Ali Zafar
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| Ali Zafar | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 18, 1980 |
| Origin |  Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan |
| Genre(s) | Pop, Electronic |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician, composer, actor, model, painter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, Multiple instruments |
| Years active | 2003–Present |
| Label(s) | Fire Records |
| Website | www.alizafar.net |
Ali Zafar (Urdu: علی ظفر) also known as Prince of Pop, is a Pakistani musician, actor, painter and model probably most noted around South Asia for his music, including his hit songs like Channo, Rangeen, Chal Dil Merey, Dekha, Masty and Sajania. He started his singing career with his hit song Jugnuon se bhar le aanchal in the film Shararat directed by Pakistani actress and director Samina Peerzada.[1] Eastern Eye, a leading British-Asian paper, has rated Ali Zafar as one of the 10 Sexiest men in Asia.
Zafar recently won the "Youth Icon" award from the Lux Style Awards 2007, in Malaysia.
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[edit] Early life
Ali Zafar was born in Lahore, Pakistan to two professors who taught at Punjab University. He initially attended the C.A.A. Public School and later moved to the Beaconhouse School System from where he topped in his matric examinations. He later graduated from the National College of Arts as an artist in 2002 with honours.
[edit] Early career
Before entering the Pakistani musical scence, Ali Zafar worked as a model for several commercial advertisement besides acting in television. He worked in the Pakistani television serial Lunda-Bazar and in the teenage sitcom College Jeans. He was also in the music video of Preeto sung by Abrar-ul-Haq.
[edit] Music career
Ali Zafar made his debut as a musician with the album Huqa Pani, released in Pakistan in 2003 and worldwide in 2005. The album was an instant hit, selling over 600,000 worldwide and winning several major awards and nominations. It also put Ali into the league of the most popular artists ever to have come out of Pakistan with a massive fan following locally and internationally. It was described by The Hindu as "take a Kishore Kumar-like voice , club it with yuppie Ibiza-ish electronic beats, and add a bit of nostalgic lyrics".[2]
His comparison to Kishore Kumar has been frequently made; in one interview Zafar, asked about the vocal resemblance, remarked "you're the lucky hundredth person to tell me that".[3]
Ali won award for "Best Album" category at the Lux Style Awards in 2004 for his massive hit album Huqa Pani[4] In addition to the album's popularity being reflected in the shops and by critics, it has been widely claimed that Himesh Reshammiya plagiarised one of the most well-known tracks from the album, Rangeen, for the song Dillagi Mein Jo .[5] Soon Pritam too copied his track "Chhano" as "Choreen ki Baatein"(Fightclub).
Ali Zafar launched his second album "Masty" nationwide in Pakistan in November 2006. He has since released four tracks from the album called "Masty", "Sajania", "Dekha" and "Aasman". A press conference for the release of the album was held in Lahore. The album has been released by Fire Records.
Ali Zafar released his second album "Masty" in India in February 2007. The album contains two additional remix tracks and has been launched by "FrankFinn Records".
Ali recently released his third and long awaited single, "Dekha", off his second album, which was the most expensive music video of Pakistan costing more than seven million rupees but song was a failure on charts, video was shot in Malaysia, produced by the Lux Company, and has the famous Pakistani actresses/models, Reema Khan, Meera, and Amina Haq, starring in it.
Ali has a multitalented personality besides a singer, painter, model and an actor, he proved himself as a good music director and producer by directing and producing his music video "Ek Pal" from his first album Huqa Pani which was a big hit nationwide.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Masty (Released on December 1, 2006)
- Huqa Pani (Released on November 21, 2003)
Famous Songs
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- Dekha
- Sajania
- Asman
- Masty
From his second album Masty
Famous Songs
-
- Channo
- Huqa pani
- Chal dil mere
- Rangeen
From his first album Huqa Pani
[edit] Single(s)
- Those For Truth
[edit] Awards
- Indus Music Awards 2005 - Best Pop Artist.
- Asian Bollywood Music Awards 2005 - Best Pop Music Album in Pakistan Huqa Pani.
- Indus Music Awards 2004 - The Best Album Huqa Pani.
- Indus Music Awards 2004 - The Best Debut Artist.
- Lux Style Awards 2004 - Best Music Album Huqa Pani.
- Lux Style Awards 2007 - The Youth Icon Award.
[edit] Kidnapping
On Jan 13th, 2008 Ali Zafar and his fiancee were abducted from near their residence of Defence Housing Authority (DHA), Lahore. However after three hours they were released after they paid 2.5 million rupees to an armed young man, who remained unidentified.[6]
By Amna Gilani • Jan 13th, 2008 Pakistani pop star Ali Zafar and his fiancee were abducted and then released in Lahore yesterday, when they paid 2.5 million rupees to an armed young man, who remained un-identified.
According to reports, Ali Zafar and his fiancee were just taking a liesurly drive after a lavish meal in a posh restaurant, and along the way Ali Zafar and Ayesha, his lovely fiancee were taken hostage by young armed man, who quietly hold them for a day, demanded and received the ransom, released the couple and vanished.
According to daily times reports the details are as follows of the incident:
An unidentified man on Saturday kidnapped renowned pop singer Ali Zafar and his fiancée.
Ali Zafar and his fiancée, Ayesha Fazli, were released by the kidnapper for Rs 2.5 million as ransom late at night. Zafar, a resident of U-Block, Defence Housing Authority (DHA), and Mahrukh left for dinner at a hotel in the evening. The two then went to a market in H-Block, DHA to buy CDs, where an unidentified kidnapper held them at gunpoint and forced Zafar to drive for three hours on various roads. Zafar contacted his relatives to arrange for the ransom. The man received the money and dropped the couple near Chauburgi. Then he fled with their mobile phones and the car. Zafar contacted the police, who recovered his car, parked near Data Darbar. Defence ( police station registered a case against the unidentified kidnapper on Zafar’s complaint.
[edit] See also
- Music of Pakistan
- History of Pakistani pop music
- Association of Music Professionals of Pakistan
- Lux Style Awards
- Indus Media Group
[edit] References
- ^ "Mela 2004 to set Birmingham alight", Evening Mail, 30 September 2004.
- ^ Bhumika, K. "Chords & Notes", The Hindi, September 27, 2005.
- ^ http://www.muziq.net/
- ^ Lux Style Awards 2004 exclusively on Sony Entertainment Television Asia (official press release) (PDF) (June 25, 2004).
- ^ Aashiq Banaya Aapne - When Himesh meets Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. IndiaGlitz (August 4, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-05-29.
- ^ http://www.alizafar.net/forums
