Pakistani Music and Songs

Shafqat strikes a new note with the launch of his album Tabeer, The much-awaited solo album from Shafqat Amanat Ali is finally here! Shafqat Amanat Ali is a name that needs no introduction. Having shot to fame as part of Fuzon and then having lent his voice to the soundtracks of hit Bollywood films - Shafqat's powerful voice, his musical heritage and hit songs have all garnered him a prominent place in the Pakistani music industry. But post-Fuzon, one wondered what Shafqat's debut album would hold.

That question has been answered as Shafqat launched his debut solo album Tabeer over the weekend. This album has been awaited for a while, primarily to see how this album fares in comparison with Saagar, as well as to hear how the sound will differ from the fare he's done for Bollywood.

As all album launches go, Tabeer was launched with a press conference to mark the occasion. Held at a local five star hotel, the launch had the regular crowd of journalists, media personnel and industry insiders. Actress/TV host Sania Saeed, who is also Shafqat's manager, was present at the press conference. Singer Najam Shiraz and actor Faisal Qureshi put in an appearance, as well as members of Shafqat's family.

The press conference was hosted by Mahira, the Aag TV VJ, and featured the COO of Fire Records, Dr Yazdani and the man of the hour - Shafqat Amanat Ali.

Dr Yazdani introduced the album and talked at length about piracy issues in Pakistan, as well as how he felt by saying that any record label would be proud to associate themselves with Shafqat Amanat Ali. “We are very proud to be releasing Shafqat's album, and not only is Shafqat an accomplished singer and from a renowned gharana, but he's also in great form and making great music,” said Dr Yazdani.

The launch also featured the screening of Shafqat's first video off the album, for the song 'Khairyan De Naal'. The video bears that 'Made in India' commercial stamp of drama and exaggeration that has accompanied so many videos by Atif Aslam forexample, but is still a much better effort than Atif's. Based on the concept of a sex worker and a guardian angel of sorts, the video pales in comparison to the song, but the concept plays through in an interesting way. Keep an eye out for the video, which is doing the rounds of music channels now that Tabeer has been released. However, the video wasn't originally planned to be this way! According to Shafqat, “The concept I originally had in mind that was given to me in Pakistan was to show a girl who's gone mad. However, when we discussed it in India they wanted to change it and the closest they could come to that was the character of a sex worker.” He also wanted to shoot it in Pakistan, but because of financial constraints by the label and other issues, it was made in India instead.

Talking about the album, Shafqat dismissed the rumours that he had been working on the album while he was a part of Fuzon. Tabeer came about when the Indian music label Music Today approached him to do a Sufi album. But after discussing it with the label, Shafqat realised that their concept of Sufi music was quite different from the one we know in Pakistan - and so he sent across to them a number of other tracks to see if those could be worked into an album instead. Music Today loved them, and Shafqat got to work - and Tabeer is the product of that.

One of the interesting aspects of the launch was to see Shafqat's earnest sentiment for Pakistan. It was refreshing to see an artist speak passionately about why he recorded his album in the country and the album itself. Shafqat has worked with the bigwigs of music production in India, and endorsements from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Sajid-Wajid also do feature on Tabeer's album inlay, but he stuck to his ground as far as 'being Pakistani - making it Pakistani' went.

Shafqat elaborated on this when he talked about making Tabeer. “It would have been very easy for me to go to India and ask them to meet all my demands and record the album there. But I wanted to keep that Pakistani sound, and that's why the entire album has been recorded, mixed and mastered in Pakistan.”

Shafqat's album has been released in India and Pakistan almost simultaneously - and given how melodic yet light the first video is, one expects the album to be a commercial success. In response to a question, Shafqat said its not something one can assume - while making Saagar people told Fuzon that the sound would only be appreciated by a limited section of people, and the success of Saagar proves otherwise. Shafqat also added that Fuzon's tracks 'Malhaar' and 'Khamaj', more classical in nature, were bigger hits than fast paced numbers like 'Ankhiyan'.

It is also difficult to be releasing music in such trying socio-economic times, and it does affect the way artists work since there are no live concerts in Karachi anymore, and people's purchasing power has decreased dramatically. Dr Yazdani, talking about the fact that the album does not have a sponsor, said that while it is the responsibility of the record label to find a sponsor, it is very difficult given the economic situation to get companies to sponsor albums.

One has their fingers crossed for Shafqat. Tabeer's sound may be different from the work Shafqat did with Fuzon's Saagar, but the lightness of the music coupled with Shafqat's powerful voice will be a crowd puller in itself!