and Sonu Sood were amongst the first to listen to it and complimented Ali on the song, which has elements of blues. The second is a jazz track, 'Ae dil kissi ki yaad main' and the third, 'Aaj din vede vich' is a Punjabi Sufi song. All three will have Coke Studio-styled videos.
Ali admits that while singles are popular abroad, the Indian and Pakistani markets are yet to accept singers without a filmy album. So why move towards Bolywood rather than take the Hollywood route like Priyanka Chopra? “I should have tried it,” he ruses. “In the West, they have the machinery to promote a single in the right spirit. By getting into production, I am making the kind of movies I want to do, and now I’m also going to work more towards making better music,” he promises.
It’s a rock ‘n’ roll number with Urdu lyrics. Hrithik Roshan, Adnan Sami and Sonu Sood were amongst the first to listen to it and complimented Ali on the song, which has elements of blues. The second is a jazz track, 'Ae dil kissi ki yaad main' and the third, 'Aaj din vede vich' is a Punjabi Sufi song. All three will have Coke Studio-styled videos.
Ali admits that while singles are popular abroad, the Indian and Pakistani markets are yet to accept singers without a filmy album. So why move towards Bolywood rather than take the Hollywood route like Priyanka Chopra? “I should have tried it,” he ruses. “In the West, they have the machinery to promote a single in the right spirit. By getting into production, I am making the kind of movies I want to do, and now I’m also going to work more towards making better music,” he promises.
While in the French capital, Paris for the filming of London Paris New York, he ran into a local fan who recognised him and asked him to croon a song for her. “She admitted she didn’t understand the lyrics but still loved my songs and videos. That’s proof that music is universal,” he says, adding that though he has been writing the singles on sets, in bathroom and on planes, the music is drawn from real life, the track, Udenge, being a prominent example. “It’s a song chronicling the terrible attacks on a Peshawar school in Pakistan.”
