Ali Zafar Unlimited

[imported_admin]

Last year, a young boy in a bright blue jacket jumped out of a video playing on the TV screen and landed straight into the fantasies of a million adolescent girls all over the country. The video was the effervescent "Channo". The boy was Ali Zafar, who had been styled to the max in a simple but incredibly well edited video.

There is something about "Channo". It's not brilliant lyrics - far from it - tacky but made delightful with the music that has been composed and arranged by Zafar himself. A repetitive but rousing beat with some Middle Eastern influence thrown in winds itself around you like a pop python and refuses to let go. "Channo" has great recall value. It is one of those songs that you remember even though you don't particularly want to. And the visuals are hard to forget too. Zafar is a good-looking chap. Juvenile, yes, but that is precisely why he is selling so much. Ali Zafar's debut tells you one thing. He knows what he wants to do and he knows who he is catering to. What jumps out at you is the filmi influence. The finest song on the album is "Jungnuon Se Bhar Le Aanchal" that Ali Zafar recorded for Samina Peerzada's "Shararat". Ali Zafar is a part of that breed of musicians who tinker with music on their computer. They are into dance music coming out of the West, but at the same time they are much rooted in where they come from. They admire Madonna but revere Mohammad Rafi, Ahmed Rushdie and Kishore Kumar. "Chal Dil Meray, Chor Yeh Pheray, Yeh Duniya Jhooti, Log Looteray" is one of the most outstanding songs on "Huqa Pani". Ali delivers it in the way the old guard of sub-continental filmdom did. "Chal Dil Meray" is very filmi and Ali delights in it unabashedly. Then there is "Rangeen" that is very much in the vein of "Disco Dancer" (Yes, the Mithun Chakraborty smash hit) and the spin offs it inspired. In his early twenties, Ali Zafar is an 80s child and this come through loud and clear on his debut. The only other pop star to have capitalized on film music is Fakhir whose cover of "Sab Toun Sohniye" remains one of his biggest hits. What elevates "Huqa Pani" above the old wine in a new packaging formula is the fact that Ali Zafar can sing. His command over his voice is tremendous. He's our Justin Timberlake, with that filmi touch. "Teri Yaad Aye" and "Dekha Sung Teray" are two self-indulgent numbers that give him ample opportunity to show off the strength of his chords. He shows promise as an crooner in the vein of the old timers, but it remains to be seen where he will go from here. His songs are derived from cinema and his music from the club scene. He is as influenced by bhangra as he is by Michael Jackson and one also see shades of Kishore Kumar, Daft Punk, 70s disco and rave music as Pakistan knows it. It's very interesting bunch of influences that make "Huqa Pani" such an attractive package. And one is thankful. It is nice to know that bands like Noori, EP and Aaroh won't completely take over.

After a very promising debut, Ali Zafar should go places. He has appeared in TV plays, sung for a film, had a hit video, modeled in TV commercials, but still come out with an album untainted by sponsorship. To top it all, underneath the most ideal pretty-boy package deal lies promising talent. Ali Zafar, like Timberlake, is the real thing. It remains to be seen where he goes from here; but he can rest assured his outstanding debut has made the ride much smoother.

[Saba]

well he simply got IN to pk music industry ..

i dont like the song Channo where as jugnoo, chal dil meray and rangeen are his good numbers, according to me.