DJ Shahrukh: Pulse like it's EDM

interview

DJ Shahrukh left Pakistan in 2013 under difficult circumstances but continued his musical journey as an EDM artist in Sweden. As he returns to Pakistan after close to a decade, Instep speaks to the artist about changing sounds, his continued association with Pakistani music, and his latest project called Sound Quest.

When DJ Shahrukh left Pakistan in September 2013 under difficult circumstances, he wasn’t sure he was ever going to be able to come back.

The EDM musician and his family were forced to flee the country almost a decade ago, when death threats directed towards his father – a human rights activist who spent years working for peace between India and Pakistan – left them fearing for their safety. With the help of the United Nations, they moved to Sweden, where Shahrukh continued his musical journey.

Earlier this year, he finally managed to return to his homeland amidst a changing political atmosphere with a new project aimed at bridging the divide between the East and the West. Titled Sound Quest, the electro-ethnic venture was funded by the Swedish Arts Council and sees Swedish artists working with Pakistani musicians.

In a chat with Instep, Shahrukh talks about the genesis of Sound Quest and what he hopes to achieve with this endeavour.

Instep: How did it feel to come back to Pakistan after all these years?

DJ Shahrukh: When I was in Pakistan, I always dreamt of travelling [across] Europe. By a twist of fate, when I did leave the country, I didn't think I would ever be able to return, and to come back to Pakistan became a dream.

My Swedish friends had been showing me around their country for almost eight years, and now it was my turn to return the favour. Nothing beats Pakistani hospitality. My Pakistani friends were always there making sure that we had no problems during our trip. Forgotten songs played as we drove through the familiar streets of Lahore and Islamabad. It was very euphoric.

Instep: How did the Sound Quest project come about?

DJ Shahrukh: I had always wanted to show off Pakistan, her natural beauty, and immensely talented and hardworking, warm-hearted people. I am a dreamer, and it was a kind of a surreal dream that brought me to create Sound Quest. 

Earlier last year, a group of artists from the North of Sweden reached out to me saying that they were interested in visiting Pakistan with me. I travelled up to a place called Piteå, just a few miles from the Arctic Circle to work with them. Things didn't work out with that group, and I came back to Stockholm with little hope left.

But then I met Kenzin, with whom I initially shared a studio space. We were both broke, and realized that we can't pay studio bills, and so we started discussing ideas. We made a good team and I brought him in as co-founder on my plans. The Swedish Arts Council accepted our application for support and our project got partially funded. It was all we needed to be taken seriously. 

After that I wrote to, met, or worked with at least 50 artists from all over Sweden, and they all kept dropping out at different stages of the project, with different reasons. Most of them were uncertain. The global pandemic, the image of Pakistan in the West, etcetera. But eventually I was able to gather a group that was the perfect fit for this project.

Instep: How long did it take you to put the whole thing together? Did you face any challenges along the way?

DJ Shahrukh: I had already been brainstorming and having discussions with different people about starting such a collaboration for a few years. We began with trying to bring Pakistanis to Sweden, but that came with its own set of complications and didn't quite float.

Sound Quest really took off in October 2020, when our first single came out. After that I started putting together the travel while my partner Kenzin started compiling the production. And within four months, we were in Pakistan!

Besides finding the right artists, the main challenges were to raise funds and partnerships for such a project, during a global pandemic. No one was convinced that we would actually make this happen. It is no secret that the Western media has portrayed a very bad and unfair picture of Pakistan, and to convince artists otherwise was also not easy.

Instep: How were the Swedish artists chosen?

DJ Shahrukh: I wanted to create a group that was diverse in talents, big enough to make an impact but small enough to be able to manage. While skill and talent was important, it was most important that the artists were free-spirited and open-minded. They were going to travel across the globe to a place with people, culture, weather, norms, laws, traditions, and values completely opposite to theirs, and so they had to understand and respect that. I wanted to make sure that any artists who come with us, come to enjoy the experience, not criticise it. We have already had enough criticism; we don't need more. We need collaborations, opportunities.

I was looking for those who could look through the mainstream propaganda. Who were curious about knowing more than what CNN is telling them. Those who had faith in art and music, regardless of the political noise that surrounds it.

The artists who put their faith in me, and for which I am forever indebted to them, are producer, singer, and instrumentalist Felix Gröndahl (Kenzin); singer and instrumentalist Eva Dunder; table player Eric Ji; photographer and backing vocalist Tuva li; and DJ and rapper Clara (Zima.Vit_e).

Instep: How would you describe the music you guys have come up with?

DJ Shahrukh: The idea is to create a new sound that takes elements of electronic music of the West and combines them with elements of traditional ethnic music originating from remote locations in the East. Which brought me to coin the term “electro-ethnic”.

We steer clear of any formula to commercial success. That is not what drives us. Our music is a mix of rap and vocal melodies in mixed languages like English, Urdu, and Swedish with electronic beats and organic rhythms, and it is hard to put any of our tracks in a specific category or genre.

Instep: How many songs did you work on?

DJ Shahrukh: We drafted about 10 tracks, out of which at least 6 will be complete and release-ready by the end of this year.

Our first single is ‘One More Time’. It shows the feeling of travelling for musical exchange. The song is about staying true to your purpose and gives motivation to always keep moving forward.

The second track we have released is ‘Som En Våg’ which translates to 'like a wave'. The song takes inspiration from the life of a wave, how it continues through the sands of time. This is a fusion of Swedish folk singing styles jojk and kulning with the traditional Pakistani instrument tabla, all merged together in an EDM arrangement. We shot the music video for this track in Malam Jabba.

We returned from Pakistan with loads of audiovisual material, and it took us time to compile all of that and make it release-ready.

Instep: How did you choose which Pakistani artists to work with? Why don’t Pakistani artists feature on all the songs (like the first two singles you have released)?

DJ Shahrukh: The production process was very technical. I was reaching out to many artists; Harsakhian, Saakin, Ali Noor, and Ali Azmat, to name a few, and of course their response was very accommodating, but due to the uncertainties of the pandemic restrictions and challenges of distance and time, a synergy could not develop.

But then producer Ali Mustafa helped us in the recording and production process and introduced us to some really cool artists, like Zoha Zuberi and Mulazim Hussain, who worked with us on some tracks.

As much as we wanted to, unfortunately we couldn't work enough with artists in Pakistan to have them feature on all tracks. As this is not a sponsored project, artists had to work with us for free, which was not very motivating. In the future we hope that some brands will get involved and help us bring more Pakistani presence in our productions.

Instep: What role did Ali Zafar play in this project?

DJ Shahrukh: Ali Zafar was our biggest support throughout the trip. We were literally lounging in his studio all the time. He introduced us to many artists. He arranged a tour of the Lahore walled city for us, and took us to hang out with kids at an orphanage supported by The Ali Zafar Foundation. We met Shoaib Akhtar. We had dinner with Yousuf Salahuddin at his Haveli and discussed the music industry in Pakistan and his journey as a producer. We even played at a Lahori wedding, opening for Ali's performance. Ali hooked us up with PC Malam Jabba, where we did a performance and recorded a music video as well. All of these experiences put a really incredible impression on the foreign artists.

Instep: What does the future hold for Sound Quest?

DJ Shahrukh: The main aim of Sound Quest is to promote cultural tourism to Pakistan from Sweden and other Scandinavian and European countries. Pakistan has a much better image in the West now than it did just a few years ago, and we are happy that tourism is of the highest priority.

Currently we are working on our Pakistan Tour 2022, which aims to have a more diverse range of artists, with an even bigger production value and impact. Sound Quest will continue to bring Swedish and Pakistani artists together on a platform to create musical fusion.

- Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 25th July, 2021 *

A Very Punchable Face - charmingly self-deprecating

book review

SNL comedian Colin Jost’s affable memoir takes an amusing look at his life and career

Book: A Very Punchable Face

Author: Colin Jost

Full disclosure: I, personally, have never wanted to punch Colin Jost in the face. Based on my limited exposure to his presence via Saturday Night Live clips on YouTube, he has seemed too bland and unexceptional to warrant such a visceral response. But apparently there is something about his work, image, and – clearly – face, that rubs some people the wrong way. He addresses all this and more in A Very Punchable Face, a charmingly self-deprecating memoir that just might make you want to punch him a little bit less.

For those unfamiliar with the bearer of this fist-clench-inspiring mug, Jost is a comedian who joined SNL as a writer in 2005, before eventually becoming one of the show’s co-head writers and the co-anchor of the Weekend Update segment. He is also the latest husband of Scarlett Johansson. Which means he has the seal of approval of one of the most gorgeous and successful actresses on Earth. And when you read his book, you can kind of see why ScarJo fell for him.

Jost has, of course, joined a long list of comedians who have written memoirs. But the thing about actor/comedian books (by the likes of Amy Schumer, Mindy Kaling, and Anna Kendrick, to name a few), which often come in the form of essay collections is … they can be quite underwhelming, and even, at times, read like a random set  of lazy blog posts the celebrities typed on their phone in their downtime

To Jost’s credit, A Very Punchable Face actually reads like a book, and a fairly good one at that, at least as far as celebrity memoirs go.

The comedian covers a range of topics – his childhood in Staten Island; his Irish Catholic upbringing (and its many side effects); not being able to speak until he was four years old; his accident-prone nature; attending Harvard (with the likes of Pete Buttigieg and Mark Zuckerberg) and graduating with a (very practical) degree in The History and Literature of Russia and Britain after abandoning his stated major, Economics; and many other (often humorous) life experiences – in the amusing volume.

But his focus remains, primarily, on his comedy career. Jost charts his career trajectory, from writing for the Harvard Lampoon, trying to find a job at late night shows, and writing for an animation company, to finally submitting a sketch packet to SNL and subsequently landing his dream job, which he has now held for fifteen years.

A fairly large chunk of the book sees Jost talking about his SNL experiences. As he recounts his successes and failures at the television series, shares behind-the-scenes titbits, and lists the standout sketches that he penned, you would have to be fairly interested in the long-running Lorne Michaels sketch show to really appreciate and enjoy his recollections on the topic.

Ultimately, Jost’s main strength here is that he knows how to tell a story and connect with readers. His prose is often funny, and a couple of his tales – particularly the essay about his mother, who worked as the chief medical officer in New York for more than two decades, including during 9/11 – are quite affecting. Plus his self-deprecation is instantly disarming. And even if the book does not completely change your opinion of him, his self-awareness and wit will at least leave you with the sense that behind this supposedly punchable face is a rather intelligent guy.

- By Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 4th July, 2021 *

Recap: June 2021

roundup

Jerry Seinfeld announced a movie about Pop-Tarts; Megan Boone left The Blacklist; the Foo Fighters went disco; and more news from the month of June

Film

- The road goes ever on and on for the Tolkien cinematic universe. Our nerdy hearts were thrilled when it was announced that another visit to Middle Earth is forthcoming. A new Lord of the Rings movie – an anime adventure titled The War of the Rohirrim that is set 250 years before the original trilogy – is officially in the works.

- Jerry Seinfeld is making a movie about the invention of the Pop-Tart ... is news that sounds made-up but strangely isn't.

- Here we were, thinking Lin-Manuel Miranda can do no wrong. Turns out, we were wrong. The film adaptation of his musical In the Heights ended up plagued by accusations of colourism, generating backlash for not featuring Afro-Latino performers in prominent roles and leading Miranda to issue an apology.

- Indiana Jones and the ravages of time? Harrison Ford injured his shoulder while rehearsing for a fight scene for the upcoming fifth Indy movie.

- John Boyega abruptly left the film Rebel Ridge mid-shoot. “Family reasons” were cited as the official explanation, although rumours quickly surfaced that he had “abandoned the project” for reasons including “his dissatisfaction with the script and his accommodations”.

- Issa Rae joined the voice cast of the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse sequel. Which is good news because Issa Rae joining any project is always good news.

Television

- Megan Boone exited The Blacklist several seasons after our interest bid adieu to the show.

- After getting cancelled for speaking out against cancel culture amidst a racism controversy a few months ago, Chris Harrison officially departed from the Bachelor franchise.

- Barack and Michelle Obama announced We the People, their 10-episode Netflix animated series that will teach children about government.

- Bye bye Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. The series was cancelled by NBC after just two season. Also canned: the Netflix series Grand Army, Jupiter’s Legacy, and Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!; Fox’s The Moodys; and NBC’s Manifest.

Music

- Time to dust off those flair pants and platform shoes: the Foo Fighters announced they are releasing a new album as disco alter-ego the Dee Gees. 

- UFO enthusiasts Angels and Airwaves sent a capsule into space to announce their new album, Lifeforms, and play an “out-of-this-world premiere” of the disc. If there’s an alien invasion anytime soon, we know who to blame.

- Noel Gallagher wants Michael Fassbender to portray him in a biopic. We approve of this casting choice and would like the film industry to get on it ASAP, please and thank you.

- The late Nipsey Hussle was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The 38 honourees this year also included DJ Khaled, Black Eyed Peas, Ashanti, Avril Lavigne, Francis Ford Coppola, Salma Hayek, Willem Dafoe, Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kenan Thompson, and Macaulay Culkin.

Stars

- Everyone sent love to Blink-182’s wonderful Mark Hoppus who revealed that he has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. 

- In a fiery testimony, Britney Spears tore her family and management a new one and asked for her 13-year conservatorship to end.

- Possible queerbaiting allegations and mouthing racist slurs? Yikes! The increasingly problematic Billie Eilish apologised for resurfaced videos, (in part) pleading ignorance and insisting she did not mean for her actions to cause hurt.

- Kanye West and Irina Shayk may or may not have become an item.

- Nick Cannon had several new reasons to celebrate Father’s Day this month. Two new members joined his rapidly expanding brood. The comedian welcomed twin sons – Zion Mixolydian and Zillion Heir – with DJ Abby De La Rosa, just six months after the birth of his daughter Powerful Queen with model Brittany Bell, who is also the mother of his son Golden. He, of course, has twins – Moroccan and Monroe – with singer Mariah Carey as well. And apparently he is now expecting a child – his seventh! – with model Alyssa Scott.

- Cody Simpson tried his hand at competitive swimming. He made it to the final of the Australian Olympic trials in the 100m butterfly but then finished in last place. Better luck next time?

- By Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 27th June, 2021 *

In the picture: Road Trip

short film review

The latest Digestive Showtime short film Road Trip goes down a worn-out path to arrive at its inevitable destination

Road Trip

Starring: Feroze Khan, Ahmed Majeed Agloria, Waliya Najib, Shees Sajjad Gul, Mehmood Aslam, and Nargis Rashid
Directed by: Sultan Ghani Afzal

The concept of the road trip has driven numerous films ever since the success of movies like It Happened One Night (1934) and Stagecoach (1939) fuelled its popularity almost a century ago. Plenty – some would argue too many – of mainstream Hollywood actors have gone on a cinematic road trip at one point or another, and even our local industry has dabbled in travelling from Karachi to Lahore and beyond. Filmmakers around the world have embraced the genre, but while the conceit has clearly shown no signs of waning in popularity, the concept needs an exceptional script or a creative turn (like the hidden camera angle of the recent Bad Trip or the robot uprising of the even more recent The Mitchells vs. the Machines), at this point, to really merit attention or praise.

Creativity, unfortunately, is in scant supply in the latest local attempt at a road movie, the short film Road Trip that is about as imaginative as its title.

Two estranged brothers are at the centre of this overlong short. The tale is told in the form of an anecdote being relayed by a father to his son.

Ayan (Feroze Khan), who has returned from London upon the news of his father’s illness, embarks on a long car ride with his younger brother, Hamza (Ahmed Majeed Agloria). How or why they have reunited before Ayan’s return to his family home where Hamza supposedly lives is not entirely clear, but the two are, at any rate, “forced to share a long ride across the country”. They, of course, eventually bond, as the film delivers the message that, well, family is important.

Along the way, they meet a group of vacationing ladies. Where that storyline heads will not surprise anyone who has ever seen a movie before.

The location and views, where they are allowed to shine, are beautiful. But a short film that is only half an hour in length has no excuse to drag, and that is what Road Trip does for several stretches. And while the acting is serviceable, something is distractingly off about the audio/dubbing which is perhaps, in part, what makes many of the exchanges feel forced or artificial.

And the point remains, ultimately, that the road movie doesn’t have to be pedestrian – everything doesn’t need to be tired or literal or obvious. You can deliver the same messages with more creativity and arrive at the same destination a lot more entertainingly. Just throw in a robot uprising or two, or at least hire writers who can make the journey convincing.

Rating: 2 out of 5

- By Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 27th July, 2021 *

The Croods: A New Age - more prehistoric fun

 movie review

The Croods: A New Age

Starring (voices): Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, Cloris Leachman, Peter Dinklage, Leslie Mann, and Kelly Marie Tran

Directed by: Joel Crawford

More than seven long years after they first ventured onto the big screen, The Croods are finally back with a new adventure. The prehistoric family went on a search for a new home in their 2013 outing and they now continue their journey in the sequel A New Age.

As the proceedings commence, we catch up with the Palaeolithic pack that includes stubborn patriarch Grug (voiced by Nicolas Cage), his wife Ugga (Catherine Keener), their rebellious teenage daughter Eep (Emma Stone), pre-teen son Thunk (Clark Duke), and youngest child Sandy (Kailey Crawford), as well as Ugga’s mother Gran (Cloris Leachman). 

Grug is still annoyed by Eep’s relationship with Guy (Ryan Reynolds) who wandered into their lives in the first film, and worried that the pack will split up.

A series of events lead the Croods to encounter the Bettermans – husband Phil (Peter Dinklage), wife Hope (Leslie Mann), and daughter Dawn (Kelly Marie Tran) – who live in a giant tree house and appear to be a couple of rungs up the evolutionary ladder.

At first seemingly friendly, the families soon begin to clash. But when a threat emerges that could impact both the households, the Croods and the Bettermans must put aside their differences and work together, learning lessons about unity along the way.

With many characters and way too many subplots, the proceedings quickly become quite chaotic. Luckily though, there is much fun to be had amidst this chaos. It’s an enjoyable adventure that delivers positive lessons and moments of mirth. That said, however, it doesn’t always work uniformly well for viewers of all ages. The slapstick humour is better suited for children than adults; on the other hand, Eep and Guy’s relationship drama isn’t likely to engage very young viewers.

Still, while it may not be a masterpiece, The Croods: A New Age will keep you entertained for an hour and a half, even if it doesn’t leave a very lasting impression.

The Croods: A New Age is rated PG by the MPAA.

- By Sameen Amer

Young World, Dawn - 26th June, 2021 *

PiFF 2021 – the power of women

talking movies

It is 4:00 pm on Sunday evening, the 13th of June. Five remarkable women – media mogul Sultana Siddiqui, journalist and activist/advocate Tasneem Ahmar, actor and entrepreneur Atiqa Odho, and actor-cum-filmmaker Sangeeta, along with their moderator Tazeen Hussain – are assembled at the Frere Hall in Karachi, the panellists of a seminar, awaiting the session’s commencement.

I am sitting in Lahore, streaming the event a thousand kilometres away. Isn’t technology wonderful!

It’s the third and final day of the 2021 Pakistan International Film Festival, or PiFF for short. Each day has seen panellists from the media industry come together to discuss various topics revolving around Pakistani cinema. The impending arrival of the tardy chief guest is all that’s holding up the start of the current day’s session.

*****

For the uninitiated, PiFF is an annual gathering held under the auspices of the Karachi Film Society (KFS) which itself is the brainchild of the aforementioned powerhouse that is Sultana Siddiqui. First conducted in 2018, the event offers workshops, seminars, and film screenings with the aim of highlighting Pakistan’s cinematic potential while empowering new artists and talent. It may have a ways to go before it reaches the level of its international counterparts, but the fledgling festival still has its sights set on strengthening the entertainment industry, bringing positive change, and showcasing local talent globally.

*****

After a year’s break on account of the coronavirus pandemic, PiFF has returned this year for its third outing with COVID safety precautions in effect. The three-day 2021 event has been dubbed the Women’s Edition, meant to celebrate, promote, and honour women and their contribution to Pakistani cinema. The topics under discuss, though, are wider in scope.

The first day of this year’s festival saw a seminar centred on the lack of growth of Pakistani films in the international market and the reasons and challenges behind this slow growth. The panellists – Omer H. Paracha, Sheikh Amjad Rasheed, Irfan Malik, and Selina Rashid – discussed the quality of films, low return on investment, the need to experiment with various genres, and upgrading technology and equipment. Senator Faisal Javed Khan, who is also the Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting, then voiced the need to present our own ideas to the world in our films, and pledged government support for the arts in his keynote speech.

Day two saw a panel discussion – featuring Javed Jabbar, Dr. Fouzia Saeed, Ameena Saiyid, Amin Hashwani, Dr. Farah Essa Zaidi, Duraid Qureshi, and Fizza Ali Meerza – on issues and challenges related to the industry post COVID-19, and also touched on the portrayal of women in Pakistani media, access of the lower and middle class to cinema, and the need to establish a digital entertainment platform. Fawad Chaudhry, the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, was on hand for the keynote this time which commented on the changing times and reiterated the government’s intention to lend a hand to the entertainment sector.

*****

It’s day three now, and we are waiting to hear from the panellists. The topic? “Gender stereotypes in media and what are women doing about it?” Some might find the wording a little iffy – putting the onus of responsibility on the women when it shouldn’t be – but you hope it’s nothing more than a (well-intentioned) faux pas.

Things finally get going after the belated arrival of Syed Sardar Ali Shah, the Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Antiquities.

Sultana Siddiqui – the President of KFS and the Hum Network – talks about entering the television industry at a time when very few women were in the field and subsequently helping bring other ladies to the industry. She is weary of how judgmental people are towards women but heartened by the fact that today it is a respected field for girls. Her aim is to portray issues and topics that change the mind-set of people. She also raises the importance of empowering girls, the need for more women in policy making, the change that women in power bring, and also says that the industry needs government facilitation.

Tasneem Ahmar – the founder and director of the Uks Research Center – says there is discrimination against women everywhere, including in the media and entertainment arenas. She also expresses frustration on the very limited range of topics – muhabbat, shadi, talak – in our dramas and hopes for change.

Actress and filmmaker Sangeeta, too, says she entered the film industry at a time when it wasn’t the norm for women, and how much she now appreciates the work of the youth. She also laments the backlash faced when dramas try to do something different.

Actress Atiqa Odho – who is, among other things, also the CEO of Odho Brand/Cosmetics and Odho Productions – speaks about butting heads with regulatory institutions and the censor board, and opines that PEMRA needs to change its mind-set, allow better content, and reassess their dos and don’ts. She also talks about the role of the entertainment industry in a country’s perception management and imaging, and the need to learn how to better market ourselves.

The ladies share their experiences, motivations, hopes, and frustrations. But all too quickly, the time runs out. The hour is up. A few questions with the audience – about the complete absence of film stars in Pakistan and the importance of writers – follow. Then Syed Sardar Ali Shah appreciates the efforts of the KFS team in organizing the event and creating meaningful dialogue, talks about the role of women in the history of entertainment, and assures his government’s support for the industry. As his speech ends, the seminar wraps up, and the stream comes to an end.

*****

The session may have only scratched the surface but it’s always good to see women in power raising their voices for what they believe in. And while we may not walk away from this seminar with any dazzling new insights, we are still left with the comfort that there are strong women who are trying to make things better. Good on them. And if their efforts bear fruit, it might be good for us too.

- By Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 20th June, 2021 *

Rider of destiny

interview

Singer and actor Farhan Saeed speaks to Instep about his journey in the entertainment industry, from his time with pop rock band Jal to his upcoming film Tich Button

Buried under a layer of dust in a forgotten corner of a bookshelf, I locate, after a considerable amount of searching, my old university yearbook. Each person in the 2001 batch at the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (FAST-NU) has their own page in this rather hefty volume. It takes me a while to find the entry I am looking for: roll number 1413 – Farhan Saeed Butt.

Several of his friends have shared their comments about him on his page. There is a fair degree of ribbing going on.

“A guy with a beautiful voice and zero coding skills,” one class fellow jests. “I remember the time when I spent a whole night teaching these guys assembly [language] and he got a zero in the final!”

“Jughatain jitne marzi lugwa lo, mazak jitna marzi karwa lo, bus kaam koi nahi kurna,” another japes before warning all his female fans that Farhan “sukht flirt hai and buhat dhokay baaz hai.”

“Ego honi chahiye banday mein, per bila wajha ki nahi,” yet another friend writes, a stuck-out tongue emoticon firmly in tow.

So a lot of glowing testimonials about a promising young man, basically. 

All kidding aside though, there is one thing that nearly all the commentators agree upon: the dude has an amazing voice. It’s this voice that has propelled Farhan to fame.

The story, as he recalls, begins on the grounds of the aforementioned university where a reluctant performance unexpectedly ended up changing his life.

“There was an event at FAST that my friends were arranging,” he reminisces, “and they had a slot of ten minutes which they were not sure what to do with. They asked me if I could perform. I was very dicey at the start, but when they had no other option, I agreed to sing. I did two songs and performed for about 10 to 15 minutes.”

It just so happened that one Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan was in the audience. “I, of course, knew that Xulfi was two years senior to me at FAST. Many members of the band EP studied there, including Fawad who was one year senior to me.” Xulfi heard Farhan sing and subsequently introduced him to Jal guitarist Goher Mumtaz who had, by this time, parted ways with Atif Aslam. They quickly bonded and started recording songs that would end up on the group’s first album, Aadat. The rest, as they say, is history.

“Jal was one of the best time periods of my life,” he states. “It seems like some other life now. It’s been a while. I spent ten years with the band. Some of the best times of my life were with Jal. The band life is, in itself, a great thing to experience. And yes, we had a lot of fun and Alhamdulillah, by the grace of God, we saw the best times any band could see. We toured the world, we saw hardships together, we saw [success] together. I was a teen when I joined Jal, and I left when I was 28, so a decade of my life, my prime youth, was with Jal, and I loved every bit of it! I miss it sometimes, but it’s beautiful and I want it to be like that in my memories forever.”

Did he face any challenges while navigating a solo career after his exit from the band? “It’s a new world altogether when you go solo,” he replies. “You have to do everything yourself. In Jal my role was that of a vocalist. When you go solo, you need to compose, write songs, jam with other people. In a band, when you’re working with one composer, your chemistry and understanding develops. When you go solo, you have to work with a lot of composers and teams. So yeah, it was quite challenging at the start, but by the grace of God, it worked for me. In the early stage of my solo career, Allah really helped me make good songs that people actually liked. That belief and the fans’ trust in my work – that gave me confidence. It was difficult at the start, but then things went smoothly. All that was because of fans accepting my music.”

Looking back at his early solo releases, he is proud of songs like ‘Pi Jaun’, his collaboration with singer Momina Mustehsan; the track ‘Naam-e-Wafa’ which appeared on the soundtrack of a Bollywood movie; and ‘Roiyaan’, a track he wrote with Kumaar when he was in India, and which subsequently won him the Song of the Year trophy at the Lux Style Awards and the Best Solo Single accolade at the Hum Awards.

His next musical release is a collaboration with another popular singer. “Because of COVID and lockdown, I had time on my hands and was able to give time to my music. Very soon you’ll see my new singles coming out. One of them is with Aima Baig. It’s called ‘Akhiyan’ and it will be out in a week or so. It will be followed by two to three other big releases. Fans who love my music … I haven’t done justice to them in the past two to three years, so I’m going to make it up to them. This year and next year will see a lot of music releases. I do hope COVID goes away very soon and we can return to the stage and perform for our fans, because performing on stage will always be my first love.”

Speaking of his serendipitous foray into the music industry, Farhan agrees that fortune played a huge role in the trajectory of his professional life. “I never thought that I was going to be a musician,” he says. “I think it was destiny. Nothing was planned at all.”

Singing, of course, is no longer Farhan’s sole claim to fame. Of late, it’s his acting career that has been keeping the multi-hyphenate entertainer busy.

“Just as music was destiny for me, acting was destiny for me too,” he says. “When I was doing music, both with Jal and as a solo artist, I got quite a few acting offers from India and Pakistan, and I explicitly said no because I never thought I was going to be an actor. I never thought I could act. I hadn’t discovered that side. I wasn’t thinking about that at all, so I said no to quite a few acting projects, one of which was a Bollywood movie.” 

Then the drama De Ijazat Jo Tu came along and enticed Farhan into the world of acting. “When I started doing it, then I wanted to do it perfectly. When I start something, I really want to master the art of doing it. I soon got the [hang] of it. Then came Udaari, which was one of the best projects, one I was lucky to be offered. Then Suno Chanda. Everybody loved these two dramas. So I got the confidence and I really liked being in front of the camera. Working in music and acting complemented each other. It still works for me.”

Farhan sees Suno Chanda as the highlight of his career and the project that made him who he is as an actor. “I never thought it was going to do so well. When you’re doing a project, you do it hoping people will like it but you actually never know if it’s going to be a hit or flop because there is no formula for it.” That said, he sees Udaari as the turning point of his career. “When I worked with such brilliant actors by my side, I learned a lot.”

The latest drama we saw him in was Prem Gali which is another project that is very special to him. “The script was close to me. The family values, the neighbourhood, everything … I really liked the concept. It had social messages that are very important right now. I think it was brilliantly written and above all I had such brilliant actors by my side. Each one of them was a treat to watch. So I learned a lot. Prem Gali was one of the best experiences I had.”

He hopes to keep entertaining his fans with even better performances in the future. Among his upcoming ventures is the webseries Ruswai that is being directed by Wajahat Rauf and also stars Hania Amir. And then there is the film, Tich Button. “Tich Button is a darling project. It’s the first project by our production house Shooting Star Studio. It was tough being a producer for the first time, and then acting in it while also being a producer was a tough job too. But I loved every bit of it and worked really hard. Me, Urwa [Hocane], Qasim [Ali Mureed], we all worked really, really hard. The film stars me alongside Iman Ali, Feroze Khan, and Sonya Hussain. The ensemble cast also includes Sohail Ahmed and Qavi Khan sahib. Faiza Iftiqhar wrote it.” The release of the film has unfortunately been delayed by the ongoing pandemic but Farhan is eager for the movie to be unveiled. “I have a very good feeling about it. InshaAllah people will like it. It was a very good experience and it was also very, very, very challenging. We can’t wait to share it with our audience.”

The aforementioned Urwa is, of course, Farhan’s lovely significant other. Their high profile romance has been keeping gossip columnist busy for the better part of a decade. Lately, however, there has been much speculation about their marriage and rumours have been swirling about a supposed split. That’s a topic Farhan is not inclined to discuss. Speak to him about a lack of privacy though and you quickly realize he has made his peace with it. “The only downside of fame is that there is no private life,” he says. “People can comment on your life, people can comment on whatever you do.” But he understands where that interest is coming from. “At the end of the day that’s what you work for actually. When people love you, they like you so much that they think they have the right to comment on anything you do in your personal life too, because it’s just not about your talent anymore; it’s you as a personality. I think that’s the price you have to pay and honestly I learned this a long time ago, and I live with it. I don’t mind. I know when to close my ears and I usually don’t get affected by that. What I know is that whatever we do is because of the love of the fans and the love we want to get, and all the attention they give us all the time is worth it.”

If he had a do-over, is there anything he would have done or handled differently? “Professionally I don’t know; I don’t think so. Personally, maybe, yeah,” he says before pausing and reconsidering. “Well, I actually don’t believe in regretting something. What you do right is your success. What you do wrong is a success because you learn from it. So I don’t think I would redo anything in my life [altogether], but maybe something here and there.”

Farhan has certainly come a long way from the youngster in our yearbook who was willing to trade his four years at FAST-NU for a Cornetto. He has clearly made the most of the chances luck has given him, and is disarmingly candid about the fact that he still has a ways to go. “I believe I still have to do my best,” he says. “The best is yet to come. I’ll keep improving and I hope that people will like me in the future too.”

- By Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 30th May, 2021 *