Filmmaker turned singer Zaw Ali who recently came forth with her debut Ronay na diya opens up about her passion for cinema, literature and history.
"As for music, training lies in listening and reading. I grew up with music from around the world covering pretty much every genre, from western to eastern classical and almost every major language."
Apart from being nominated for a TV award earlier this year for her first music video Nakhun, plus being a bibliophile on another hand, she spoke of how she has been born and brought up with a musical background and obsession, owing to her father and music legend Sajjad Ali.
"Music has always been around me. And I’ve always seen my father as a director, writer, poet, composer, actor, philosopher and intellectual and he’s been the no.1 inspiration in this regard. All his knowledge and genius rubbed off on all of his kids in different ways," she iterated in an interview with a magazine Women's Own.
She revealed about how her music circle had made her a similar mastermind with her instant stop-bys at the recording studio now and then.
"As a singer/songwriter, I’ve been blessed to have a guideline in the form of our family library which consists of classic audio records, world cinema and the essentials of literature from Meer to Jaun Elia and Alf Leilah, Masnavi to Shahabnama, it has had everything to offer to nourish an artistic soul. I strongly feel that knowledge has a very key role to play in a singer/songwriter’s journey," adding that her debut music video Nakhun had been a soothing resume to her whole lot of an artistic experience.
On being asked how she actually turned to Cokestudio, she uttered about how her father walked her in for another astonishing success of her life so far.
"My father was going to be part of the latest season and one day he heard me sing Begum Akhtar sahiba’sghazal. I had just discovered her and got addicted to that sound. He was rather surprised at me listening to classical music so he decided that this generation needs to be re-acquainted with the legendary singer through someone from their own generation. Then both of us started planning on how to design‘Ronay Na Diya’"
Deliberately showered with adoring calls and text praises from artists reacting to her debut Ronay na diya, Zaw revealed how Ghulam Ali sahab gave her a few precious words to hold on to, calling her voice a reminder of Barkat Ali Khan sahab.